065 Rory Woodbridge
Director of Product Marketing (Interim), Monzo
Rory Woodbridge is The Product Marketer. He runs The Product Marketer, a consultancy that helps growing companies level up their product marketing. He’s extremely well-qualified to do so, having led product marketing at Pleo, Volt.io, Monzo, and a host of non-fintechs including Google and YouTube.
“The companies that invest in brand and product marketing will be the ones that win.”
The interview
What’s your coffee ritual?
I’m in a black americano phase. Three a day. A flat white when I’m feeling basic.
What was your first marketing job?
I fell into it through an editorial job at Ten Lifestyle Group. I was writing for the website, then became the website editor, then picked up more and more marketing: CRM, Google Ads, SEO. All the things that used to be called digital marketing and are now a world of channel specialists. There were about 200 employees at the time, so I got to try a bit of everything, and copywriting and messaging have been at the centre of my work ever since.
What finance apps do you have on your home screen?
None on the home screen. Elsewhere on the phone I’ve got Monzo, Barclays, and American Express. And Splitwise Inc., if that counts, though that app drives me crazy.
Which newsletter, podcast, or book do you recommend most?
MKT1 by Emily Kramer is the best newsletter going in my opinion. For books, Alchemy by Rory Sutherland, and I keep Ogilvy on Advertising on my shelf to dip into whenever I’m stuck on a messaging or copy idea.
What’s an underrated growth channel in fintech?
Doing the things that don’t scale. AI is there to automate the boring stuff so you can go and do what you otherwise wouldn’t have time for, and I’d far rather see a company commission a mural or put together a bespoke gift for a customer than optimise its LinkedIn ads. Once the boring but important work is automated, the companies that stand out will be the ones doing things that are clearly human - and authentic.
What keeps you up at night?
My one year old! 😆 Beyond that, running my own business is the least stressed I’ve been in about 15 years. Product marketing delivered via a consultant, rather than from inside the hamster wheel of launches with 20 people pulling at you, can be a much more effective way to do it for everyone involved.
What are the most useful measurement tools you use in your work?
Product marketing is notoriously hard to measure, and if you’re sweating over how to measure it you’re probably asking the wrong question. Revolut do it well by focusing on GTM excellence. I’d look at whether sales knows about a release before the website does, whether campaigns are built around your actual customer rather than an imagined one, and whether any random person in the company can tell you who you’re for and what makes you different. Product marketing is oil in the engine rather than a channel owner, although tying ourselves to revenue is going to be the big topic for 2027.
What’s one fintech brand (other than your own) that’s getting marketing right?
Apron. They know who they are and who they’re for, they’re focused, and the brand identity is strong enough that if anyone in their space copied it you’d know immediately. There’s a lot of good marketing happening in fintech at the moment, but I’ll go with them.
Why is marketing so hard?
The overweighting of performance marketing has drained a lot of the creativity out of it. We’ve become obsessed with the numbers we can track rather than the bigger picture, partly because founders and the C-suite can rationalise Google ads and CRM far more easily than a brand campaign, PR or social. I’m hopeful we’re coming out the other side, because AI flattens all of those channels and customers are getting savvier and quicker to dismiss slop. The companies that invest in brand and product marketing will be the ones that win.
Whose answers to the above questions would you most like to read?
Louis Debatte-Monroy, who leads marketing at Adyen. Sophie Storey, Global Head of Product Marketing at Revolut. And Max White, Head of Writing at Monzo.