Welcome to another edition of Behind the Campaign, where we explore the bold strategies and behind-the-scenes stories of today’s top marketers. This time, we’re diving into the world of growth hacking and data governance with Raz Widrich, a growth hacker with a knack for turning creative ideas into measurable results.
As the mastermind behind Euno’s bold and playful House of Euno campaign, Raz has a career spanning industry giants like IBM and scrappy startups like Wiz. His journey has been defined by a balance between structure and flexibility, learning to think big at established companies while embracing adaptability and resourcefulness at startups.
In this feature, Raz shares insights into crafting impactful campaigns on a budget, why thought leadership content is a game-changer, and how the House of Euno pop-up shop stole the show at data industry conferences.
Before we begin, a quick note about Euno is a data governance platform. There comes a point when a company grows so large that you have dozens of analysts, dozens of calculations, and dozens of dashboards. And every person or department calculates or uses metrics differently. So when the CEO asks one analyst, “How many active users do we have?” they’ll get one answer that could be entirely different than if they asked another analyst.
You can’t trust the numbers. What Euno does is enable the data team to see everything that analysts are up to in their BI tools, spot duplicates or conflicts, show how much each metric or definition is used, and help them create a central source of truth that everyone can reuse.
If you’re ready to learn how to break through the noise and connect with your audience in meaningful ways, let’s jump in.
The Alternative Marketing Approach
Your marketing journey spans industry giants and startups. How have these diverse experiences shaped your unique “alternative” approach to marketing today?
Working with both industry giants and scrappy startups taught me to appreciate the balance between structure and flexibility. At big companies, I saw the power of strategy, but startups taught me to experiment, adapt quickly, and make every move count. This mix of discipline and creativity has shaped my “alternative” approach. I always lean toward low-budget, minimal, organic campaigns, but I don’t wing it: I plan in advance and follow a framework.
For example, at Euno, we focus heavily on thought leadership content. Every week, we publish LinkedIn posts on behalf of our CEO about the future of the data industry. These posts resonate with our audience, earning us many followers and at least one customer who came to us organically.
When it comes to balancing discipline and creativity, we don’t just write whatever comes to mind or stress over “What should we write about this week?” – that’s not sustainable. Instead, we decided in advance on the themes we want to focus on and stick to them. For us, that means writing about data governance, the evolving role of analysts, and behind-the-scenes insights from our startup.
Don’t get me wrong – whenever mischief calls, we’re the first to answer. Case in point: this ridiculous Christmas song we made for data teams (yes, really). The data world can be way too serious, so we decided to shake things up and give data teams a good laugh before their winter break. The lyrics might not mean much to you, but fair warning: the tune is dangerously catchy. Crank up the volume!
The House of Euno Campaign
The “House of Euno” campaign is bold and distinctive. Could you share the inspiration behind it and what made it a standout for Euno?
We had so much fun with this campaign. Since we’re a new company, and nobody knows us in the data industry. Creating buzz at the biggest data conferences was something we couldn’t afford to skip. We had two conferences lined up with tiny booths: one in London and one in Vegas.
As we prepared, we noticed how boring the booths of fellow companies were. Harsh, I know, but I stand by it. Most booths featured the same shades of blue or red, slogans packed with buzzwords like “The #1 data governance platform” or “The Semantic Layer that will give you observability” phrases you can’t even picture in your head. And the swag? Pens, notebooks, stress balls. We knew this was our chance to stand out without breaking the bank.
Our target users are data teams, specifically Analytics Engineers, a role often overlooked or misunderstood. So we went with a theme tailored just for them: a pop-up shop, designed exclusively for Analytics Engineers. Instead of overwhelming them with graphs, tables, or demos (why would they even stop by our booth if they didn’t know us?), we wanted to make them fall in love with our brand first.
Breaking Down the Euno Booth
We created playful merch to make them laugh, like a Migration Softener hand cream to soothe their coding-weary hands or a scented candle to honor the legacy data they wrestle with. For example, we even launched a fake online shop, House of Euno, inspired by high-end brands like Balenciaga. We shared it organically on social media and invited people to visit our pop-up shop booths at the conferences.
Our booth design broke the mold with bright colors and bold shapes, so unlike anything else in the data industry. We strategically displayed items that would catch people’s attention and spark curiosity. The reactions were phenomenal. Analytics Engineers felt seen, from the swag to the aesthetic.
While we didn’t create all the merch shown on the online shop, we focused on items we knew analysts would actually use, like the hand cream. People stopped by our booth either because they’d seen our promos and wanted to experience it for themselves or because they couldn’t ignore us amidst the sea of lookalike booths.
And the best part? These visitors were all our target customers. Analytics Engineers, the ones who truly appreciate our product.
Marketing with Authenticity
As a marketer who prioritises honesty and empowerment, how do you ensure those principles are consistently reflected in your campaigns and content?
It’s true, I prioritise honesty and empowerment. I once worked at a successful startup that was the complete opposite, and I quit after two months. They took their growth hacking efforts to a cold and cynical place.
To ensure I stay true to honesty, I focus on organic content rather than paid ads or PR. Whether it’s our thought leadership posts shared by the CEO or playful content like videos from our House of Euno store, it’s all about educating and inspiring, not hard selling. We give our audience credit. We don’t want to do to them what we wouldn’t like ourselves.
As for empowerment, I believe it shines through in our commitment to thought leadership content. We aim to give data teams practical advice on how to maximise their impact. The House of Euno campaign was another example, it celebrated the unsung heroes of data governance: Analytics Engineers.
Key Marketing Lessons
You’ve worked with brands across various stages of growth, from IBM to Wiz and now Euno. What’s the most important lesson you’ve carried across those roles?
The most important lesson I’ve learned (and this is super relevant to new marketers) is that everyone in marketing is just winging it. We don’t really know what works and what doesn’t because everything evolves so quickly. You see me here, proud of our personal thought leadership content, but a year from now, I might tell you, “Listen, it doesn’t work anymore.”
The core lesson, I suppose, is to come up with ideas you can experiment with and discard if needed. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, or one marketing strategy, for that matter. I’m going to be dramatic, but I’ve heard it so many times: “You need to do paid ads; you need to do SEO.” Yet, so far, what’s brought us the best clients are the little growth hacks, like organic content or small networking events.
Growth Hacking Strategy
Growth hacking often involves balancing creativity with small budgets. How do you approach this balance to ensure campaigns stay innovative yet results-driven?
That’s true. I think the House of Euno campaign is a great example of balancing creativity with a small budget. A lot of it comes down to the objective you set for your team. Start small, or stay small. Don’t be vague and say, “This is for brand awareness,” or exaggerate and say, “I want to land 300 leads.” Instead, aim for a realistic goal. For example, “Get at least 3 demos booked at the event” or “Get 100 new followers on the company LinkedIn page.” When you have a tangible goal (something you can grasp) you’d be surprised how creative you can get on the spot.
Final Advice from Raz Widrich
For marketers aiming to experiment with growth hacking, what’s one lesson from your career you’d recommend keeping in mind to maximise success?
I think 99% of our work as growth hackers comes from a proactive place. Marketing managers don’t often come up with or prioritise growth hacking ideas – they’ve got enough on their plate, from paid ads to email campaigns. If you have a few ideas, pitch them to your manager or client; they might be open to it. But don’t wait for them to ask you to do it because they probably don’t know where to begin.
Curious to dive deeper into Raz’s work? Connect with him on LinkedIn for even more marketing insights.
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