Zaria Parvez was the mastermind behind Duolingo’s owl character, Duo. With her tiny social media team, she turned the language learning tool into a cultural phenomenon. Her advice? Ditch perfection and focus on connection.
In this Q&A with NZ Marketing before she left the role in August 2025, she talks us through the brand’s journey from safe to social superstar.
Why does Duolingo’s social media strategy resonate with Gen Z?
We treat our brand less like a company and more like a character. Every piece of content we put out into the world is like an episode in a sitcom. It introduces new lore and explains our brand by connecting through trends. That means Duo is allowed to be petty, weird, emotional or downright feral if that’s what the moment calls for.
Gen Z sees through overly polished marketing so we avoid that. They want self-awareness, entertainment and humor. Overly polished doesn’t just allude to the visuals: it means the copy, the ideation and avoiding watered down content.
We meet them where they are by speaking in their language… even if that language is mostly memes and unprovoked threats to maintain your streak.
Tell us about the journey to 17 million followers.
When we started, Duolingo’s TikTok had 50K followers and a few safe videos you’d expect from a brand. Once we gave the social team creative control and built a system to test, learn and post fast, things took off.
We didn’t wait for approval, we chased culture. We set up guidelines with our team leaders to understand our brand limits and have safeguards for when we want to “cross the line”.
That shift turned our channel into a cultural touchpoint, not just a brand account.
And the impact? People talk about us even when we’re not trying to sell something. Our top-of-funnel got wider, our brand love deepened and our users started opening the app not just to learn a language but to see what Duo would do next.
What challenges do you face?
One of the biggest challenges is staying relevant. Being a beloved brand is incredible! It means people care about what we do. But, it also means the bar gets higher every time. There’s always that creeping fear of losing your “oomph,” of becoming the brand that used to be funny or bold.
We push past that by never getting too comfortable. We stay in the scroll, experiment constantly and surround ourselves with people who challenge the status quo.
Virality isn’t a formula (I wish it was, it would make my job much easier). It’s a mindset of curiosity, risk-taking and knowing when it’s time to reinvent before the internet tells you to.
What does it take to succeed in social media?
To succeed in social media in 2025 and beyond, brands need an innate understanding that community isn’t a byproduct, it is the product.
The algorithm might get you reach, but community is what drives long-term relevance. That means showing up consistently, listening more than you talk and building a two-way relationship where your audience feels seen, not targeted.
It’s not about “audience” any more, it’s about belonging and being part of the narrative. Brands like Glossier built their entire identity on community-first marketing, letting their users shape product development and content.
We turned comments into a playground, where fans became lore-keepers and culture contributors. Take Roblox: they’ve turned users into co-creators, letting the community literally build the platform’s culture, economy and trends from the inside out. It’s not “audience engagement,” it’s a full ecosystem.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have something like Nutter Butter, a legacy snack brand that became a cult favorite online by embracing weird, hyper-specific internet humor. The brands winning in 2025 are the ones that don’t just chase engagement, they earn trust and keep showing up after the hype dies down.
Top tips for driving engagement?
- Don’t chase trends…flip them on their head.
- Be self-aware. People engage when you show you get the joke.
- Treat your brand voice like content you consume for fun. Would you share what your brand is posting in a group chat?
- Obsess over comments more than likes. That’s where the real connection happens.
- Surprise people. The algorithm loves novelty. So do humans.
This story comes from NZ Marketing magazine issue 83, Jun-Aug 2025. Why not subscribe? Get four issues a year for just $50 (including delivery) if you autorenew.
Essential marketing intelligence. Don’t miss it.
