A presentation by Jim Walker, VP of Product Marketing, Cockroach Labs. If you read a few job descriptions for a product marketing you'll quickly realize that everyone has their own definition of the role. In this session, we will walk through a conceptual definition of the role and how it can help you align expectations, hire what you need, and demonstrate value to your organization. Presented to the product marketing community at the Product Marketing Summit New York 2019

1. “One” Definition of Product Marketing
Jim Walker
@jaymce

2. @jaymce
A little about me: Jim
Currently
VP Product Marketing
Developer turned marketer
Startup-aholic
Product Marketer and proud
Follow me on twitter @jaymce
Venture Partner
OSS Capital

3. @jaymce
Why is product marketing often misunderstood?
Every organization is different
● Product management and product marketing overlap
● The emergence of content marketing
● Size/stage of company and marketing organization
● Historical expectations
● Every industry is different
● People and expertise

4. @jaymce
What’s helped me explain is a broader definition
The most simple definition of product marketing
I could come up with is:
Product marketing is the process of
building and delivering a core narrative.

5. @jaymce
It’s building and telling a narrative or story
EXTERNAL INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Tell the story
Build the story

6. @jaymce
It’s building and telling a narrative or story
EXTERNAL INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Tell the story
Build the story
"Companies that don't have a clearly articulated story,
don't have a clear and well thought-out strategy.
The company story is the company strategy"
- Ben Horowitz , A16Z

7. @jaymce
Let’s talk about a layer cake message
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
Who you are why you do what you do
Why people buy and how do they use your product
(hint: save money, make money, mitigate risk)
Product capabilities, features and benefits
COMPANY
AUDIENCE
PRODUCT
Define these three layers and
incorporate into a narrative

8. @jaymce
My current cake at
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
COMPANY
AUDIENCE
PRODUCT
Expert Evolved Future-looking
Modernization Net New Future Data Architecture
Distributed SQL Enterprise Ready Cloud Native
Evolve your business,
Evolution of the database

9. @jaymce
Product marketing is also telling a story
Spokesperson
Analysts Relations Enablement
Content Pricing
Editorial Calendar Reporting/Analytics
Programs Use Cases Sales Playbooks
Case Studies Customer info Deal Anatomy
Competitive Summaries Competitive Battlecards
Website Personas Pitch Deck
EXTERNAL SHARED FRAMEWORKS INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
Shared Frameworks
Critical for alignment both
up and down the funnel and
part of the foundational bill
of materials

10. @jaymce
Product marketing is also telling a story
Spokesperson
Analysts Relations Enablement
Content Pricing
Editorial Calendar Reporting/Analytics
Programs Use Cases Sales Playbooks
Case Studies Customer info Deal Anatomy
Competitive Summaries Competitive Battlecards
Website Personas Pitch Deck
EXTERNAL SHARED FRAMEWORKS INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
External Tooling
Partner with demand
generation to tell a story
through market channels

11. @jaymce
Product marketing is also telling a story
Spokesperson Roadmap
Analysts Relations Enablement
Content Pricing
Editorial Calendar Reporting/Analytics
Programs Use Cases Sales Playbooks
Case Studies Customer info Deal Anatomy
Competitive Summaries Competitive Battlecards
Website Personas Pitch Deck
EXTERNAL SHARED FRAMEWORKS INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
Internal Tooling
Partner with sales and
product management to tell
your story to you prospects
and customers

12. Spokesperson Roadmap
Analysts Relations Enablement
Content Pricing
Editorial Calendar Reporting/Analytics
Programs Use Cases Sales Playbooks
Case Studies Customer info Deal Anatomy
Competitive Summaries Competitive Battlecards
Website Personas Pitch Deck
EXTERNAL SHARED FRAMEWORKS INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
A side note about the shared frameworks
They drive alignment up
and down the funnel
They can ensure you’re
efficient and complete in
these key areas

13. Spokesperson Roadmap
Analysts Relations Enablement
Content Pricing
Editorial Calendar Reporting/Analytics
Programs Use Cases Sales Playbooks
Case Studies Customer info Deal Anatomy
Competitive Summaries Competitive Battlecards
Website Personas Pitch Deck
EXTERNAL SHARED FRAMEWORKS INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
“One” definition of product marketing
Product marketing is the
process of building and
delivering a core narrative
@jaymce

14. Spokesperson Roadmap
Analysts Relations Enablement
Content Pricing
Editorial Calendar Reporting/Analytics
Programs Use Cases Sales Playbooks
Case Studies Customer info Deal Anatomy
Competitive Summaries Competitive Battlecards
Website Personas Pitch Deck
EXTERNAL SHARED FRAMEWORKS INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
Variations
With the addition of
content marketing

15. Spokesperson Roadmap
Analysts Relations Enablement
Content Pricing
Editorial Calendar Reporting/Analytics
Programs Use Cases Sales Playbooks
Case Studies Customer info Deal Anatomy
Competitive Summaries Competitive Battlecards
Website Personas Pitch Deck
EXTERNAL SHARED FRAMEWORKS INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
Variations
With the addition of
content marketing
AND a strong
demand gen resource

16. Spokesperson Roadmap (public)
Analysts Relations Enablement
Content Pricing
Editorial Calendar Reporting/Analytics
Programs Use Cases Sales Playbooks
Case Studies Customer info Deal Anatomy
Competitive Summaries Competitive Battlecards
Website Personas Pitch Deck
EXTERNAL SHARED FRAMEWORKS INTERNAL
Core Narrative & Position
Company Audience Product
Variations
With a solid product
management org

17. Business
Plan
Positioning
Marketing
Plan*
SKO &
Enablement
Market
Problems
Market
Definition
Pricing
Buying
Process
Customer
Acquisition
Sales Tools &
Certification
Win/Loss
Analysis
Distribution
Strategy
Buy, Build or
Partner
Buyer
Personas
Customer
Renewal/Retain
SE Tools &
Certification†
Distinctive
Competence
Product
Portfolio
Product
Profitability
Use Cases
Program
Effectiveness*
Channel
Enablement
Customer
Information
MARKET FOCUS BUSINESS PLANNING PROGRAMS READINESS SUPPORT
Competitive
Landscape
Product
Roadmap
Innovation† User Personas†
Launch
Plan
Sales Process &
Playbook
Event Support
Technology
Assessment
Requirements†
Demand
Generation*
Sales Collateral
& Presentations
Sales Call
Support
Use Scenarios†
Referrals &
References
Demos
Status
Dashboard
Content
Analysts &
Influencers
Product Management
Product Marketing
SHARED
STRATEGY
EXECUTION
Color indicates owner (on the hook) of each
function, but ultimately everything is shared
contribution
*italics indicates liaison w/ all marketing
† indicates liaison w/ all product (ie product
design or docs)

18. @jaymce
Why is product marketing often misunderstood?
Every organization is different
● Product management and product marketing overlap
● The emergence of content marketing
● Size/stage of company and marketing organization
● Historical expectations
● Every industry is different
● People and expertise

19. @jaymce
Why does any of this matter?
Alignment and coverage of key functions
Setting the right expectations
Measurement of you and your teams
You can hire for what you need on the team

20. @jaymce
THANK YOU
...and i’m hiring: cockroachlabs.com
jaymce@gmail.com
@jaymce