Positioning Leader Spotlight
Meet Denise Persson, CMO, Snowflake
Denise Persson knows how to create valuable companies. Starting her career as a marketing leader at the age of 27, she has grown four startups beyond $100M. She has worked with us to position the last two for IPO—Snowflake and Apigee. Her current success, Snowflake, made history as the largest-ever software IPO. The company’s market cap has since grown to nearly $62 billion.
How did she get there? We’re honored to have a direct line to find out.
How did you get into tech marketing?
I grew up in Sweden. After going to university in Stockholm, I thought that I would go into a large company–that’s what everyone did back in those days. But a friend of my sister talked me into joining this French startup that had just opened up an office in Stockholm, called Genesys.
During my 12 years there, I opened up offices in 25 countries around the world, I was a part of the acquisition of 14 companies, and I had my first IPO experience. I relocated six times, and I became the VP of Global Marketing just five years into the job. That opportunity changed my career, and my life, in a bigger way than I could have ever imagined.
What was the pivotal moment in your career that shaped you?
“The best things in life are on the other side of fear. You just have to walk right through it.”
Photo: Natalie & Cody Gantz
I think the moment that had the biggest impact on my career was when I was with Genesys. The CEO said to me, “Denise, I’m going to appoint you to VP of Global Marketing, you start in five days, and you have to move to Paris.” I was only 27. But I thought, the worst thing that could happen is that I’d have to fly back home and live with my mom. So I said yes.
I think it’s important to say yes to opportunities when we get them, without hesitation. Be prepared for some discomfort and fear, but when you get the opportunity and someone else believes in you, you’ve got to do it. I’ve felt fear many times in my career, but I’ve never let it stop me. The biggest risk you can take is to not take any risks in your life, because there is no reward without risk. The best things in life are on the other side of fear. You just have to walk right through it.
Where did your interest in data come from?
Data has always been a part of my career because I’ve been in SaaS marketing since 1996. Those days, leads came in via fax or a phone call, and you had to enter them into an Excel spreadsheet. The thing about data in marketing was that you always wanted more of it, but you never could get what you wanted. Back then, IT sat with the key to it like it was the Holy Grail. They couldn’t give you the key for so many reasons—there wasn’t a user-friendly way to access the data, or it was a security issue. You always had to request a report, and you got it a month later, but by then, the data was too old.
That’s why Snowflake was so compelling to me as a marketer. With such easy access to all of the data in one place, you could finally get a complete picture and know what’s working and what isn’t working. Today Marketing and IT work hand-in-hand as partners freely sharing data.
Why is investing in positioning a priority for you?
Warren Buffet said it the best: "A rising tide floats all boats… only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.” It’s a really good model for positioning. You don’t want to be naked in the marketplace when the economy slows down. Your true positioning and strategy will be obvious to the marketplace and your prospects. If your positioning is not very clear, it’s going to cost you more to get across the messages you want the market to hear.
I guess I would say you can’t afford to not have your positioning nailed. You spend less money on marketing and advertising if you have your strategic positioning nailed and you’re executing on it. Prospects know the company, the product, the problem you solve and don’t get mixed messages or bad advertising because you spent money talking about different or wrong things.
How has data-driven positioning contributed to your success?
“You get all constituencies involved—your leadership team, customers, and even your prospects.”
The Snowflake Leadership Team
Consistency is so important when it comes to positioning. You need your entire leadership team in the boat with you, rowing together in the same category. If people are not really sure your positioning's working in the marketplace then there’s no confidence in it, and you can't get everyone to rally behind your positioning. When there’s no process or data to back up your story, it’s hard to sell positioning to the company. With ZOOM Marketing’s data-driven process, the data allows us to sell internally very well.
You get all constituencies involved—your leadership team, customers, and even your prospects. And, you learn so much throughout the process. It could be which words you shouldn’t use with your prospects, or insights from customers you didn’t have before. Your leadership team is hearing this feedback throughout, while contributing their own perspective, which gives everyone the confidence they need. I recommend ZOOM to everyone because of the process and the data.