006 | The True Value of Marketing Fundamentals with Elana Anderson - a podcast by Golden Spiral, Shaping Technology Marketing

from 2020-04-22T21:51:31

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The Episode in 60 Seconds

Elana Anderson, CMO of Veracode, sat down with us at RSA 2020 to discuss the essentials of effective marketing leadership.

Elana has had an unexpected journey leading up to her current role. She began her career as a consultant at Accenture and led many marketing and product teams before accepting a position at Veracode. According to her Twitter profile, she is the “marketer marketing marketing to marketers.”

This interview delves into:

How Elana's unique perspective strengthens her marketing leadership
How Veracode has grown since its last acquisition
The value of revisiting marketing fundamentals
What enables Veracode to be a great partner
The marketing advice all CEOs and CMOs need to hear

Our Guest

Elana Anderson’s marketing background spans nearly three decades as a marketing executive, industry analyst, and consultant working with Fortune 500 B2C and B2B enterprises. Previously, Elana led global marketing for the SaaS e-commerce leader Demandware and was Vice President of Strategy and Products at marketing tech provider Unica.

“Elana’s success building global brands in established and emerging markets is testament to her deep technology expertise and marketing prowess,” said Veracode CEO Sam King.

At Veracode, Elana implements go-to-market strategies, creates programs to drive customer growth and advocacy, and amplifies Veracode’s global presence to reach new audiences and expand its geographic footprint.

Show Notes

Check out Veracode’s newly released case studies:

Veracode Enables Cox Automotive to Integrate Security into the SDLC and Increase Speed to Market

Automation Anywhere Leverages Veracode to Secure their Leading RPA Solutions

Advantasure's Secure SW is a Competitive Advantage

YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE A TRADITIONAL HISTORY IN MARKETING TO BECOME A GREAT CMO…

…just a unique perspective.

Elana’s first marketing role was Head of Marketing at Demandware. Before she was the marketer, her buyer was the marketer. She essentially marketed to marketers.

Elana’s background has allowed her to work with many, many companies on many different aspects of marketing.

“I was building a business. I wasn't a marketer. I was advising marketers, I was building our consulting practice and our consulting offerings. I was building our portfolio of services to marketing organizations.” - Elana Anderson

ELANA’S TENURE AT VERACODE

Elana’s team has been focusing on strengthening Veracode’s voice in the market.

Before the impact of COVID-19, Veracode was at RSA launching a new brand platform and visuals that inspire boldness and confidence to create software that changes the world.

Elana has made structural changes to her team that bring out the strength of each core pillar of marketing.

Achieving growth in your organization means plotting a vision for the future, getting people to recognize it, and fostering excitement within your team.

MARKETING FUNDAMENTALS WILL ALWAYS REMAIN THE SAME

Fundamentally, it’s about understanding what makes your customer tick and engaging them in conversation.

Who is the customer? What do they want? What do they need? What do they feel? How are they moved? What’s their pain?

“The idea of conversational marketing or customer engagement isn’t new. We’ve been talking about it for years.” - Elana Anderson

VERACODE SECURITY LABS

Veracode’s Security Labs enables developers to work in an interactive coding environment to find and fix appsec vulnerabilities.

In launching the tool, Veracode’s mission is to empower developers to change the world while providing them with the skills needed to prevent attacks.

VERACODE IS ALWAYS LISTENING

Since Veracode can see how developers are integrating and interacting with the platform, they are able to use that data to provide valuable feedback and guidance.

Veracode’s Customer Advisory Board enables customers to provide feedback on the product and engage directly with product managers.

“Our business model behind what we do enables us to be a better partner.” - Elana Anderson

THE MARKETING ADVICE ALL CEOS NEED TO HEAR

Your CMO needs some independence in order to do their job effectively.

Avoid silo marketing. Allow your CMO to focus on moving the business. A great CEO-CMO relationship resembles a strategic partnership.

Many CMOs get stuck on the tactical implementation, the micro-view of marketing. You must consider the business as a whole and what it means to move the company forward.

It’s about understanding the market, understanding the customer, and understanding what you’re trying to achieve as a business.

“I’ve always been a student of marketing. I don’t bring a recipe book to the job.” - Elana Anderson

HOW MARKETING LEADERS SHOULD FORM RELATIONSHIPS WITH ANALYST GROUPS

Building rapport and trust with your analyst is essential. The relationship should never be transactional.

It’s about getting to know each other. It’s about understanding tendencies and being able to engage and use that resource to help you further your business.

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