Product Chats Podcast

Uncovering market problems is a strategic activity. But what tactical efforts need to be made in order to become market-driven? Pragmatic Marketing instructor Steve Gaylor gives us guidance on how to start down the strategic path in this Pragmatic Live podcast.

When you equip your sales team and other departments with a complete understanding of who you have built something for, why they would want it, and the pain points that you’ll solve for that audience, it’s easier to connect with buyers and demonstrate that your solution is the right one. That’s the power of product positioning. In this podcast, Pragmatic Marketing instructor Rich Nutinsky explains the power of product positioning and why it should be done before gaining executive approval for a product or feature. He also explains why product positioning should be treated as an internal deliverable that everyone in product management and product marketing is capable of doing. Plus, he shares how one senior executive used positioning messages—instead of leading with features and functions—to achieve the most successful product launch in his company’s history.

When John Wilson became executive general manager of market and product development at Veda in 2010, he was concerned about the Australia-based data intelligence company's inconsistent approach to product management. As a Pragmatic Marketing alumnus, he also knew the company should spend more time in the market-rather than waiting for customers to come forward with ideas and needs. 

He brought Pragmatic Marketing in to help Veda become more consistent across departments and more market-driven. As Pragmatic Marketing instructor John Milburn explains: "Veda decided to internalize and apply the Pragmatic Marketing approach. They began with the training, then analyzed their roles and gaps and built measurable action plans at all levels of the organization."

The product management at Ariba, an SAP company, has come a long way. In 2008, it was what Joe Fox, now vice president of marketing and strategy at Ariba, called a "tribal organization." The differing methodologies and approaches of the product managers meant the company struggled with silos.

Fox brought in Pragmatic Marketing to teach his company to become more market focused. Within a short time, the team's focus went from what it got to build or what its architecture was to "trying to win in the market."

Find out about how the team's efforts—including implementing market-requirements documents, an "adopt-a-box" program and an annual life cycle plan—turned it into what Fox now calls a "world-class product organization.