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Patty Medberry

AMA: Cisco Head of Product Marketing, Cisco IoT, Patty Medberry on Product Launches

July 27, 2022 @ 10:00AM PT

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  1. How does product marketing and product work together to define launch features and messaging?

    Patty Medberry
    Patty Medberry

    Infor Senior Director, Product Marketing | Formerly Microsoft • 3y

    Successful product marketing, even outside of launches, requires close collaboration with the product management team. I encourage the PM team to consider product marketing as part of their team. Attending their staff meetings, business/planning meetings, and regular sync-ups are a must to understand and execute on the business. Choosing which features and products to focus on is a joint effort between the two groups. PMMs work with the PMs to understand what problem these new capabilities will ...Read More

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  2. What is your process for launching new features/products?

    Patty Medberry
    Patty Medberry

    Infor Senior Director, Product Marketing | Formerly Microsoft • 3y

    The launch process is almost always the same. We brief our sellers, distributors, partners, and then launch to the external market, in that order, every single time. First briefing sellers, distributors, and partners ensures that they are not caught off guard by the announcement. It enables them to support customers and their questions on launch day and allows them to plan their strategy on how to use the launch to capture revenue and mindshare. Typically, analysts and press are briefed under em ...Read More

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  3. How does product readiness affect launch success?

    Patty Medberry
    Patty Medberry

    Infor Senior Director, Product Marketing | Formerly Microsoft • 3y

    Launching a product too early or too late can impact launch success. In many organizations, there is a lot of pressure to launch products before they are ready. In launching too early, I have seen the following results: Loss of trust - quality issues or changes in product availability can affect how the market views the product and your brand Loss of momentum – It is hard to get your sales force behind a product that won’t be available for months when they have a quota to meet today. Customers c ...Read More

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  4. How do you get alignment on the launch message?

    Patty Medberry
    Patty Medberry

    Infor Senior Director, Product Marketing | Formerly Microsoft • 3y

    In crafting the messaging, we get input and feedback not just from product management, but also from sales, executive leadership, and other key stakeholders. We also reach out to analysts and to customers to make sure that our thinking will resonate with the external market in general. It is an iterative process that helps ensure that our message will land in the market and be used by our sellers and partners as they go-to-market.

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  5. Do you need to launch at a major industry event to be successful?

    Patty Medberry
    Patty Medberry

    Infor Senior Director, Product Marketing | Formerly Microsoft • 3y

    No. In fact, launching at industry events can have a negative impact on the launch success depending upon what you are trying to do. Major events like the Consumer Electronics Show and Mobile World Congress, to name a few, are often so filled with news that your story may get buried. You might be more successful to launch before the event and use that event to amplify your news. Also, launching on its own can have huge benefits especially if there is no other major news happening at that time.

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