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How 1Password Established Their Product Marketing Function

1Password VP, Product Marketing

Summary

At 1Password, a series of organizational changes led us to move product marketing out of marketing and into the product organization. This was a significant shift, as the function of product marketing was relatively new to our company, and the product organization was also still in its infancy. Our goals at this stage were to establish a shared understanding of the role across 1Password, exhibit the value that PMM brings, and build strong, trusted relationships with our cross-functional partners.

As the first step, we created a shared understanding of product marketing within the product organization and defined its place relative to the other key product functions. We categorized our initiatives into insights, storytelling, and activation, and identified foundational work that needed to be done in each category. Through open discussions and feedback, we’ve built credibility and trust, which has set the team up for success through increased partnership throughout the product development lifecycle.

Who this is for:

This playbook is relevant for PMMs who are looking to reestablish or define the product marketing function within their organization, particularly in the context of organizational changes. It provides insights on setting goals, fostering cross-functional partnerships, and delivering value through strategic project prioritization and execution.

What you will learn:

How to establish a shared understanding of the role of product marketing within your organization by presenting clear roles and responsibilities.
How to cultivate a culture where teams co-own problems and solutions, leading to increased empathy and mutual understanding.
How to prioritize projects based on potential impact and opportunity, while avoiding reactive decision-making.
How to establish credibility and trust by delivering on projects quickly and effectively, resulting in increased buy-in from other teams.

Playbook Content

Context

The Need to (Re-)Establish Product Marketing

In my experience, significant organizational changes are often a catalyst for rethinking roles and responsibilities. This was the case at 1Password, where changes in 2022 at the executive level, within marketing and product, led to the decision to move product marketing out of marketing and into the product organization.

Key Goals

Our goals were to:

Establish a shared understanding of the role across 1Password, particularly within the new product organization, and within the team itself, with a clear org design that supports the business, and a leveling framework that clarifies expectations for each PMM.
Exhibit the value that PMM brings through consistent execution. We needed to not just tell our partners what we do, but also show them by establishing important insights, building great messaging, and bringing products to market effectively.
Iterate towards a strong relationship with our cross-functional partners in Product, Marketing and Sales. Building on goals 1 and 2, we needed to show that we could react to business and product needs as dynamics changed/shifted, and we were there to deliver on our shared goals.

Framework

Adapt To What Your Organization Needs

When establishing product marketing, it’s important to be flexible and adaptable. Understand your company's readiness and adapt your strategies to fit that. Don't be afraid to mold the playbook to your needs. And most importantly, be open to feedback and discussions. These are the hallmarks of effectively establishing product marketing.

As product marketing leaders, we often come across various playbooks from reputable sources like Gartner. But it's important to understand that these playbooks are not a one-size-fits-all solution. Every company is different, with varying levels of readiness to adapt, and unique operational vocabularies.

What I found to be effective is taking elements that work from these playbooks and leaving what doesn't. The key is to mold the strategies to fit your organization's specific needs. This might even require adapting the vocabulary to what makes sense for the company.

But an essential part of this process is openness — openness to feedback, openness to discussions with stakeholders, and openness to understanding what product marketing needs to deliver now, versus down the road. It's crucial to remember that you can't establish a function overnight.

4-Step Process to Establishing Product Marketing

Establish a Shared Understanding of Product Marketing: Present product marketing roles and responsibilities, particularly in relation to other functions (e.g. Product Management, Research, Marketing, etc.). We used a framework with three pillars: insights, storytelling and activations.
Set Team Goals and Priorities, and Establish Standard Expectations: Align your priorities and organizational structure to business needs and goals. Create a career framework to define what "good" looks like for each level of PMM. Conduct career development conversations to get the context of broader career aspirations for each person.
Exhibit Value Through Execution: Prioritize your work along the pillars put forth in step one. Invest in foundations that can scale. Communicate your strategic outputs, such as key insights like personas, messaging frameworks, and launch plans.
Build Trust Through Feedback Loops: Bring your stakeholders along the journey with you regularly. Make giving and receiving feedback a normal part of working relationships. And be sure to establish two types of feedback loops: project feedback loops and partnership feedback loops.