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AI had made it easy to produce generic content, and there was a lot of "AI slop" in the market. Another blog post would not stand out. A credible research-backed report could.
The strategic question was: if other organizations already had state-of-product reports, why create another one? The answer depended on whether we could bring a distinct perspective, back it with data, and still support sign-ups, MQLs, and pipeline.
The process looked like this:
The data matters, but it does not determine the report by itself. The question set, respondent design, narrative, creative treatment, and launch plan all shape what the market experiences.
That work became the basis for the budget and resourcing conversation. I could show the competitive landscape, white space, vendor option, approximate cost, and recommendation: Atlassian should own the report and outsource only respondent collection and research mechanics.
The hardest part came after that: designing questions credible enough for a research firm, differentiated enough to avoid another AI-heavy report, and commercially relevant enough to point toward Atlassian's strengths without feeling branded.
The decision criteria were credibility, commercial interest, and fresh take. The report had to be defensible, connected to Atlassian's opportunity areas, and meaningfully different from the AI-heavy reports already in the market.
For the first pass, I searched "state of product report" on Google to see who came up. Those companies get distribution for a reason. Then I went to each major competitor's site and searched for a state-of-product research page. Community reports got pulled in too β Product-Led Alliance came up, which is why we briefly considered whitelabeling or co-branding with them.
How Atlassian's Jeremy Hemsworth Built an Original Research Report that Influenced Millions in Pipeline
Jeremy Hemsworth
β’
Sr. Director of Product Marketing at Atlassian
Templates Included
Summary
Atlassian's first State of Product report influenced millions of dollars in pipeline, brought 90,000 visitors during launch week, and earned hundreds of thousands of organic impressions via partnership with influencers. The bigger win: a branded point of view that newsletters, analysts, and operators could cite as Atlassian's State of Product report.
Pulling it off meant treating original research as a product marketing campaign, not a research project. The market was already crowded with AI-heavy "state of" reports. Atlassian had developer credibility but was still building its authority with product managers.
So we audited the field, decided to own the report instead of white-labeling someone else's, used a research firm only for survey rigor and respondent recruitment, pressure-tested every question with product, mined the data for a narrative that was both true and commercially useful, and launched the report like a product.
This playbook captures what we learned building it β including the debates over whether a single adjective overstated the data, the question that produced the report's biggest finding, and the launch decisions that turned the asset into one of the company's top campaign drivers.
It will help teams that need the report to do two jobs at once: earn practitioner trust and create commercial momentum through pipeline, MQLs, sign-ups, sales outreach, executive social, and campaign distribution.
Pulling it off meant treating original research as a product marketing campaign, not a research project. The market was already crowded with AI-heavy "state of" reports. Atlassian had developer credibility but was still building its authority with product managers.
So we audited the field, decided to own the report instead of white-labeling someone else's, used a research firm only for survey rigor and respondent recruitment, pressure-tested every question with product, mined the data for a narrative that was both true and commercially useful, and launched the report like a product.
This playbook captures what we learned building it β including the debates over whether a single adjective overstated the data, the question that produced the report's biggest finding, and the launch decisions that turned the asset into one of the company's top campaign drivers.
Who is this for
This playbook is for PMMs and content leaders who need to turn original research into a credible, differentiated market asset, especially in a category where the company has a right to play but does not yet own the conversation.It will help teams that need the report to do two jobs at once: earn practitioner trust and create commercial momentum through pipeline, MQLs, sign-ups, sales outreach, executive social, and campaign distribution.
What you will learn
- How to decide whether a state-of report deserves to exist.
- How to design research that surfaces differentiated, commercially useful insights.
- How to shape and launch findings into a branded market asset.
Context
Atlassian had strong credibility with developers. Jira was widely used by teams building products, but we did not have the same presence in the product management conversation. As the function grew, we saw an opportunity to establish a stronger voice with product managers and the broader product team.AI had made it easy to produce generic content, and there was a lot of "AI slop" in the market. Another blog post would not stand out. A credible research-backed report could.
The strategic question was: if other organizations already had state-of-product reports, why create another one? The answer depended on whether we could bring a distinct perspective, back it with data, and still support sign-ups, MQLs, and pipeline.
Framework
The framework is to treat original research like a product marketing campaign β not a research project. At every stage, the goal was the same: create something differentiated enough to earn attention, credible enough to be trusted, and commercially useful enough to justify the investment.The process looked like this:
- Validate differentiationΒ
- Decide what to own and what to outsource.
- Design questions that uncover non-obvious insights.
- Shape the findings into a narrative.Β
- Launch for distribution, not publicationΒ
The data matters, but it does not determine the report by itself. The question set, respondent design, narrative, creative treatment, and launch plan all shape what the market experiences.
Case Study
We started with a practical question: should Atlassian create its own State of Product report, white-label someone else's report, or avoid the category altogether? I answered it by downloading competitor and community reports, reading them closely, and building a Confluence page that captured coverage, design, audiences, regions, respondent counts, and differentiation opportunities.That work became the basis for the budget and resourcing conversation. I could show the competitive landscape, white space, vendor option, approximate cost, and recommendation: Atlassian should own the report and outsource only respondent collection and research mechanics.
The hardest part came after that: designing questions credible enough for a research firm, differentiated enough to avoid another AI-heavy report, and commercially relevant enough to point toward Atlassian's strengths without feeling branded.
1. Validate differentiation
First, prove there is room for your company to say something worth saying. This is the work that tells you whether the report should exist and where it can be different.The decision criteria were credibility, commercial interest, and fresh take. The report had to be defensible, connected to Atlassian's opportunity areas, and meaningfully different from the AI-heavy reports already in the market.
Substep 1.1 β Map the competitive surface area
I started with the public market surface area: top Google results for state-of-product reports, major competitor sites, competitor resource pages, and community reports such as Product-Led Alliance. The goal was not to read everything β it was to get an honest inventory of who already had a state-of report, who was getting distribution, and where Atlassian would either show up as the twelfth voice in a crowded room or as a credible new entrant.For the first pass, I searched "state of product report" on Google to see who came up. Those companies get distribution for a reason. Then I went to each major competitor's site and searched for a state-of-product research page. Community reports got pulled in too β Product-Led Alliance came up, which is why we briefly considered whitelabeling or co-branding with them.
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