ZIGZAG Voted Best Session at ProductCamp Austin - Summer 2009

Atlanta, GA – August 20, 2009 ZIGZAG Marketing’s John Mansour won best presenter/session at ProductCamp Austin this past Saturday as voted by the participants. The session taking honors was titled, “How Product Management/Marketing Can Drive Company, Market & Product Strategy.”

The session covered five key points for product managers and product marketers that put them in a better position to drive strategy. “I’m both flattered and honored, considering all the great sessions and presenters,” said John Mansour, Founder and Managing Partner at ZIGZAG Marketing. “I had no idea that the participants were going to vote for a favorite session. The passion and enthusiasm is contagious and certainly played a big part in this session,” added Mansour.

The overriding theme of the session was “eventually, it’s about products,” meaning that product managers and product marketers must first understand the market dynamics that drive the strategy of their target customers, how the dynamics and strategic objectives drive operational objectives that ultimately impact work processes and users. Then and only then are products relevant. The five pointes covered are as follows:

1. Change Your Market Perspective – It’s typical for product professionals to view the market through the lens of their product, but the picture is incomplete unless product managers and product marketers can understand the macro level market dynamics driving their target customers from the top down.
   
   An example from one of the participants referenced new government regulations for non-profit organizations that will cause them to re-qualify for their non-profit status, an issue for executive directors that will drive strategy in many non-profits.
2. Let Markets Drive Strategy – Markets should be assessed at a company level first so that the most lucrative markets for your company drive all other strategic decisions, including products. This alleviates the dilemma of multiple #1 priorities that conflict and wreak havoc at a tactical level.
3. Sell Your Value - Product managers and product marketers possess a wealth of knowledge on markets, customer issues and the like but don’t always take time to share that knowledge internally with other disciplines such as sales, R&D and executives. Use blogs, webinars, newsletters and other mediums to educate other disciplines. The more business savvy product managers and product marketers are perceived, the more others will follow their lead.
4. Structure Teams for Solutions – Silos belong on farms, not in product companies. Consider structuring product managers around customer work processes or activities and product marketers by market segment (not product category). The collective value of both disciplines make for vertical market, best-practice solutions that command a higher price point than fragmented product offerings.
5. Play the Part – You are what you do! If you act like a great problem solver you’ll be labeled as one and it can pigeon-hole your career. The toughest part about product management and product marketing is it requires a broader spectrum of comfort zones than most other roles. All product managers and marketers have to think strategically. The great ones complement strategic thinking with the ability to execute relentlessly, a tall order!