Why Innovation and Marketing Make Sense Together

I’ve had many roles over my nearly 30-year career in technology, and I’ve always been a quick learner. That attribute served me well during ServiceNow’s maturation from ITSM company into the workflow engine of the enterprise and in my own path from ServiceNow’s Global VP of Solutions Consulting to its Chief Strategy Officer and now Chief Innovation Officer.

It will continue to be important in light of a recent and exciting announcement: The Innovation Office is joining forces with Marketing and Communications.

Admittedly, this is less a dramatic shift than official recognition of a previously de-facto arrangement. My team was already busy crafting thought leadership, showcasing the Now Platform, and evangelizing our message to customers. But now, it’s official, and I’m excited to work even more closely with Alan Marks and the rest of his brand, communications, and marketing team.

Over the years, what has become clear to me is the power of the right messaging and stories, coupled with stellar products and services. And while that may seem obvious to those in comms and marketing, it’s a foreign thought to someone who grew up a systems engineer and feels most at home in technical product discussions.

That’s not to say great product isn’t important. Ultimately, it’s the most important thing, and I firmly believe the Now Platform is the best and most versatile solution in the world for any organization seeking to automate menial tasks, better understand its environment, and track work as it flows across the enterprise.

But at ServiceNow, the challenge is not product. It’s conceptualizing and articulating the full potential of a platform that can do so much more than most of our customers realize.

The potential is enormous. It’s why Bill McDermott left SAP and its 100,000 employees to join a company just about one-tenth the size. When he explained the workflow revolution to CNBC’s Jim Cramer, I knew he understood, and now Jim and the market understand even better too.

Of course, the pandemic has played a role as well, and technology is more vital today than ever before. The market understands this, and it’s backing the players who are making the biggest difference during a time of widespread economic and social uncertainty.

In many ways, COVID-19 has provided an incredible opportunity to make work, work better, and thus far, we’ve seized that opportunity to differentiate ourselves based on what matters: our impact on individuals and the world. 

As a result, we’re perceived much differently than even a few months ago. Bill, along with the rest of the P4 leadership, has transformed the conversation from IT ticketing to enterprise-wide workflows—be they in customer service or crisis response and return to work. Meanwhile, we’ve doubled down on our positioning as the platform of platforms. In part because of these efforts, ServiceNow is building beachheads throughout the enterprise beyond our core of IT.

But here’s the interesting thing: When Bill arrived and looked at the ServiceNow platform, he saw its pristine nature and purity as well as the potential of our products.

The innovation was to our messaging.

For a while now, we’ve taken a similar approach here in the Innovation Office. Though many of us come from technical backgrounds—we have former CIOs, enterprise architects, and developers on staff—our job is not to build the Now Platform but to expand ServiceNow’s customer base through creative storytelling and a deep understanding of the platform’s capabilities.

That means we have the technical wherewithal to realize what’s possible and the storytelling experience to articulate it clearly. This is why our marriage to marketing makes so much sense, and my goal is to continue expanding our core workflow narrative so it touches new layers, verticals, industries, and customers.

Done correctly, the right message will affect the strategic direction of this company for years to come, and especially as we continue on the path to $10 billion and beyond.

I speak for the entire Chief Innovation Office when I say I’m excited to continue building that message—to show the world all that ServiceNow is capable of—with our colleagues in brand, communications and marketing. We have so much we can learn from one another.