Navigating a Rebrand: Why SurveyMonkey Went Back to the Monkey (With Katie Miserany, CCO & Global Head of Marketing) — The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five)

#393 | Dave interviews Katie Miserany, Chief Communications Officer and Head of Marketing at SurveyMonkey, about why the company rebranded to Momentive to go upmarket and then reversed the decision after going private. Katie explains why sales believed nobody would spend six figures with a company called SurveyMonkey, what changed under the new CEO, and why she now sees the monkey as an advantage. She also covers her path into marketing from communications, why more comms leaders are moving into C-suite marketing roles, and the advice she followed when she took over the function: get close to the growth team and ask your basic questions early so imposter syndrome doesn't cost you the learning.

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Why Katie Feels Like She’s Gotten Twenty Years of Experience in Seven at SurveyMonkey
(05:41) - Why Sales Thought Nobody Would Buy From a Company Called SurveyMonkey
(07:06) - Creating Our Brand Vision and Bringing it to Life
(12:33) - The Campaign That Didn't Move the Needle
(17:04) - Everyone Knows Us - The Version of Us From 2009
(20:08) - The Tactic That Lifted Click-Through by 73%
(25:19) - The Journey From Comms to Head of Marketing
(31:18) - What Comms Actually Does
(37:14) - How to Determine if You Need a Meeting vs an Async Update

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