In this episode of Product Marketing Maestros, host Nitin Kartik dives into the intricate world of competitive intelligence with Bryan Elanko, Senior Product Marketing Manager at CloudBees. Bryan shares his strategic journey of establishing a robust competitive intelligence practice from the ground up. 

Key takeaways

  • Strategic approach to challenges: Bryan demonstrates a methodical approach to addressing challenges in setting up a new competitive intelligence practice. He emphasizes the importance of understanding stakeholder needs through a listening tour and creating tailored solutions, such as cheat sheets for different buying centers.
  • Building a competitive intelligence ecosystem: Bryan highlights the importance of building a competitive intelligence ecosystem that includes competitor analysis, real-time insights dissemination, and a feedback loop. This approach ensures that sales teams are equipped with the necessary information to compete effectively in the market.
  • Quantitative and qualitative metrics for success: Bryan emphasizes the use of both quantitative metrics (such as win rates and deal size) and qualitative metrics (such as sales asset adoption and feedback from sales teams) to track the success of the initiatives. This comprehensive measurement approach allows for a holistic evaluation of the impact of the competitive intelligence practice on sales performance.

About our guest

Bryan Elanko, Senior Product Marketing Manager at CloudBees

Bryan is a seasoned B2B Product Marketing Leader with years of experience shaping strategy, developing, and launching products in diverse industries, including tech, energy, and telecom. He has worked in the US, Canada, and Norway, gaining exposure to different B2B SaaS and hardware solutions, short- and long-cycle projects, and both commodity and cutting-edge products.

Bryan's professional journey began as an engineer designing and developing control systems software. Gradually, he transitioned into product management, merging his technology experience with his business aptitude. His customer-focused projects spanned everything from ideation to business case development, launch, and post-launch management.

Lately, following a stint in strategy, Bryan's focus has been on product marketing. In his current role at CloudBees, he leads the work on buyer insights, PLG strategy, market and competitive intelligence.

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Stay tuned for more episodes of Product Marketing Maestros: Tales From the Front Lines.