We've a whole lotta love for product marketers; you’re the Homer to our Marge, bread to our butter, Andre 3000 to our Big Boi.

Put simply, we’d be lost without you. 🤷‍♂️

So, when we surveyed PMMs for the State of Product Marketing Report 2020 and found PMMs only felt valued 68% of the time, we figured we’d do something about it. After all, we want you to feel awesome, all the time.

Our Product Marketing Awards 2020 is the opportunity for PMMs to get the recognition and acclaim they deserve, and after receiving nominations in their droves, we’ve whittled our way through the nominees and formed a list of lucky finalists.

Without further ado, let’s reveal the lucky bunch… 👀

Product Marketing Leader of the Year

Inspirational teams are led by inspiring PMMs, practitioners who go above and beyond to ensure they not only meet their goals but surpass them through sheer grit and determination.

The Product Marketing Leader of the Year award pays homage to the PMMs who lead their respective teams to greatness, with their exemplary leadership influencing customer experiences, as well as their in-house team.

Finalists for 2020:

  • Yoni Solomon, Director of Product Marketing and GTM at G2
  • Tamara Grominsky, VP of Strategic Growth at Unbounce
  • Karim Zuhri, Head of Product Marketing and Research at SafetyCulture
  • Saba Mirza, Director of Product Marketing at Automation Anywhere
  • Ryan Yackel, VP of Product and Content Marketing at Keyfactor
  • Joshua Lory, Senior Director, Product Marketing at VMware
  • Randy Richards, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Visa
  • Mindi Grissom, Director of Product Marketing at Dataiku

Product Marketing Team of the Year

While individual accolades are always lovely, product marketing very much relies on teamwork and communication, with the latter considered the core skill needed to become a great PMM.

We’ve received nominations for teams who during the last 12 months have demonstrated a particular ability to collaborate, build relationships, and above all else, deliver results for their respective companies.

So, without further ado, introducing this year’s top teams:

  • ZoomInfo
  • Vendasta
  • New Relic
  • Babbel
  • G2
  • Zendesk

Rising Star of the Year

An award reserved for exciting additions earmarked for greatness, the Rising Star of the Year accolade recognizes the leading lights of tomorrow, today.

The PMM set to scoop this award will receive recognition for their overwhelming impact on their respective team, product, and the company as a whole.

2020’s finalists:

  • Andrea Schiller, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Salesforce.org
  • Katherine Vasilopoulos, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Amazon
  • Charlotte Norman, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Canva
  • Nick McLachlan, Product Marketing Manager at Adobe
  • Michael Olson, Director of Product Marketing at New Relic
  • Alex Virden, Senior Product Marketing Manager at EVERFI
  • Robert Thacker, Director of Product Marketing at iGrafx
  • Kimberlee West, Product Marketing Manager at Xactly Corp
  • Sebastian Ungureanu, Product Marketing Lead at Bitdefender
  • Igor Kranjcec, Product Marketing Lead at Lemax
  • Sonduren Fanarredha, Product Marketing Lead at Kira Systems
  • Srini Sekaran, Senior Product Manager at Amazon

Product Marketing Newcomer of the Year

With more people than ever completing the transition into product marketing, fresh faces are opening the floodgate for new ideas.

Our Product Marketing Newcomer of the Year award serves as the ideal welcome for newcomers to the field, with finalists including:

  • Janelle Kim, Product Marketing Manager at Adobe
  • Aaron Guo, Associate Product Marketing Manager at Google
  • Kelly Farrell, Associate Product Marketing Manager at LinkedIn
  • Madison Silver, Product Marketing Manager at Snap! Raise
  • Karyn Thompson, Associate Product Marketing Manager at Accruent
  • Ryan Sanders, Product Marketing Manager at Keyfactor
  • Parke Hunter, Product Marketing Specialist at Alteryx
  • Tershone Phillips, Product Marketing Manager at Comscore

Sales Enablement Star of the Year

Converting leads to customers is very much the name of the game, hence, sales enablement is pivotal.

Step forward the stars of sales enablement, PMMs willing to break a sweat in their efforts to support sales reps, communicate with customers, in a bid to smash targets.

Which of these stars will shine brightest?

  • Emily Faracca, Content Creator at Arbeit
  • Nina Nasre, Product Marketing Manager at Adobe
  • Sapphire Reels, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Pluralsight

Positioning Maestro

Positioning a product is hard work; positioning a product well is a skill, in itself.

From USPs, competitor intel, to outlining how your product solves pain points for your customer, positioning is a pivotal part of the process.

The following nominees have been recognized by their peers as possessing the ability to bring a product to the forefront of a consumer’s mind and keep it there.

  • Tony Pham, Head of Marketing at Kadena
  • Div Manickam, Portfolio Messaging & Product Marketing Leader
  • Matt Duench, Product Marketing Manager at Arctic Wolf

The Above and Beyond Award

Whether you’re onboarding a new member of the team or pushing yourself to improve the quality of a product launch, there are times when you need to go beyond the call of duty.

These PMMs are willing to roll their sleeves up to do what they can to deliver results, with the efforts of the following finalists recognized by their peers:

  • Saba Mirza, Director of Product Marketing at Automation, Anywhere, Inc.
  • Vincent Xu, Marketing Lead at Google
  • Shreya Kothari Sawala, Product Marketing Lead at Finturi
  • Sonduren Fanarredha, Product Marketing Lead at Kira Systems

Product Launch of the Year

Seeing your product finally sitting on the shelf is an awesome feeling, purely because the process building up to the launch itself is long and requires a lot of hard work, dedication, and teamwork.

The Product Launch of the Year isn’t a prize for the most expensive, or most elaborate launch. It’s an opportunity for us to say ‘congrats’ to PMMs who haven’t skimped on competitor intel, customer outreach, research strategies, etc. to ensure their launch is the best it could be.

  • ZoomInfo - In early 2019, DiscoverOrg acquired ZoomInfo. Instead of keeping the same name, they rebranded to ZoomInfo.
  • Kira Systems - AI driven contract analysis, helping companies understand what’s in their contracts and documents.
  • AirMeet - A platform designed to host events and build real connections, online.
  • EVERFI Staying Healthy in a Working Environment course - A course designed to keep workplaces safe, promote employee well-being, and create a more inclusive work environment through online training.
  • Sprinklr Sandbox - A unique, isolated test environment mimicking users’ live production environment. This allows companies to practice with precision, and test without the fear of making errors. Sprinklr Sandbox allows users to configure features, test integrations, and onboard new teammates with reduced risk.
  • API Management - Rahul Agarwal, Product Marketing Manager, has been nominated for his contribution to the company’s first-ever comprehensive product launch.
  • RainFocus - RainFocus is a SaaS company focused on event management for large businesses who have adapted admirably to COVID-19. When the pandemic struck, their industry suffered. However, they channelled their energy into pivoting to being an online events management host and provider.

Most Innovative PMM Campaign

There’s nothing better than unearthing an awesome idea that’s gonna stand out from the rest of the competition.

After all, innovation excites; it’d be boring if we were all the same, right?

An award created for the creator, Most Innovative PMM Campaign is our tilt of the hat to a campaign that’s made people sit back, raise their eyebrows, and give a quick round of applause.

The question? Who’s been dubbed chief visionary from this crop of creatives?

  • EVERFI with their The National Financial Bee online course and scholarship competition
  • G2 with their Go-to-Market playbook

Top Companies to Work in Product Marketing

For some people, going into work’s an effort. A chore. A slog.

But park that thought for a minute, ‘cos this award celebrates an enticing trio of companies where staff head into work with a spring in their step.

The finalists vying for the title?

  • GitLab
  • Salesforce
  • Zendesk
  • New Relic
  • IBM
  • Electric
  • Rent the Runway
  • Vendasta
  • ZoomInfo
  • Tink

What’s next?

First of all, a huge congratulations to our finalists! 🥳

Since we opened applications, we’ve been swamped with nominations, so it’s truly an achievement in itself to have made it this far!

The excitement starts 14th September, when we’ll be announcing a winner from each category, every day, for 10-days.

The PMA team wishes you all the very best of luck! 🏆