All-Star CMOs: Marketers Must Hit a Moving Target from a Runaway Train

A group of 11 all-star CMOs gathered for a CMO Roundtable at last month’s Channel Partners Conference & Expo.

Marketing in the channel could qualify as an extreme sport these days. The pandemic, mergers and acquisitions, the changing face of decision-makers, increased security needs, personnel changes and more have created numerous challenges.

The panel discussed those challenges.

Led by marketing guru Allison Bergamo, principal of Bergamo Marketing Group, the roundtable participants included Amy Bailey, senior vice president of marketing for Telarus; Nick Bandy, CMO at LiveVox; Theresa Caragol, CEO of AchieveUnite; Jamie Domenici, CMO of GoTo; Brian Gilman, CMO at IntelePeer; Khali Henderson, senior partner at BuzzTheory; Amanda Lee, senior vice president of global communications at Pax8; Michelle Ragusa-McBain, leader for the global partner organization at Cisco; Brittany Watts, marketing director for Informa Tech; and Dalyn Wertz, executive director, indirect channel program and marketing for Comcast Business.

Bergamo Marketing Group’s Allison Bergamo

Telarus’ Amy Bailey

LiveVox’s Nick Bandy

AchieveUnite’s Theresa Caragol

GoTo’s Jamie Domenici

IntelePeer’s Brian Gilman

Buzz Theory’s Khali Henderson

Pax8’s Amanda Lee

Cisco’s Michelle McBain

Informa Tech’s Brittany Watts

Comcast Business’ Dalyn Wertz

In the first of this three-part series, we look at how, in a whirlwind of personnel changes, mergers and acquisitions, rebrandings and private equity-funded expansion, organizations work to maintain a consistent brand strategy with their partners and customers.

Equity, Acquisition and Rebranding Challenges

In December 2020, technology solutions brokerage Telarus received a growth equity investment led by Columbia Capital. It was the first time Telarus had taken investment money. The company said it would use the money to bring partners more tools and more support.

Last October, Comcast Business completed the acquisition of SDN pioneer Masergy. Earlier this year, it was announced that Comcast’s Craig Schlagbaum would be taking the reins of the channel programs for Comcast Business and Masergy.

After being hired as LogMeIn’s CMO in January 2021, Domenici immediately set to work directing the company’s rebrand to GoTo. An onerous task at any time, this project came with a one-year timeline for rebranding a private equity-backed company during a pandemic.

At the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, Pax8 announced that it has raised $185 million in new equity capital from SoftBank Vision Fund, Catalyst Investors, Sageview Capital, Blue Cloud Ventures and Liberty Global Ventures. The new investment will provide capital to accelerate innovation and continued expansion into new global markets. The next day, it was announced that Pax8 will be making some AWS platforms available to partners.

Citing these three developments, Bergamo asked Telarus’ Bailey, Comcast Business’ Wertz, GoTo’s Domenici and Pax8’s Lee to share some of their challenges and opportunities that they and their teams faced.

Scroll through the gallery above to find out how world-class marketers maintain a steady course through a sea of change.