By Grant Johnson  This Q/A with Grant Johnson, conducted recently by Drew Neisser, CEO of Renegade, a NYC-based social media and marketing consultancy, also ran here on The Drew Blog. B2B companies for the most part have been playing catch up to their B2C counterparts in the social media arena. One comp... Apr. 18, 2012 12:45 AM EDT Reads: 758 |
By Grant Johnson In their classic book, “The Discipline of Market Leaders,” authors Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema described three basic “value disciplines” that can create customer value and provide a competitive advantage: operational excellence, product leadership, and customer intimac... Mar. 2, 2012 07:58 AM EST Reads: 545 |
By Grant Johnson Good communications succeed by connecting with the audience. Whether you’re talking about a business-to-consumer organization or an enterprise software company, it became clear that not all ad agencies and their clients subscribe to this mandate as I watched wide range of ads airing du... Feb. 7, 2012 10:44 AM EST Reads: 124 |
By Grant Johnson As we embark on another year with an uncertain and fragile economy looming, one thing is certain: most marketers are wasting money. In the Web 2.0 world, and given the measurability of all things digital, at least it’s not as bad as the old lament: “I know half of my money is wasted;... Jan. 18, 2012 08:30 AM EST Reads: 193 |
By Grant Johnson Having created and shaped several successful brands during the past 20 years, including FrontBridge (acquired by Microsoft), FileNet (acquired by IBM), AST Computer (acquired by Samsung) and now Pegasystems, there are several keys challenges that must be addressed to successfully build... Jan. 17, 2012 09:58 AM EST |
By Grant Johnson It seems the chasm between good and bad customer service is growing wider every day. There are many reasons why this is happening. First, social media has empowered the consumer to not only voice her opinion, but also to create a rapid shift in positive or negative sentiment towards ... Nov. 21, 2011 08:40 AM EST Reads: 263 |
By Grant Johnson For many of us, the clarion call to become more customer centric is echoing throughout the halls; we all need to better acquire, serve, and retain customers. While there are many avenues to customer centricity, one of the primary approaches to getting closer to customers starts with d... Nov. 8, 2011 04:25 PM EST Reads: 187 |
By Grant Johnson In most companies, if you ask that question, you’ll often hear “we’re customer driven, so of course everyone owns the customer.” The problem is that when everyone owns the customer, no one actually does. This lack of true customer ownership is in part caused by the fact that most comp... Sep. 9, 2011 04:16 PM EDT Reads: 413 |
By Grant Johnson The ability to seamlessly manage customers across the entire lifecycle and thereby maximize customer value remains an elusive goal for most organizations. There are many reasons for this: companies have established artificial customer service boundaries and silos that require multiple... Aug. 3, 2011 02:31 PM EDT Reads: 146 |
By Grant Johnson You know you’re destined to fail if the words “customer success” appear only on dusty, off-centered posters adorning break rooms and hallways at your company offices. Or maybe that organization has already shuttered. On the other hand, when customer success becomes woven into the fabri... Jun. 22, 2011 10:26 AM EDT Reads: 172 |
By Grant Johnson While it’s one of the enduring tenets in the CRM market, a 360-degree view of the customer is fundamentally flawed. Why is that? Having all the information at your fingertips about any given customer is of little value if you can’t do anything with it to better serve the customer at ... May. 20, 2011 12:27 PM EDT Reads: 820 |
By Grant Johnson At a joint presentation, Martyn Christian, CMO at Kofax, and I explored challenges of customer acquisition and growth and also discussed RO-based strategic approaches that help us achieve measurable success in these endeavors, despite the challenging economy. Since both of us lead mar... May. 6, 2011 11:11 AM EDT Reads: 163 |
By Grant Johnson In today’s competitive software industry, it’s crucial to have a high-performing marketing team in place that’s focused on customers. As a seasoned veteran who has led marketing organizations of all sizes, I can’t emphasize this enough. Organizations which underestimate the importanc... May. 5, 2011 09:09 AM EDT Reads: 129 |
By Grant Johnson Consolidation among leading software companies has changed the overall dynamic of technological advancement. Many are taking the “stack” approach and zeroing in on acquiring companies with existing offerings, instead of making deeper R&D investments and focusing on continuous inter... Oct. 31, 2010 10:13 AM EDT Reads: 551 |
By Grant Johnson Having created and shaped several successful brands during the past 15 years, including FrontBridge (acquired by Microsoft), FileNet (acquired by IBM), AST Computer (acquired by Samsung) and now Pegasystems, there are six keys challenges that must be addressed to successfully build and... Oct. 13, 2010 05:01 PM EDT Reads: 474 |
By Grant Johnson The most essential quality and success factor I’ve seen for CMOs (at least in technology companies where’s I’ve spent the past two decades is the ability to lead successful change initiatives, especially on a global basis. I’ve seen others fail when, upon achieving executive support f... Oct. 7, 2009 03:35 PM EDT Reads: 361 |
By Grant Johnson The hardest, and most essential, quality and success factor I’ve seen for CMOs (at least in technology companies where’s I’ve spent the past two decades is the ability to lead successful change initiatives, especially on a global basis. I’ve seen others fail when, upon achieving execu... Oct. 7, 2009 03:37 PM EDT Reads: 385 |
By Grant Johnson Given all the pressure to deliver "in quarter" results, it's becoming increasingly difficult to get executive attention on strategy formation and/or re-examination. Executive energy is largely consumed with driving operational excellence and available "cycles' are devoted to sales an... Sep. 9, 2009 04:58 PM EDT Reads: 531 |
By Grant Johnson Most organizational experts will tell you that when joining an organization, the company's culture is the key to determining whether you will thrive or suffer in a given work environment. While this is true for a mid-level manager or individual contributor, the closer you get to the t... Sep. 1, 2009 11:13 AM EDT Reads: 384 |
By Grant Johnson If you haven't revisited your brand architecture in more than a year, it's likely what you're building is a façade, rather than reinforcing a foundation. Because technology and innovation are inextricably linked, tech companies are continuously introducing new products and services, an... Aug. 30, 2009 11:28 AM EDT Reads: 534 |
By Grant Johnson It’s anyone’s guess when the recession bottoms out and we get back to growth. Rather than remain in a “state” of denial – like California did for too long – or adopt a hunker down mentality – “let’s just ride this one out” &#... Aug. 30, 2009 11:24 AM EDT Reads: 388 |
By Grant Johnson Over the past 15 years helping clients wage war in the technology marketplace, we’ve come to appreciate that the first battle for marketing is often the one fought inside a company between sales and marketing. Let’s face it, the two functions are often at odds due to the he fundamental... Aug. 30, 2009 11:20 AM EDT Reads: 306 |
By Grant Johnson When joining a new company, it’s critical to quickly assess the team you’ve inherited to determine what level oforganization restructuring and rebuilding will be required to ensure functional success. Before rushing to judgment and a rapid makeover, take time to understand – on a pers... Aug. 29, 2009 02:43 PM EDT Reads: 311 |
By Grant Johnson Having created and shaped several successful brands over the past decade, including FrontBridge (acquired by Microsoft) and FileNet (acquired by IBM), there are a few fundamentals that are key to successful brand development. It has to start at the top with the CEO supporting an inve... Aug. 29, 2009 02:35 PM EDT Reads: 879 |
By Grant Johnson  If you haven’t revisited your brand architecture in more than a year, it’s likely what you’re building is a façade, rather than reinforcing a foundation. Because technology and innovation are inextricably linked, tech companies are continuously introducing new products and services, a... Aug. 10, 2009 08:59 AM EDT Reads: 4,075 |
By Grant Johnson  Most organizational experts will tell you that when joining an organization, the company’s culture is the key to determining whether you will thrive or suffer in a given work environment. While this is true for a mid-level manager or individual contributor, the closer you get to the t... Jul. 3, 2009 10:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,735 |
By Grant Johnson  Given all the pressure to deliver “in quarter” results, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get executive attention on strategy formation and/or re-examination. Executive energy is largely consumed with driving operational excellence and available “cycles’ are devoted to sales an... Jun. 18, 2009 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,056 |
By Grant Johnson  Marketing through a recession requires a more thoughtful approach to segmentation, customer acquisition and retention.It's anyone's guess when the recession bottoms out and we get back to growth. Rather than remain in a "state" of denial - like California did for too long - or adopt a... Jun. 16, 2009 02:30 PM EDT Reads: 5,956 |
By Grant Johnson  Sales and marketing alignment, integration, coordination, and collaboration is key to maximizing marketing ROI and sales productivity. Over the past 15 years waging war in the technology marketplace, I’ve come to appreciate that the first battle for marketing is often the one fought in... Jun. 16, 2009 02:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,016 |
A dynamic, senior-level technology executive with a proven track record building businesses on a global basis.
As Chief Marketing Officer for Pegasystems in Cambridge, MA Johnson is responsible for worldwide marketing strategy and execution. He oversees corporate marketing, field marketing, industry marketing, product marketing, marketing programs, marketing communications, analyst and public relations, and global web strategy.
Previously, Johnson was the Vice President of Marketing at Guidance Software (GUID) and Vice President of Marketing and served as an officer for FileNet Corp., a $400+ million enterprise software vendor acquired by IBM in 2006.
Prior to that, he was Vice President of Marketing for FrontBridge, an email management vendor acquired by Microsoft. Johnson led the company’s re-naming and re-launch, built the marketing team and delivered integrated marketing programs to support significant and sustained revenue growth. He has also served as Director of Marketing for Symantec, with worldwide responsibility for the Norton brand, and as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Ethentica, an enterprise security vendor.
Johnson received his bachelor of arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his master’s in business administration from Pepperdine University. He has also published several articles on best practices in high tech marketing and co-authored the book, PowerBranding™
