Karen Steele

*** *. ****** ***. #* Campbell, CA *5008

503-***-**** adsvos@r.postjobfree.com

LI: linkedin.com/in/karen-steele-b237b4

www.steele-alloy.com

Marketing Executive / CMO / Advisor

Seasoned executive seeking fast-growth, scale-up opportunity. Passionate data-driven, full stack marketer with deep B2B software and SaaS experience in data, analytics, IT infrastructure and Sales & Marketing technology across revenue channels and CX. Expert global skills for public and private companies spanning customer journey/experience, GTM strategy & execution, brand strategy/narrative development, thought leadership, media/analyst/influencer and investor relations, social media, employee engagement, executive and customer communications to position companies competitively and impact growth and share of voice.

Comprehensive experience in global voice of the customer and product strategy with a lengthy career that includes Fortune 1000 and start-up companies. Expertise in development and delivery of branding strategies to drive market development, category leadership, awareness, demand and a compelling narrative and ‘voice’. Strong understanding of how to analyze a current market strategy, identify opportunities for growth and development, and execute targeted multi-channel campaigns, thought leadership and strategic efforts to drive engagement and deliver multi-million dollar results.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Strategy & Positioning Revenue Marketing & Growth Strategic Analysis & Planning Global Team Leadership

Digital Marketing Corporate Communications Social Media Strategy GTM Strategy & Execution Demand Generation Partner Marketing Analyst & Influencer Relations Cross-Functional Collaboration Event Strategy/Planning Creative Team/In-house Agency Management Operations & Governance

EXPERIENCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

NEAR, Pasadena, CA 5/17/21-present

SVP Global Marketing

Joined the company post the merger of Ubermedia and Near to build the first global Marketing team for the ccmbined company www.near.com. Successfully built in a six-month period, a 22-person global world-class Marketing team.

Managed the merger of an Asia Pac company and an American company into a singular global brand, establishing a market category and the positioning, voice and personality for the company as well as a website transformation

Developed a global brand strategy and framework for the company: vision, mission, brand promise, corporate values, company and product narrative and rolled it out to entire company via a Brand Ambassador program around the world

Managed the prep and positioning of Near through a successful SPAC financial transaction (merger to IPO) leading all internal and external communications launched in mid-May 2021

Executed national advertising across digital and business/financial press as well as targeted vertical segments to drive awareness resulting in top of funnel pipeline

Built core marketing and customer database and infrastructure to build growth and repeatable GTM engine delivering 30%+ Marketing contributed pipeline for the Americas, ANZ, S. East Asia within two quarters

Significantly increased Near’s Share of voice via content, thought leadership, social and paid/earned channels

Launched the company’s first up sell and Customer advocacy efforts

Architected the first Content Committee, content programs and research focused on Near’s own data

LEANDATA, Sunnyvale, CA 12/2017 - 3/2020

Chief Marketing Officer

Direct end-to-end marketing strategy, go-to-market execution and the day-to-day operations, with responsibility for overseeing 14 team members and all aspects of marketing, product strategy and GTM execution to help the company achieve double digit growth YOY for past 24 months.

In first 90 days, hired world-class team of revenue/GTM and marketing team

Architected complete brand strategy and market positioning for the company including a new company narrative and rebrand/new corporate identity across all internal and external communications

Pioneered the development of an emerging category 'Revenue Operations’ and positioned LeanData as a leader in the space

Scaled GTM strategy and execution in partnership with Sales and Customer Success

Served as the company’s primary spokesperson resulting in significant reach and awareness including multiple tech and business press coverage, podcasts, webinars and speaking engagements

Built company’s first inbound marketing engine generating 40% of total company new business pipeline and 10% upsell

Developed product strategy, positioning and pricing for all of the company’s offerings

Grew and expanded the LeanData OpsStars (www.ops-stars.com) industry event/community and achieved 60% YOY growth in attendees and sponsor revenue

MARKETO, San Mateo, CA 3/2016 – 10/2017

GVP Corporate Marketing

Directed the day-to-day global operations, with responsibility for overseeing 27 global team members and managing a $16M annual marketing programs spend. Focused on the strategic delivery of brand strategy, corporate communications, digital center of excellence, creative services, customer advocacy, corporate events/trade shows and employee engagement.

Successfully repositioned the company and new executive team post-PE acquisition communications internally and externally (media, industry/financial analysts/influencers and customers)

Co-led product strategy of ABM product GTM and Customer Experience and led Early Adopter Program

Led employee engagement strategy and execution culminating in 99% of employee members in advocacy program, 37% ‘highly engaged’, 150+ referrals in first 5 months.

Designed and executed integrated product launch and early adopter program for Account-based Marketing product.

Conducted first brand tracking study baseline to gauge and understand the company’s brand awareness and competitive position among key decision makers in marketing.

Led voice of the customer strategy and activities generating hundreds of global customer reviews, references and assets; increased organic growth in the online community by 15%

Designed and executed the largest Marketing Nation Summit (6,200 attendees) transformation of content strategy (40% thought leadership sessions/speakers), creation of a unique engagement experience, and executive attendance (500+ CMOs).

Commissioned comprehensive qualitative and quantitative primary research (among 2,000 marketers and consumers) to drive thought leadership and brand preference.

Defined and executed strategy for global paid, earned and owned media.

Successfully repositioned the company and new CEO post-PE acquisition internally and externally.

STEELE-ALLOY, Campbell, CA 2015

Founder

Created a strategic marketing consultancy (www.steele-alloy.com), combining dozens of years of technology marketing with a wide array of multiple disciplines and category experience, Alloy provides a powerful synergy of marketing, strategy, media, and creative skills.

VMWARE, Palo Alto, CA 2012 - 2015

VP Corporate Marketing

Directed the day-to-day global operations, with responsibility for overseeing 60 global team members and managing a $80M annual marketing programs spend. Focused on the strategic delivery of product branding, corporate messaging, marketing communications, product launches, promotions, events, and trade shows.

Increased unaided brand awareness in cloud infrastructure from 19% to 25%, year-over-year in the U.S.

Drove a brand repositioning effort to extend the business value proposition outside core server virtualization to complete data center automation, cloud infrastructure, networking, and business mobility.

Sprearheaded competitive strategy and campaign to assert a strong, sustaining position for the company.

Audited demand generation processes and operations to boost efficiency and pipeline productivity.

Executed international conferences, forums, and product launches attracting 80k+ attendees annually.

Responsible for VMWorld, an event for thought leaders, subject matter experts, and IT professionals.

SABA SOFTWARE, Redwood Shores, CA 2010 - 2012

SVP Corporate Marketing

Led the overall marketing strategy, with responsibility for a 30-person global team and a $5M annual marketing programs spend. Directed branding and positioning, communications, pipeline management, demand generation, event planning, customer marketing, public relations (PR), and global operations.

Led all global communications internal and external: media, anal, IR and customers

Aligned corporate and field marketing teams to consistently deliver 3x pipeline goals.

Repositioned the enterprise learning brand to a relevant position in HR management.

Gained traction and credibility with HR influencers and thought leaders.

XACTLY CORPORATION, San Jose, CA 2006 - 2009

Senior Vice President, Marketing & Product Management

Managed the activities of a 10-person team and annual marketing programs spend of $2M. Led product strategy, brand strategy, PR, go-to-market (GTM), marketing communications, corporate events and tradeshows and customer programs.

Developed and executed a strategy beyond incentive compensation management (ICM). Resulted in an 18-month product roadmap to exploit the $8B market for a broader sales performance management (SPM) market opportunity.

Spearheaded the outbound product management and strategy around the first analytics product offering. Efforts led to a successful rollout of the product and subsequent add-on revenue.

Architected first marketing automation process and set of tools to streamline demand creation and marketing programs delivering ~ 2,000 MQLs per quarter with 5% lead to opportunity conversion rate.

Achieved media mindshare of 3x the closest competitor, CEO visibility of 5x the closest competitor and 13 awards and market recognition in 2008 alone.

Positioned the company to capture the large and emerging SaaS sales performance management market segment within the first six months.

INFORMATICA CORPORATION, Redwood City, CA 2003 - 2006

Vice President, WW Corporate Marketing

Managed a 42-person global team with a $11M annual marketing programs spend. Delivered strategies to support brand strategy, voice of the market process, analyst relations, investor relations, public relations, GTM, marketing

communications, demand creation and field marketing, corporate events, trade shows and customer programs including install base up-sell and cross-sell initiatives.

Designed execution of a Pan European PR strategy, resulting in a consolidation of four country-specific agencies to one with a cost savings of $250k+ annually.

Directed and implemented comprehensive sales IT systems including a sales portal and customer profile and reference database to accelerate the sales process.

o Managed global product launches and four successful user conferences, averaging partner sponsorship of 60% growth in 2006 and attendee growth of 70% in 2005.

Redirected the corporate brand position, leading to an accelerated decision to exit the analytical applications market segment in the first year.

Supported industry initiatives in financial services, government, healthcare and technology

Managed the communications and positioning of two strategic technology acquisitions with key influencers, customers and Wall Street.

Directed automation of sales funnel development and lead generation, contributing 45% of NA sales.

Launched Asia Pacific subsidiary offices in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Beijing, Singapore, Sydney, and Delhi.

Served as primary corporate spokesperson and represented company at key industry events.

Previous Roles:

VP of Global Marketing at Currenex, Inc.;

Director of Corporate Marketing at Alphablox Corp.;

Director Marketing Communications at NeXT; and

Manager of Consumer Marketing Programs/Marketing Communications at Apple Computer, Inc.

Contact this candidate