Hi James, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for our blog readers.

CMO James Norwood

Q.1 Running Marketing for a company like KANA must be a diverse job and I’m sure many people would love to know what it involves. What does a typical day consist of?

Answer: There are no typical days! The one thing I love about this industry is that it’s all about change. Every day brings a new set of challenges and opportunities. The marketing function at KANA is fairly diverse, consisting of corporate marketing, product marketing and marketing programs. Our role is to craft market and product strategy and then take our message to market effectively, communicating clearly both inside and outside of the organization. At the end of the day our mission is to conceive of and create demand for products and services that people want to both buy and use. KANA is also a growing company and is doing so through a healthy combination of organic growth and M&A activity and managing to support and develop both sides keeps me personally busy. We have a great team in marketing, spread out across the globe with a really strong set of complementary skills.

Q.2 You’ve only been with KANA for a short while. What was it about the role that persuaded you to join KANA from your previous company?

Answer: Well I’ve actually been on board now for almost six months, starting fully in July 2011. It’s been an education, something I think they call “a baptism by fire.” To be honest, I wasn’t really looking for a new opportunity; I had been at my last employer for 15 years and had seen them grow from $40m to $800m in revenues during that time. I learnt a lot about developing and growing a global business there and I think it was the idea of coming to KANA and bringing that experience to bear here that really appealed. Two other things were important to me: First, KANA has a fantastic next-generation solution that’s at the beginning of its lifecycle and has the potential to significantly benefit our customers in the years to come. Second, I had worked for KANA’s CEO, Mark Duffell in the past, and knew what he was capable of doing in terms of building a successful business, and that gave me additional comfort that coming to KANA was the right thing to do.

Q.3. Can you tell us a little about your plans for 2012? What is likely to be the most significant area of development for KANA marketing over the next 12 months?

Answer: Well I can’t give away all our secrets, but I will tell you that I’m challenging our team in two ways that I think will make a difference. First off, we are working hard to convert our programs mix from being heavily push based to more of a pull focus. More and more buyers begin their search online today and increasingly rely on online listings and resources. Effective pull based marketing can also deliver opportunities at a lower cost than more traditional programs like trade shows and email. Secondly, we’re working hard on our messaging. We have a unique offering for the market here at KANA and our product marketing teams need to work with a variety of sources to understand how best to get that across to potential customers.

Q.4 Has the current economic climate altered these plans?

Answer: Not altered as such but certainly affects how we go to market, in terms of what messages will resonate. It’s going to be another year of managing costs and budgets closely, at KANA as well, and so we need to show our customers how investments in IT can deliver a return on investment that outweighs the expense. If we are honest, many businesses, just like we’re seeing with central and local government austerity measures, will be putting in place some tough business plans for the year. Many of them see targeted IT investments as a way to bridge the gap between cost cutting and maintaining revenue and customer satisfaction goals – and that’s where KANA can help.

Q.4. On a more personal level, can you tell us what are the three most pivotal moments in your career that you either learned from and/or helped you get where you are today?

Answer: There’s really too many moments and too many people who have helped shape my career for me to do this one justice, but I will try. Running my own business for about three and a half years taught me so much, but nothing more important than the value of hard work. I was fortunate to partner up in business with a very talented person at a time when the PC revolution was just beginning. Those were great years. I learnt so much about business, and it set me up for everything since. Another career defining moment was during the post dotcom aftermath. I was running product marketing and my boss at the time summoned me into his office to tell me that they had had to let go of the entire marketing programs team bar one and it would now be my responsibility. That one lady and myself oversaw a transition from direct mail, trade shows and advertising to an almost 100% online and email marketing operation at a time when it was really in its infancy. We had no choice; it’s all we could afford. My passion is definitely product strategy, so my third pivotal moment would be the multi-year planning for and successful delivery of a modern next-generation product to market that delivers tangible benefits to customers. You don’t often get to do that, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have done it twice so far.

Q.5. Tell us a little about James Norwood, the person. What do you do to relax when you’re away from the office?

Answer: Unfortunately, these days the office always travels with you! When I do get the odd opportunity to get away so to speak, I like to spend time in the city. I’m a city boy and so I’m most relaxed and comfortable in a big, noisy, smelly city. London is my home town so that’s my favorite, but I also love Sydney, San Francisco, Singapore and Stockholm too. At weekends I ride my bicycle to keep physically and mentally fit and I also watch more sport than any person should be permitted to. On long plane journeys, which I do a lot of, I have a policy of working on the trip out and then reading a book on the return leg, it’s the only chance I get.

Q.6. Finally, James. If you could ask your customers one question what would it be?

Answer: Simple. How can KANA help you be more successful in 2012?

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