Legacy to SaaS: Lessons in Leading Customer Change
In this episode of Spotlight on B2B Tech Marketing, host Karen Lloyd interviews John Watton, an international marketing leader who has shaped strategies at tech giants including Adobe, Yext, and VMware.
With extensive experience in building world-class marketing strategies in complex global markets, John shares insights from his transition to a fractional CMO role where he now invests his expertise in helping start-up and scale-up ventures.
This conversation explores explores the challenges of transforming legacy software businesses to subscription model. Learn valuable strategies for leading customer change, maintaining relevance with flat budgets, and the evolving role of fractional CMOs in today's tech landscape.
EPISODE OUTLINE AND HIGHLIGHTS
[00:41] Introduction to John Watton
[01:35] John's charity fundraising challenge for Macmillan Cancer Support
[03:10] Challenges of marketing in large tech companies versus scale-ups
[06:10] Managing with flat budgets whilst driving growth
[06:53] Adobe's transformation from boxed software to subscription model
[13:16] Understanding and addressing customer resistance to change
[17:52] The emotional aspects of B2B buying decisions
[19:45] Balancing data-driven optimisation with creative experimentation
[24:24] John's transition to fractional CMO work with scale-up ventures
[29:10] Key attributes of great marketing leadership
NAVIGATING THE LEGACY TO SAAS TRANSITION: LESSONS LEARNED
One of the most illuminating parts of the conversation centres on John's experience at Adobe during its pivotal transition from boxed software to subscription services in 2013. This represented a significant business model transformation that sparked considerable customer resistance, with tens of thousands of users even petitioning against the change on Change.org.
John explains how Adobe's marketing team managed this transition by listening carefully to customer concerns, maintaining transparent communication through forums, community groups and social channels, and ensuring customers understood the value proposition of the new model. The shift required a fundamental change in marketing approach, moving from an events-heavy strategy to a more digital-focused model with a goal of directing 70% of spend to digital channels.
This transition also redefined marketing's role, extending it beyond customer acquisition to include the entire customer lifecycle, as the subscription model made renewals – and therefore customer value realisation – critical to success. John reflects that this change required marketing to collaborate more closely with customer support and account teams to help customers extract maximum value from their software, representing a significant evolution in B2B marketing responsibilities.
THE ART AND SCIENCE OF MODERN MARKETING
Throughout the conversation, John emphasises the importance of finding the right balance between analytical rigour and creative experimentation. He advocates for a "70-20-10" approach to marketing resource allocation: 70% invested in proven, optimised channels; 20% in evaluating potential new approaches; and 10% in completely experimental initiatives.
This framework creates space for innovation while maintaining business focus. John shares examples of creative experiments that yielded unexpected success, including an online virtual event in three languages that reached 28,000 attendees and generated three times the pipeline of traditional physical events.
He also discusses how internal innovation competitions at VMware produced unconventional marketing approaches like a racing game and an electric VW camper coffee shop tour that effectively engaged customers. The conversation underscores that whilst data should guide optimisation and channel selection, creativity remains essential for breakthrough marketing that captures attention in crowded markets.
TODAY’S GUEST
John is an internationally experienced, results-driven marketing leader who has held leadership positions at major technology companies including Adobe, Yext, and VMware. His expertise lies in building and guiding high-performing marketing teams across diverse geographic regions.
Throughout his career, John has demonstrated skill in developing brands internationally, implementing data-driven marketing strategies, leveraging marketing technology and AI, and encouraging creative approaches to drive business results.
Currently, John divides his time between advisory roles for growing companies and making investments in ventures focused on sustainability, social impact, and wellness sectors.
You can discover more about John’s thoughts on marketing via his blog at johnwatton.com or connect with him on LinkedIn
If you’d like to support John’s fundraising for MacMillan, you can donate here: justgiving.com
OUR HOST
Karen Lloyd is a passionate marketing head-hunter and recruitment expert specialising in marketing and C-suite in the technology sector. With over 25 years of experience in the recruitment industry, Karen brings a unique depth of expertise that sets her apart from most recruiters.
Over her career, Karen has accumulated a wealth of experience that includes serving as a Board Director and being actively involved in growing a business for 13 years. Karen has been a part of five start-ups, giving her first-hand knowledge of the critical importance of hiring the right people.
Currently, Karen is the founder and Director of Armstrong Lloyd. She leads a very special team that partners with businesses and empowers them to build industry-leading marketing teams for some of the most exciting B2B technology brands - from small agile and disruptive start-ups to global giants providing a wealth of product and service offerings.
