Positioning and growing Whereby as the easiest and best way to have video meetings during the global pandemic.
Whereby
B2B | B2C | SaaS
Product marketing
Copywriting
Email lifecycle
Growth campaigns
Brand strategy
Editorial
Sustainability
March 3, 2021
In 2021, mid-way global pandemic, I joined Whereby, a Norwegian SaaS video conferencing startup, as a freelance Senior Product Marketer. As the world faced a new paradigm of remote work and virtual connection, the demand for communication tools surged. Whereby was well-poised for a rapid growth, with its user-friendly 'Whereby rooms' meeting links and distinct brand gaining popularity among freelancers, teams, agencies, and organizations worldwide. I joined a newly formed marketing team to develop and execute scalable product marketing strategies that established the browser-based video meetings platform as the most user-friendly among a market dominated by Big Tech competitors.
Whereby as a company is 100% remote-first in its DNA. In 2019, the company rebranded, developing its key message "Freedom to work from anywhere". This was months before phrases like "Can you see my screen?" became the new normal, and the pandemic had transformed the face of remote work. Our challenge was now to differentiate its product offering at the hand of its user-friendly features tailored for individuals, professionals, and teams.
Reporting to the Director of Product Marketing, and collaborating closely with its product teams, I developed and executed strategies that focused on product positioning, user retention, and paid conversion. This covered testing marketing and content initiatives across the product experience, user email lifecycle, brand campaigns, and content strategy.
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In partnership with Brynk, we ran a month-long 'February Forest' campaign where the company pledged to plant one million trees in exchange for video meetings.
"Help us plant up to one million trees just by hosting a free meeting on Whereby."
Inspired by Ecosia's model that aligns user engagement with sustainability and social responsibility– all things that the Whereby team cared about and the brand stood for– I pitched the idea to our new CMO. The campaign stood as a sound experiment of aligning the brand's ethical ambition with user passions to drive user acuisition and loyalty, and also driving positive environmental impact. I contributed to the campaign's activation and key messaging, focusing on targeting the business audience. I also wrote blog posts to launch the campaign, including a post on the business carbon footprint considerations of working remotely.
As 2020 came to an end for the holiday season, we launched a campaign that gifted Whereby users with the Premium feature for free.
"We’re making meetings for up to 50 people free during the festive season, so everyone can celebrate with each other, wherever they are in the world."
Working alongside the product team, we developed the in-product feature and experience, developing an integrated marketing campaign, in-product messaging, and email marketing to drive adoption and engagement with the feature.
My time at Whereby allowed me to learn from how a fast-growing, remote-first team functions at its best. I was inspired by their culture of working asynchronously as a globally distributed team, living up to the excellent product and brand they'd built.
I love to work in roles where I'm able to wear multiple hats and roll up my sleeves, especially when able to work on product differentiation and creative marketing of a brand I resonate with. Contributing to Whereby’s evolution during a crucial global shift was immensely rewarding, working with a talented, global team to redefine how technology can enable human connection, even during the most challenging times.
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Corporate Sustainability Leadership Accelerator
Terra.do, 2024
Learning for Climate Action Fellowship
Terra.do, 2024
Ideas to Action: Design Thinking Certificate
IDEO U, 2024
Webflow 101
Webflow University, 2024
MSc Communication Sciences: Media Culture
University of Antwerp, 2010
Technology
AnyRoad, Appear Here, Gartner, Google, JustEat, Meta, Microsoft for Startups, Mixcloud, Spotify, Thrust Carbon, Whereby, Wise
Brands & lifestyle
Aritzia, Audi, Diageo, Fnatic, Lululemon, Shure
Agencies
Beyond, Heroleads, HUGE, Impossible, The Many, ThoughtLDR, Protein, We Are Social
Plus, over a dozen early-stage startups.
Writing & speaking opportunities
Courier, NYLON, The Next Web, Open Data Institute, Terra.do, The Space Arts
