SAID DIFFERENTLY Ep.1: The CEO's Stake In Messaging Success
In this episode of Said Differently, we welcome former Chief Marketing Officer of Visier and Pendo, Jake Sorofman, to talk about the critical importance of successful messaging and why the C-suite, especially the CEO, should care deeply about this.
In an episode of Troupe's expert video series Said Differently, host Jennifer Sikora sat down with Jake Sorofman, former CMO of Vizier and Pendo, to talk about why messaging effectiveness is one of the most critical – and often overlooked – drivers of growth.
“A lot of people will understate the importance of messaging, think of it as, like, a nice-to-have, or sort of discretionary. I think it's everything. It might be second to great products as the leading predictor of revenue performance for a company,” said Jake.
This conversation dove deep into the mindset of the C-suite, the unique challenges of product marketing, and the role CEOs play as the “chief storytelling officer.”
Why Messaging Effectiveness Is Non-Negotiable
Attention spans are shrinking, and clarity matters more than ever. Jake shared that, like many of us, his own attention span “is shattered,” and that means messaging needs to do its job fast:
“If I don't understand who you are, what you do, how you're different, for whom you do what uniquely well… almost instantaneously, I've kind of moved on. … When you get it right, it's rocket fuel.”
Jennifer added that story is having “a real moment right now,” noting that messaging is “weighed down by a lot of opinions,” especially in the C-suite. The challenge for marketing leaders is to ensure story isn’t just an anecdote or a pet opinion, but something supported by data and evidence.
The CEO as Chief Storytelling Officer
One of Jake’s most memorable lines of the conversation was:
“I think the CEO is the chief storytelling officer.”
He pointed to leaders like Mark Benioff and Bill McDermott as examples of CEOs who “can move an audience, and really, really get people to believe and understand.” But he also reminded listeners that great storytelling isn’t just about personality:
“It's easy to conflate great storytelling with big personality. … It just requires the care and attention to putting together that structure, and really caring about how that story is told.”
The key, according to Jake, is “flexibility within a framework” – allowing room for individual voices while keeping the core narrative intact.
Messaging Iteration Extremes: “Set It and Forget It” vs. “Mercurial Machinations”
The two also explored how companies approach messaging refresh cadence. As Jennifer put it, teams often fall into one of two camps:
The first, is more of a ‘set it and forget it for awhile’ mindset. She explains: “We have our messaging, and we're just running with this… we're not even going call it into question.” And on the other end of the spectrum, she characterizes it as constant tinkering or experiments: “It’s what I call mercurial machinations.”
Jake warned that too much iteration can backfire:
“The mercurial machinations of, like, just constantly iterating on your messaging leads to a lot of false negatives, because you don't give the messaging an opportunity to breathe. … By the time [marketing is] tired of it, the market is just starting to understand.”
Advice for CMOs: Involve the CEO, Bring Data
When asked how CMOs can best work with their CEOs, Jake’s advice was simple and direct:
“Two pieces of advice: make sure the CEO is involved front to back, and bring data. … The only way to defend against the CEO's strongly held opinions is with data.” Troupe is cited in the conversation as a solution that actually measures and presents that data and recommendations on where to focus for improvements.
Jennifer closed the conversation by emphasizing that, “said differently, you have to have that top-down prioritization, from leadership, and push on this, but the execution of it is still going to be owned by marketing.”
This conversation is a reminder to every marketing leader that messaging is not just a creative exercise – it’s a strategic one. When the CEO, marketing, and sales are aligned around a clear, evidence-based narrative, messaging becomes a powerful lever to drive growth.