Freshworks, a global leader in customer engagement software, announced today the appointment of veteran Software as a Service (SaaS) executive David Thompson as chief marketing officer. As one of his first initiatives, Thompson has launched an aggressive brand advertising campaign that positions Freshworks as the smart, friendly alternative in a bloated SaaS market.
Recognized as a pioneer in SaaS marketing and sales, Thompson comes to Freshworks with a deep background in developing best practices for the industry. As WebEx CMO, Thompson launched WebEx and helped build it as the first global SaaS brand, positioning it for IPO and subsequent buyout by Cisco. As CEO and founder of Genius.com/LeadRocket, he grew the marketing automation provider to No. 150 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private companies, successfully positioning it for purchase by CallidusCloud. More recently, he served as CMO at Auction.com/Ten-X and as CSO/acting CMO at Domo.
“Freshworks represents a giant, new wave of global SaaS companies on the verge of totally disrupting the current SaaS leaders,” Thompson said. “Twenty years after the launch of the industry, SaaS platforms have become bloated, and the products have become too hard to use. By catering almost exclusively to the needs of very large enterprises, the current leaders have failed to meet the broader needs of SMBs and medium-sized enterprises. With over 150,000 organizations already using its platform worldwide, Freshworks is well-positioned to lead this next wave of SaaS companies to bring the power of customer engagement to the ‘Global 10 Million’ rather than just the Global 2000.”
Thompson’s appointment comes less than two months after Freshworks secured a $100 million investment led by Accel and Sequoia.
“This is an extraordinarily exciting time for everybody on the Freshworks team,” said Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks CEO. “David is a true visionary, strategic thinker and leader with energy and competitive fire. He has a proven history in SaaS marketing and has created collaborative working environments that bring out the best in every employee. We’re already seeing impressive results with our new advertising campaign and look forward to reinvigorating our marketing strategy with David at the helm.”
The brand advertising campaign, launched in August and called “Hit Refresh,” features a colorful cast of animated SaaS office workers revolting against their employers’ current SaaS solutions – and demanding they be replaced with refreshingly simple customer engagement software from Freshworks. The advertising campaign has been rolled out on billboards, radio, online banner and online video advertisements.
“Freshworks was built to accomplish serious work, but at its core, it’s remarkably easy to use. The products offered by Freshworks’ chief competitors were built from the top down – with management essentially forcing clunky, difficult solutions on their employees,” said Paul Charney, founder and CEO at Funworks, the creative agency working with Freshworks on the campaign. “Freshworks users actually love using their products. They’re happy employees, which means Freshworks customers are happy customers. Our campaign is based on those ideas.”
In the coming weeks, Freshworks will launch a separate ambitious branding effort that builds upon the themes of the “Hit Refresh” campaign.
About Freshworks
Freshworks provides organizations of all sizes with SaaS solutions that make it easy for customer support, sales and marketing professionals to communicate effectively with customers for better service and collaborate with team members to resolve customer issues. The company’s products include Freshdesk, Freshservice, Freshsales, Freshcaller, Freshteam, Freshchat and Freshmarketer. Founded in October 2010, Freshworks Inc., is backed by Accel, Tiger Global Management, CapitalG and Sequoia Capital India. Freshworks’ headquarters are located in San Bruno, Calif., with global offices in India, UK, Australia and Germany. The company’s cloud-based suite is widely used by over 150,000 businesses around the world including the NHS, Honda, Rightmove, Hugo Boss, Citizens Advice, Toshiba and Cisco.