492: Inside CMO+: Marketing, Comms, and a $10B Acquisition
B2B Growth

Renegade Marketers Unite

492: Inside CMO+: Marketing, Comms, and a $10B Acquisition

Renegade Marketers Unite•Nov 28, 2025

AI Summary

Amy Messano explains how she unified marketing, communications, and employee advocacy at Altair to create a single, forward‑focused brand that drove rapid growth and a $10 billion acquisition. By treating earned, owned, and paid media as one system and aligning internal communications with go‑to‑market strategies, the company shifted from a house of brands to a branded house, boosting investor confidence and deal value. She highlights the importance of clear brand architecture, simplified product naming, and a close CEO partnership for CMO+ leaders expanding beyond traditional marketing roles.

Episode Description

CMO+ signals a bigger remit: marketing plus another lane the business depends on.

Drawing from her CMO+ tenure at Altair, Amy Messano (Thomson Reuters) talks with Drew about how unifying marketing and communications and empowering employees to carry the story from the inside out helped fuel rapid growth and a multibillion-dollar acquisition. She shows how treating earned, owned, and paid as one system and tying internal comms to go-to-market kept everyone aligned on the same promise.

In this episode: 

Centralizing marketing and communications in an engineering-led company 

Moving from a house of brands to a branded house built around "Only Forward" 

Linking a consistent brand to investor confidence and deal value

Plus: 

Simplifying product architecture and naming through acquisitions 

Aligning marketing, PR, AR, and internal comms to tell one story 

Using listening and clear brand architecture to bring cultures together 

What CMO+ leadership really requires: new capabilities and a close CEO partnership

If you're stepping into CMO+ or stretching beyond marketing's lane, this episode's for you! 

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/

To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

Show Notes

CMO+ signals a bigger remit: marketing plus another lane the business depends on.

Drawing from her CMO+ tenure at Altair, Amy Messano (Thomson Reuters) talks with Drew about how unifying marketing and communications and empowering employees to carry the story from the inside out helped fuel rapid growth and a multibillion-dollar acquisition. She shows how treating earned, owned, and paid as one system and tying internal comms to go-to-market kept everyone aligned on the same promise.

In this episode: 

  • Centralizing marketing and communications in an engineering-led company 

  • Moving from a house of brands to a branded house built around "Only Forward" 

  • Linking a consistent brand to investor confidence and deal value

Plus: 

  • Simplifying product architecture and naming through acquisitions 

  • Aligning marketing, PR, AR, and internal comms to tell one story 

  • Using listening and clear brand architecture to bring cultures together 

  • What CMO+ leadership really requires: new capabilities and a close CEO partnership

If you're stepping into CMO+ or stretching beyond marketing's lane, this episode's for you! 

For full show notes and transcripts, visit https://renegademarketing.com/podcasts/

To learn more about CMO Huddles, visit https://cmohuddles.com/

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