Kristen Brophy, Senior Director of Marketing at the NBA on Structuring and Organization

The Product Marketing Experts

“You should be listening to your customers every day – it should be a fundamental part of what you do because you represent that customer, and you are their mouthpiece.” – Kristen Brophy

Kristen Brophy is a Senior Director of Marketing at the NBA, leading product marketing efforts on NBA’s direct to consumer side, including the NBA app and the association’s streaming service Lead Pass.

Before coming to the NBA, Kristen was part of Uber and Square, where she picked up important lessons on scaling and strategic alignment. When building a strategy, Kristen doesn’t start with a goal – she outlines the outcome first.

In this episode, you’ll hear about the evolution of NBA’s product marketing, ways to maintain strategic alignment with cross-functional partners, and the importance of creative briefs for positioning.

Want more insights from Kristen? Check out her content on Sharebird.

Looking to connect? You can find Kristen on LinkedIn.

Questions covered in this episode:

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your current role at the NBA.
2. What are your thoughts on the function of product marketing? How do you approach structuring PM teams?
3. In your current position, have you noticed the role of the product marketing team change over time?
4. How is your team at the NBA organized? How do you approach their organization in order to reach viewers and new subscribers?
5. How do you and your team approach strategic alignment with cross-functional partners?
6. As you build your team, how do you equip them for career growth?