How to Create a Category When You're Already the Market Leader (with Melton Littlepage, CMO at 1Password)

#348 | Dave sits down with Melton Littlepage, CMO at 1Password, to talk about what category creation actually looks like inside a company that's already won. Melton breaks down why 1Password is betting on an entirely new category called Extended Access Management, how they chose it over competing in an existing one, and the tactics behind it: lightning strike events, analyst relations, and embedding a former CISO on the marketing team to agitate the problem from the inside. He also makes the case for sports sponsorship as a B2B play, and why the President's Cup was an easy yes.Timestamps(00:00) - - Melton's background: 20 years building SaaS before it was called SaaS (05:30) - - What changes after multiple CMO roles (09:10) - - You can't attribute your way to being hot (10:14) - - The CMO's real job: be the chief markets officer (12:28) - - 1Password today and the market shift that created a new category (19:48) - - The three acts of 1Password's business (20:41) - - Naming the category: Extended Access Management (XAM) (21:43) - - How the decision to create a new category got made (25:58) - - The tactics: category point of view, lightning strikes, analyst relations (30:03) - - How the marketing org is structured (34:35) - - 1Password's three go-to-market motions (38:00) - - Why 1Password is betting on sports marketing Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by:Webflow - A website platform built for the agentic web, helping modern marketing teams build fully custom sites—no developer needed—that perform in AI search. Learn more at webflow.com/for/exitfive.Markup AI - A content quality platform that scans your content against brand voice, preferred terms, messaging standards, and AI-search readiness before it goes live, right inside Google Docs. Learn more at markup.ai.Optimizely - A no-code AI platform where autonomous agents execute marketing work across webpages, email, SEO, and campaigns. Learn how to deploy agents on your marketing team at Agents in the Mix. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Walker Sands - An integrated B2B marketing and growth services agency that helps marketing leaders turn strategy into measurable business impact through their Outcome-based Marketing model. Learn more at walkersands.com/exitfive.Knak - A no-code, campaign creation platform that lets you go from idea to on-brand email and landing pages in minutes, using AI where it actually matters. Learn more at knak.com/exitfive, or check out the MCP server by clicking this link.***Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more