How to Create a Category When You're Already the Market Leader (with Melton Littlepage, CMO at 1Password)
From The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five) by Exit Five
April 20, 2026 · 51 min · Episode 348
About this episode
Dave Gerhardt interviews Melton Littlepage about category creation at 1Password and their new approach to marketing.
#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 (07:45) - - What changes after multiple CMO roles (11:25) - - You can't attribute your way to being hot (12:29) - - The CMO's real job: be the chief markets officer (14:43) - - 1Password today and the market shift that created a new category (22:03) - - The three acts of 1Password's business (22:56) - - Naming the category: Extended Access Management (XAM) (23:58) - - How the decision to create a new category got made (29:18) - - The tactics: category point of view, lightning strikes, analyst relations (33:23)…
People in this episode
Host: Dave Gerhardt
Guest: Melton Littlepage
Topics covered
- category creation
- marketing strategy
- B2B sports sponsorship
- SaaS industry
- CMO roles
- go-to-market strategy
Keywords
- category creation
- 1Password
- Extended Access Management
- B2B marketing
- CMO
- SaaS
- sports sponsorship
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: 1Password, Exit Five, President's Cup
Products: Extended Access Management
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