Mel Cornford, Customer Marketing Lead at Canva, joins host, Sunny Manivannan on the Peerbound Podcast to discuss her transition from journalism to customer marketing. She shares her career journey, highlights from her work at notable media brands, and how those experiences shaped her approach at Canva. Mel emphasizes the importance of understanding sales teams' needs, creating human-first storytelling, and leveraging AI for efficiency. The conversation also explores the significance of testing, building internal and external relationships, and creating platform-specific content. 

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 
01:00 Mel Cornford's Journey into Customer Marketing 
01:12 Early Career and Journalism Background 
02:10 Transition to Digital and Fashion Media 
03:14 Shift to News and Building Digital Presence 
07:48 Joining Canva and Initial Role 
10:24 Finding and Celebrating Community Stories 
14:22 Switching to B2B and Enterprise Marketing 
16:23 Storytelling Approach and Social Content 
23:47 Sales and Marketing Synergy at Canva 
31:04 Leveraging AI in Customer Marketing 
36:12 Advice for Early Career Customer Marketers 
38:32 Conclusion and Final Thoughts 

Canva's Video Content: 
Sam Barker Story: https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/sams-story-lessons-wwii-veteran-turned-childrens-book-author/ 
Elsewhere Story: https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/how-two-entrepreneurs-launched-a-travel-business-in-a-pandemic-with-canva/
Docusign Case Study: https://www.canva.com/case-studies/docusign/

Featuring:
Mel Cornford:
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/mel-cornford-8751393/

Sunny Manivannan:
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunnymanivannan/
X — https://x.com/sunnymanivannan

Follow us:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/peerbound-inc

Tune in:
Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peerbound-podcast/id1708825056
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/5GO3n6pATX10fkY8lgf3GX
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@peerbound