Snowflake
From Startup to Market Leader:
Positioning Snowflake for Every Stage of Growth
From pioneering cloud data warehousing to defining The Data Cloud and now The AI Data Cloud, ZOOM helps Snowflake position as the market shifts by uncovering what makes it different and translating that advantage into market-leading positioning.
Today, Snowflake is a leader worth around $70 billion, as the place where data does more.
“I love the data-driven process. You know at the end, you’ll get to the best positioning for you. I would recommend ZOOM to any CMO out there.”
Snowflake’s Positioning Journey
87% of prospects approve of the category
60% of prospects favor cross-cloud as a supporting message, validating the decision to retain the category
90% of customers prefer The Data Cloud
94% of customers favor “Where Data Does More,” reinforcing category differentiation
Three defining market moments. One enduring partnership built on data-driven positioning.
2016: Disrupting a Multi-Billion Dollar Market
When CMO Denise Persson joined Snowflake in 2016, she wasted no time engaging ZOOM. Denise had hired ZOOM in her prior role as CMO of Apigee to prepare the company for a successful IPO. Her mission was clear: position an unknown startup's groundbreaking approach against entrenched incumbents.
Snowflake had a game-changing advantage from the start. Unlike competitors built for legacy on-premise systems with bolt-on cloud features, Snowflake was purpose-built for the cloud.
After rigorous testing, two elements defined the new category. First, anchoring it in the established, budgeted category of Data Warehouse. We toyed with inventing new concepts and avoiding the term data warehouse, but the market needed that familiar anchor initially. Second, highlighting Snowflake's unique approach with “Built for the Cloud.”
The result was Data Warehouse Built for the Cloud, a position Snowflake could own and define through its unique capabilities: instant elasticity, secure data sharing, per-second pricing, and multi-cloud compatibility.
The research confirmed the power of anchoring in a familiar, budgeted category while differentiating with something new. Snowflake established a category it could own, giving the unknown startup the credibility to grow.
Data-Driven Win
Data Warehouse Built for the Cloud
87% of prospects respond positively
Comparative Concept
Data Lake and Analytics Platform
32% of prospects respond positively
Why anchoring with the familiar and defining with the new matters
Built for the Cloud" encompasses all the benefits of cloud computing and showcases Snowflake's fresh approach to data warehousing
This positioning allows Snowflake to define "built for the cloud" with its unique selling points: instant elasticity, secure data sharing, per-second pricing, and multi-cloud compatibility
It signifies the end of data struggles, empowering businesses to effortlessly access and share data while enabling IT to become the hero by focusing on value-added tasks
In contrast, "Data Lake and Analytics" lacks universal understanding and can vary in meaning, and it’s not a budgeted category
2018: Sharpening Differentiation, Validating the Category
The Snowflake Playbook
Snowflake leaders Denise Persson and Chris Degnan highlight ZOOM's data-driven positioning work as part of the playbook that helped Snowflake stand out from competitors, establish and grow its market category.
As Snowflake expanded across multiple clouds, a new question emerged: Did cross-cloud capabilities warrant a new market category?
ZOOM returned to the market, testing alternative positioning with customers and prospects. While cross-cloud emerged as a compelling differentiator, 60% of prospects said it was better as a supporting message than the category itself.
The research validated staying the course with “Data Warehouse Built for the Cloud,” while sharpening Snowflake’s Point That Matters to highlight its expanding capabilities:
Snowflake enables the data-driven enterprise with instant elasticity, secure data sharing and per-second pricing, across multiple clouds.
2020: From Data Warehouse to The Data Cloud
Denise explains how the ZOOM process has helped Snowflake consistently tell an authentic, differentiated story throughout their growth journey.
By 2020, Snowflake had grown beyond its original Data Warehouse Built for the Cloud category. With an expanding platform and growing customer base, Snowflake had earned the credibility to own a much bigger vision.
The opportunity was to move beyond data warehousing and position Snowflake as the platform that enables companies to unlock the full value of their data, wherever it lives.
Once again, Snowflake turned to ZOOM's data-driven positioning process to validate its next market category. The result was The Data Cloud, a bold new position that expanded Snowflake's market opportunity and vision.
Snowflake launched its record-breaking IPO as The Data Cloud, reaching a market capitalization in the tens of billions and cementing its position as a market leader.
The team celebrating Snowflake’s massive IPO
Data-Driven Jackpot
2020: The Data Cloud
90% of customer advisory board preferred
$70B valuation at IPO
“Own that layer in the cloud. No BS, just own it. Make it the platform that companies use to drive business impact everywhere.” - CAB customer
2025: Defining The AI Data Cloud
Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy reveals their bold, new market-validated position, “Where Data Does More,” at the 2025 Snowflake Summit in San Francisco. (image courtesy of Snowflake)
By 2025, Snowflake had reached another inflection point. AI had become a board-level priority, and competitors were increasingly claiming to do the same thing. Snowflake once again turned to ZOOM to define its next phase of growth, doubling down on the unique architecture, connected ecosystem, and core strengths that set it apart while establishing its role in the AI era.
Market Insight: From Managing Data to Maximizing What Data Makes Possible
Our research revealed that Snowflake's greatest differentiation wasn't simply bringing data and AI together. It was removing the complexity that holds companies back, freeing customers to create more business value and innovate faster.
Customers shared compelling examples: saving nearly $5 million in engineering time, building enterprise applications in three months instead of 12–18 months, and launching AI use cases in as little as 48 hours.
These insights led to a powerful new Point That Matters:
Get the most value out of your data and innovate faster with the easy, connected, trusted AI Data Cloud.
The result was The AI Data Cloud, a natural evolution of Snowflake's category leadership, and “Where Data Does More,” a campaign that brings its differentiation to life through what matters most to customers: more value, faster innovation, and less time managing complexity.
Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy unveiled “Where Data Does More” at Snowflake Summit 2025, bringing his vision for the AI-powered enterprise to life: “There is no AI strategy without a data strategy.”
The Measure of Market Leadership
Snowflake CMO Denise Persson interviewed by Nasdaq