In this edition of Marketer of the Week, Ignite Visibility spotlights Marie Hattar, Chief Marketing Officer at Keysight Technologies. There are few people more impressive than Marie Hattar in the marketing business. She is passionate, creative, and has a mindset of continuous improvement. It’s easy to see why Hattar is making waves in the marketing industry. Ignite Visibility applauds Hattar’s out-of-the-box thinking and long-standing career.

Marie Hattar

After graduating from college in 1990, Hattar hit the ground running. She immediately took the information technology industry by storm. After a few years on the job, she decided to go back to school. In 1996, she earned her Masters of Business Administration from York University. While her education has certainly helped her climb the ladder, her creativity is what has made her a force to be reckoned with. Hattar has never been afraid of a task. This drive makes her an excellent role model for young engineers and professionals.

Hattar’s Life Before Keysight Technologies

Hattar started her career as a Director with Nortel Networks. After working at Nortel for a few years, she accepted a position at Cisco Systems as the Vice President for Enterprise Marketing. In this position, Hattar was responsible for expanding the company into global markets. To achieve this goal, she had to develop a strategic vision for the network as it relates to global organizations of all sizes. Her attempts were successful and the company grew. She was responsible for developing a strategic vision that would increase the company’s brand awareness with global organizations of all sizes. Following her time with Cisco, she moved onto a new position with Check Point Software Technologies. For a little over a year, Hattar served as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. During her time with Check Point, she worked on projects that protected large-scale agencies from cyber attacks. These agencies included governments and global corporations. Hattar then made the move to Ixia, which would later become Keysight Technologies. During her time at Ixia as the Chief Marketing Officer, she was able to boost the company’s brand awareness. With Hattar’s hard work, Ixia became known as a reliable company. Its customers grew to understand that they could rely on Ixia to protect them in a digital environment. Cyber security and network protection are two extremely important aspects of the success of any online business. With more businesses moving to an online model, Ixia grew substantially.

Ixia Becomes Keysight Technologies

In April 2017, Keysight Technologies acquired Ixia. Hattar came on board as the company’s first Chief Marketing Officer. Over the past few years, Keysight Technologies has grown into a leading technology company known around the world. This is often credited to Hattar. She quickly built a powerful marketing infrastructure where Keysight previously had none. When joining Keysight, Hattar had a vision of creating a world-class marketing department. Many would say that she has achieved this goal! The Keysight Technologies’ marketing department shows off the company’s extensive product portfolio. Doing this increases brand awareness and generates demand for the company’s products. Through building this marketing department, Hattar has positioned herself as a thought leader.

Hattar’s Pivot to Protect Keysight Technologies

The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way every industry does business. Keysight Technologies was no exception. The company needed to pivot to a digital marketing format. Hattar’s work during the pandemic made such an impact on the industry that she was featured in Forbes Magazine. Most companies put years of thought into building a digital marketing strategy. Hattar’s team did it overnight. Her innovative ideas and creative thinking created Keysight University. This interactive online platform connected its customers with the company’s engineers. Many people at the company credit Keysight University with keeping the business going during the pandemic. Since 2020, Keysight Technologies has been named the #1 in brand preference versus competitors, the #1 in worldwide media mentions for three consecutive years, and #1 in electrical engineering student and faculty awareness. This can be credited, in part, to Hattar’s leadership and innovation. Both Keysight Technologies and Hattar should be very proud of the work she’s accomplished as Chief Marketing Officer.

Wrapping Up with Marie Hattar of Keysight Technologies

While engineering students are starting to take notice of Keysight Technologies, it’s no surprise to us that the marketing world is taking notice of Marie Hattar. Hattar’s vision, leadership, and tenacity make her one of the industry’s most engaged marketing leaders. Her goal to show the world how a team of innovative design and test engineers can shape the industries of tomorrow is certainly achievable. I strongly admire Hattar’s previous and current work. I am looking forward to seeing how she changes the game next!   About the author: John Lincoln (MBA) is CEO of Ignite Visibility (a 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Inc. 5000 company) a highly sought-after digital marketing strategist, industry speaker and author of two books, \"The Forecaster Method\" and \"Digital Influencer.\" Over the course of his career, Lincoln has worked with over 1,000 online businesses ranging from small startups to amazing clients such as Office Depot, Tony Robbins, Morgan Stanley, Fox, USA Today, COX and The Knot World Wide. John Lincoln is the editor of the Ignite Visibility blog. While he is a contributor, he does not write all of the articles and in many cases he is supported to ensure timely content.