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You’d tear open a birthday card from your grandma or circle half the toys in a holiday catalog before anyone else got to it.

But somewhere along the way, mail turned into bills and a flyer for gutter cleaning.

Sendoso is on a mission to change that. They just launched UNBOXED, a free quarterly print magazine (yes, the paper kind) full of customer stories, campaigns worth stealing, and gifting ideas.

The first issue reveals:

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Unsure how to respond, I tell them, I do marketing... in tech. 

Oh! like Google? 

Um... yea… Kinda. 

Well that's cool!

Eh. I used to shrug it off and mentally roll my eyes. 

Because I thought B2B was boring. I guess I heard people say it so many times (and saw so much damning evidence) that eventually I started believing it myself. And accepted that I worked in a boring industry. 

But that’s a dangerous idea to park in your mental garage. 

Because when you believe something, you inevitably find evidence to support that belief.

Then it becomes part of your identity.

I’ve been called many things, but never boring. If you think B2B is boring, I say, kick rocks.

I’m not buyin’ what you’re selling, Jack.

Is there bad marketing in our industry? For sure.

Is there some cringey social media content. Yes. Very much yes.

But guess what? Go to any industry and there’s terrible marketing all over the place. (Oh hey, Sydney Sweeny.)

I’m tired of complaining about it. 

It’s easy to spiral into that AI slop that has ruined marketing, the good days are long gone, and it’s all downhill from here. 

But from what I’ve seen, there’s a massive creative renaissance happening right now. 

I’ve seen more creative B2B marketing in the last 3 weeks than I have in the last 3 years.

Companies are putting in the work to develop a strong POV and showing how different they are with storytelling that rivals a Netflix series. This is the hardest type of marketing and the brands in the examples below went the distance.

Here are a few examples that impressed and inspired me. I think it’ll do the same for you, too. 

Peep these ⬇️

I’ve always thought that tech companies take product launches a little for granted. 

I’ve seen a lot of companies think that their product is so good that they don’t have to market the shit out of it. But you do. 

Especially if you’re selling an AI product, you have to hunt for a unique angle that isn’t saving time or 10x-ing my flippin’ workflow. 

Gamma accomplished that in their Gamma 5 product launch video. The beauty is they tell a story about rebuilding the product and the product helps to tell stories. 

If you’re going to try to sell a storytelling visualization product, you’ve got to walk the walk.

Let’s give them a round of applause because it’s hard to tell the honest story about rebuilding a product. It’s even harder to get executives into a live-action production. 

Customer.io lowkey made one of my favorite videos of the year.

They went to Exit Five’s Drive event and they did something subtly brilliant: they layered on multiple elements to make this video pop.

These videos are WORK, but the payoff is worth it. 

This is by far the best celebrity x tech company collab I’ve seen in a long time.

TL,DW, Tony gets into some beef with another skateboard legend, Bam Margera, and his Ollie-Garchy, and he has to change his identity. 

So they turn him into a stock trader.

They have a true story arc. They didn’t have Tony Hawk pitch Ramp. Instead they built a world that brings Tony and Ramp together via finance.

This one is excellent because they resist the urge to sell you anything. That’s what brand marketing is all about: getting folks to know and like us, not to buy from us.

If you’re wondering, “Why the hell is Tony Hawk and Ramp together?” it’s because, as their CEO said so simply, “he loves ramps. we love ramp.” 

Sometimes the best idea is the simplest one.

And yes, we can’t all hire Tony Hawk. But the ad is still a great opportunity to learn how to do world-building and to entertain people without feeling like you always have to pitch them.

And the best part about all of these videos…

Honestly, I believe AI is forcing brands to take bigger creative risks just to stand out. And if that’s the case, maybe it’s what B2B needed. As I like to say, “a little back against the wall is good for the soul.”

I like where marketing is headed and I for one am so excited to be part of the B2B creative renaissance.

How about you?

Holler at you next Saturday,
Devin

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Pen by Devin Reed​
​Founder, The Reeder​

Follow me on LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok

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