I started filming skateboard videos when I was 14. Back then, I learned something fast. If a clip felt boring, people checked out. That lesson never left me.
Now I’m pitching VPs of Marketing instead of filming my friends. Same rule.
The most dangerous sentence in B2B marketing is, “Let’s make something safe.”
I understand why people say it. You’ve got a real brand to protect. You’ve got a CEO, a board, a budget, and a lot of opinions in the room. Nobody wants to approve the ad that feels too risky.
But safe marketing is boring. And boring disappears.
I say this all the time because I believe it: safe videos get impressions. Bold videos get views.
I’m a filmmaker first, entrepreneur second. I built CinemAds around a pretty simple idea. Brands need funny, memorable, high-quality video ads that people actually want to watch. In B2B, that matters even more, because too many brands still sound like product brochures with better lighting.
Safe Feels Smart in the Meeting Room
Safe creative usually checks every internal box. The logo shows up early. The message is literal. The product is explained. The script offends nobody. The whole thing feels clean, polished, and forgettable.
That is the problem.
If your competitors are also making the clean, polished, forgettable version, then your media budget is helping you blend in faster. In crowded B2B categories, the best marketing wins. I really believe that.
And the market is already moving this way. LinkedIn’s 2024 B2B marketing study found that nearly 90% of B2B marketers now support bolder creative campaigns, and 67% are increasing budgets for brand-building. The same study found strong creative drove higher brand engagement for 60% of respondents, higher share of voice for 55%, and more media coverage for 48%.
Those numbers matter. They tell me the market is tired of safe.
If you run a mature brand, this hits even harder. Younger startups will happily be louder than you. They will take the emotional space while you explain features. If your company already has the reputation of being dry or legacy, safe creative can make that worse.
I’m not saying you need to be reckless. I’m saying safe is often a bigger risk than people think.
Video Is Everywhere Now
Video is no longer the special thing in B2B. It’s standard. 78% of B2B marketers already use video, and video views on LinkedIn are up 36% year over year.
So the question is not whether you should use video. Of course you should. The question is whether your video gives anyone a reason to stop.
LinkedIn’s video trend data says B2B marketers mainly use video for brand awareness, trust, and conversion support. That makes sense to me. Video is often doing top-of-funnel work first. It helps people notice you. It helps people remember you. It helps your brand feel more real.
But that only works if the creative has some life to it.
The First Three Seconds Decide a Lot
I’m big on the first three seconds. The viewer needs to know right away that the ad is talking to them. You can do that with direct language. You can do it with a metaphor. You can do it with a visual that clearly belongs to their world.
What you can’t do is open with a long shot, no audio, and no clue what is happening. That is one of the worst ways to start a B2B video. People move on.
I also think too many safe ads show their hand too early. They scream “ad” in the first second. That kills curiosity. I’d rather make something that feels like a scene first. A mini movie. A secret ad. Then the brand reveal lands better because the viewer already gave you attention.
People are sick of commercials. I just think that’s obvious now. So I try to make ads that don’t feel like ads.
Complex B2B Products Need a Simple Idea
I work mostly with B2B SaaS and AI companies. Cybersecurity. Sales software. CX. Revenue analytics. Learning platforms. These products can get complicated fast.
That does not mean the ad should get more complicated.
Usually, it means the opposite.
Metaphor Beats Jargon
My job is to create funny videos out of complex products. I’m always looking for the metaphor, the analogy, or the scenario that makes the idea click fast.
For Aligned, I helped turned the sales process into a dating scene. The guy is on a date, but he talks like a B2B seller. He asks, “What are next steps?” He pulls out a PowerPoint about what their relationship could look like. Sales teams understand that instantly because it is their language in a place they do not expect.
For HockeyStack, I took the war between sales and marketing and turned it into a hockey joke. A referee gives penalties for “high dissing.” Again, same principle. Use a familiar world to simplify a complicated product.
AskNicely was another fun one. Their product is built around asking customers for feedback, so I made the concept literal in a funny way. We had a host ask strangers questions in a park. It took a digital workflow and made it human and awkward in real life.
Contact Point 360 wanted to show speed and care in customer support. I did not want another smiling headset shot and a bunch of cliches. So I put the support rep inside the customer’s house. Same message. Stronger image.
Schoox is a great example too. Learning management software can feel dry. In their onboarding form, they described their rebrand personality as fun and magical. So I created a magician character. That came directly from listening to the brand and finding a visual way into it.
Creativity is infinite. If I can find a funny angle for AI email coaching, cybersecurity, customer feedback software, pet meds, and branded polos, your category is not too boring. The idea just needs more work.
I’d Rather Show the Problem Than Over-Explain the Solution
One B2B habit I really don’t care for is the cheesy before-and-after ad. We have all seen it. Problem. Product. Happy fix. It feels old.
I would much rather show a relatable problem, make the audience lean in, and then hit them with a good tagline.
That is what we did with Right-Hand Cybersecurity. In that campaign, I deliberately avoided mentioning cybersecurity at the start. We opened on funny scenarios first. One spot had a husband “feeding the dog” in the laziest way possible by dumping food all over the floor. I even used my own dog, Coco, in one of those ads. It made the spot more memorable and more human.
By the time the brand lands, the viewer is already invested.
Humor Creates Memory
Humor gets underestimated in B2B. Some people still treat it like fluff. I don’t.
A 2025 Journal of Business Research study found that adding humor to a B2B ad improved how viewers felt about both the ad and the brand. That tracks with what I’ve seen for years.
A laugh creates a little lift. A smile does too. Even if someone does not laugh out loud, they can still think the ad is funny. That small emotional reaction helps memory.
And memory is the whole game in brand differentiation.
WARC’s IPA data shows that less than 10% of low-emotion B2B campaigns achieved profit targets, while about one-third of high-emotion campaigns did. That should get every executive’s attention.
I saw this firsthand with Lavender. We built a recurring character called Lavender Joe around bad sales emails in real life. He got dragged away by the email police. He pitched people on a park bench. He started as a bad salesman and improved over time. That campaign turned into more than 300 videos across a year-long retainer, and the actor was even recognized in Italy.
That is what happens when a brand gives people something fun to follow.
PetMeds proved it in a different category. We created talking-animal style spots with very human dialogue. One of those ads pulled more than 63,000 likes and over 1,000 shares. People remembered it because it entertained them.
I also pitch risky ideas when the brand can handle it. I still pitch a cybersecurity concept called “Practice Safe Tech.” The founder liked it. An older investor did not. Fine. That is part of the game. On the other side, Maple went for a bold spot where a man appears naked behind a laptop, and then you realize he is simply talking to a doctor. That one was very popular because it took a swing.
Different brands have different risk tolerance. I get that. My point is simple. The ad needs a pulse.
Recurring Characters Build Recall Faster
One strong ad is good. A repeatable campaign world is better.
WARC found that brand assets aligned to a brand’s personality were 96% more likely to be recalled. I believe that completely.
That is why I like recurring characters, repeatable visual worlds, and episodic series. Lavender Joe is the obvious example, but I use the same thinking in shorter campaigns too.
With LivePerson, we kept the campaign tied together through the brand world and tone, but changed the setups so it did not feel repetitive. We shot against orange backdrops to match the brand. Then we used different characters, like a pilot, a surgeon, and even a six-year-old in a business meeting. Same campaign. Fresh visuals. Better recall.
This is also where cost efficiency and brand differentiation can work together. At CinemAds, I usually structure short-form brand campaigns so I can shoot around 10 commercials in a day for about $30,000. That gets the cost down to roughly $3,000 per video. It also gives your team more to test.
For PetMeds, we produced 20 assets in two days and framed them for TV, social, square, and vertical. That matters when you have a real media plan and need a lot of usable creative fast.
But more volume only helps if the ideas are good. Weak creative still fails even with heavy exposure. Running the same bland ad more times does not suddenly make it distinctive.
Always Be Cinematic
Humor alone will not save a weak video. If the acting is flat, the lighting is bad, or the sound feels cheap, the joke dies fast.
My rule is simple: Always Be Cinematic.
I care about the lighting, the framing, the casting, the music, the pace, and the location. Everything matters. One weak ingredient can drag the whole thing down.
I love David Fincher’s visual style. I love when something can feel a little thriller-ish or dramatic, then hit you with comedy. That mix is powerful.
Replicant is a great example. We shot their campaign in a diner at night with a more dramatic look, almost like Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul. When a negative line landed, the power went out. When the insight landed, the lights came back on. The message lived inside the visuals.
Sparkpolo was different, but the same level of care mattered. We coined the line “let your polo do the talking,” and I spent serious time getting the lighting right so the apparel looked premium. That campaign came back with a $17.16 cost per lead and a 3.73% click-through rate.
If you are buying CTV, that craft matters even more. On a big screen, weak creative gets exposed fast.
AI Will Make Average Even Easier to Produce
A lot of CMOs are getting pressure right now to cut budgets with AI video. I understand it. I use AI to brainstorm and help write scripts.
But AI does not solve bland creative. It just makes average content faster.
The hardest part of B2B differentiation is still taste. It is knowing which joke lands. Which line feels cringe. Which actor gives the right deadpan. Which facial reaction suddenly makes the whole scene funny.
I’ve seen those moments happen live. In one cybersecurity therapy scene, an actor put his hand out and looked at the therapist in a very specific way. It was hilarious. That little human nuance is still hard to fake.
There is also a bigger reality. A real ad campaign is 60 to 75 days of collaboration before you even roll camera. Scripts. Slack messages. Casting. Locations. Wardrobe. Approvals. Tweaks. Leadership feedback. Even when AI gets better, that process still needs human direction.
And right now, truly realistic AI video can actually cost more than live action. So I’m open to AI. I just do not think it replaces the need for a filmmaker’s judgment. If anything, AI will flood the market with more generic content. That makes bold creative even more valuable.
How I Make Bold Ideas Easier to Approve
If you are a brand-protective VP, I’m not asking you to gamble blindly.
I de-risk bold work through process.
A lot of marketers come to me already wanting to disrupt their category with bold, humorous, unhinged videos. Even then, I still pitch a range of ideas. Some are safer. Some are riskier. That gives the team options. It gives the internal champion something real to bring to leadership.
I also listen a lot. Messaging matters. Pain points matter. ICP matters. If the joke does not line up with the business, it will feel random. So I collaborate hard in scripting. If a line feels too dense or too jargon-heavy, I push on it. If the client wants to tweak it, we find middle ground.
Art is opinion, not fact. That is exactly why collaboration matters.
If your CEO needs to get excited before the budget gets approved, I will often write scripts for free first. That helps the team sell the idea internally. Once the scripts feel right, we move into the real production work.
Clients review casting tapes with me. Some fly to Toronto to be on set and sign off on shots and takes in real time. When we did PetMeds, we worked with an animal wrangler. When we did AskNicely, we were dealing with real people in the park. Different shoots, same mindset. Plan hard. Stay flexible. Solve problems quickly.
I also believe testing is safer than theorizing. On a shoot day, I can capture alternate hooks and different opening lines so your team can A/B test the first three seconds. That is real safety. You are learning from the market, not just protecting yourself in a meeting.
Final Thought
I can’t guarantee that one bold video will fix every pipeline problem. Nobody honest should promise that.
What I can say is this: safe video ads fail because they confuse internal approval with market impact.
If your audience feels nothing, remembers nothing, and scrolls past, the ad did not protect the brand. It hid it.
So if you want real B2B brand differentiation, give people something worth watching. Give them a character. A metaphor. A laugh. A strong visual world. Give them a reason to remember you.
That is why CinemAds exists.
I make engaging high quality Netflix style videos because your buyers deserve better than another corporate explainer. And your brand deserves better than disappearing in plain sight.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do we pivot a legacy enterprise brand without alienating our existing Fortune 500 buyers?
You aren’t changing what you sell. You’re changing how buyers feel. Fortune 500 executives are just humans tired of dry pitches. A 2025 study proves humor improves brand attitude. De-risk your pivot by testing cinematic hooks, not by staying invisible.
How do you distill a massive, feature-heavy platform into a 15-second Connected TV spot?
You don’t. Trying to cram 50 use cases into 15 seconds is how you make a brochure, not a commercial. For CTV, we focus on a single human problem and solve it visually with a memorable metaphor. Once they remember you, they will gladly visit your website for the feature list.
Can bold creative actually increase our Share of Voice against flashy Series A startups?
Startups win by taking risks while legacy brands play safe. A LinkedIn study found 55% of marketers saw increased share of voice from outstanding creative. Stop explaining and start entertaining.
Is there hard data proving emotional B2B campaigns drive actual profitability?
The financial argument is bulletproof. According to WARC data, under 10% of low-emotion B2B campaigns hit profit targets, compared to a third of high-emotion ones. Safe videos aren’t just boring – they are terrible investments for your massive media budget.
Should we prioritize premium cinematic ads or raw, live-streamed B2B video?
You need both. Cinematic spots build the distinctive memory structures required for massive CTV placements. Meanwhile, LinkedIn data shows live videos generate 24× more comments. Use pristine, high-budget commercials to make them care, and raw live streams to keep them actively talking.
