These videos are for use with the video chapter of my Bullseye Marketing book. Unfortunately, some of these videos start with ads. I suggest that you click past them as soon as it’s allowed.
Intel Inside video
According to a 2005 Harvard Business School case study, the Intel Inside campaign was originally B2B: Intel had to convince skeptical CIOs and IT managers that they should upgrade to a steady stream of more powerful processors. It started small: Andy Grove gave the marketing team $500,000 to prove it could work. They spent it on billboards in one city and got so much lift that he gave them $5M to test it in 10 cities. When that worked, it was game on. They not only created national TV spots like this, but also many print co-op ads with OEMs, ultimately spending billions of dollars and producing terrific B2C business results, too. Yet the ad, like many in the decade-plus long campaign, doesn’t talk about specs at all.
RaySecur "commercial"
Don’t have a billion dollars to spend on your marketing? I conceived and produced this 24-second commercial for RaySecur, which manufactures and sells an innovative mail scanner. After it was on their YouTube channel for a few weeks, I noticed that it had far more views than the other, product-centric videos. So we tried it out as a LinkedIn ad and although I thought of it as an emotion-first, brand ad, it had a 600% higher response than any other LinkedIn ad that they ran — some of which performed very well. I created it for $500 with a stock video clip and an Upwork editor.
Volkswagen UK "Working with You" ad
This ad from VW UK targets small business owners. In just one minute, it creates a connection with a sympathetic character, and a connection with the brand. The campaign had an impressive 11X return on ad spend (ROAS), proving once again that while leadgen ads won’t build your brand, brand ads can lead to an immediate lift in new business.
Cisco Router ad
I first saw this online commercial around 2015. A video for a router has to be pretty damn good for me to remember it years later, and this one is. It was created by Tim Washer, who has combined a career writing for SNL and Conan with corporate work for Cisco, IBM, and others. The New York Times said, “It’s tough to add mainstream appeal to a router usually tucked away in the dark realms of data centers, but Cisco has made a noble effort.”
Two Gong Super Bowl ads
In 2021, Gong ran the first ad, which has a strong product message. In 2022, they wised-up and ran the second, far more memorable Super Bowl commercial.
Verizon Online Display Ad video
This is the video online display ad that I show in chapter 16. That is some serious branding.
Boston Dynamics dancing robot video
Boston Dynamics makes unique, human-like robots. And for years it was only focused on research, not even having developed a product. Videos like this, which has been watched close to 40 million times, built their brand in preparation for 2022 when they did launch their first product. Would a video showing a robot moving boxes around a warehouse have been watched 40 million times? Nah.
Ruby Receptionists explainer video
A light touch is not necessarily appropriate for every B2B service explainer video, but it works nicely for Ruby.
Volvo Epic Split ad
This ad for Volvo trucks is extraordinary. I assumed that CG was involved; I had to search to find that it was done with no special effects in one take (Van Damme was wired so if he fell he wouldn’t be killed, of course). This is one of those rare pieces of creative that is so powerful, I wonder if it takes away from the purpose. IMHO the branding is weak: the trucks have prominent “Globetrotter” signage, which is a Volvo brand. Maybe for people in the industry it’s enough, but should “Volvo” have been emphasized more?
Dollar Shave Club launch video
Alright, this isn’t a B2B video. But it’s so fucking great that I had to include it. According to a 2018 London Business School case study, it went viral and their website crashed in two hours; they sold out their inventory in six. It helps when your founder has a background in standup comedy. By 2022 it had been viewed 28 million times.
Adobe Marketing Cloud commercial
This is a humorous take for Adobe’s marketing suite which features a company like Dollar Shave Club going viral.
