Most B2B campaigns become victims of their own creators. Loath to run the risk of potential reputational damage by pushing for a bold idea, many organisations opt to replicate what’s already been ‘marked safe’ in their industry. Sanded-down messages stacked on sanitised ideas in the same old colour palette have become so widespread that it has acquired a name: blanding.
The real antidote is resistance: rocking the boat, embracing tension, and urging people to think in a way they never have before. These are the kinds of campaigns that live rent-free in people’s heads long after they’ve finished. Three examples that perfectly illustrate this principle are JCDecaux’s ‘Marina Prieto,’ Mailchimp’s joyful mispronunciation, and SAP’s human-first ‘Tech Unknown’.
Meet Marina Prieto
JCDecaux, the outdoor media company, faced a familiar challenge for many B2B sellers: proving that out-of-home (OOH) advertising was still valuable in a digital world. Clients had stopped believing in the product, and budgets for metro advertising faced extinction. At that time, Madrid’s underground public transport network was dotted with unused ad spaces, and they needed to find a way to penetrate public consciousness and turn passive bystanders into curious, vocal advocates.
Instead of leaning on another corporate case study, JCDecaux decided to fill those empty billboards with posts from the Instagram account of a 100-year-old woman named Marina Prieto. Who is Marina Prieto, you ask? Well, within a short space of time, that was the question on everybody’s lips too. Commuters, journalists and even international press began to ask: Who is Marina? The answer is a 100-year-old Spanish lady with no more than 28 social media followers at the time the campaign was launched.
What made it so special is that by challenging conventions, it reinvigorated the perception of OOH advertising as a growth engine. Instead of pitching the medium with specs and numbers, they created a human narrative so that the medium became the message, proving that people always connect deepest with other people. By building intrigue, emotion and shareability, Marina’s followers ballooned by +39,285%, with 1.5 million profile views, and JCDecaux not only took home multiple awards, but doubled its media investment.
Did You Mean Mailchimp?
Mailchimp has always been an outlier in the B2B space, a company that sells marketing automation but speaks like a creative studio. In 2017, it turned what could have been a serious branding liability into one of the most memorable campaigns in B2B history. The problem was simple yet costly; people kept mispronouncing the name. The brand had already become a pop-culture reference through its “Mail… what?” ad before Serial podcast episodes, and instead of correcting the world, Mailchimp decided to run with the joke.
The campaign, titled Did You Mean Mailchimp?, created nine spoof brands that sounded vaguely similar: FailChips, MailShrimp, KaleLimp, JailBlimp, NailChamp, and more. Each “fake” brand had its own identity, packaging, microsite, and content drop. There were art films, pop-up product launches, and even screenings at Sundance, all designed to make people wonder whether they’d misheard or discovered something new.
What made it so special is that it completely upended the B2B playbook. Instead of leaning on clarity and seriousness – the usual instincts for enterprise brands – Mailchimp embraced absurdity and self-awareness. It took a mistake and turned it into a talking point, proving that memorability beats perfection. Beneath the humour sat an even sharper strategic truth: even in business markets, fame drives growth.
The campaign generated almost a billion impressions and over 67 million organic searches, earning the Cyber Grand Prix at Cannes Lions and a permanent spot in B2B marketing history. But most importantly, it repositioned Mailchimp from “email-newsletter tool” to a creative marketing platform for small businesses everywhere.
Tech Unknown
SAP, one of the world’s largest enterprise software companies, isn’t the first brand you’d expect to dominate the podcast charts, nor does B2B traditionally lend itself to thrilling stories. Yet with Tech Unknown, SAP managed to do exactly that. The senior leaders and IT professionals comprising the vast majority of their demographic were already saturated with PDFs, webinars, and jargon-heavy product talk. Foregoing what would be an obvious and easy retreat into white papers and webinars, SAP proved that even the most complex B2B story can thrive in a human format.
Tech Unknown was a podcast designed to explore the technologies shaping the future of business, AI, automation, sustainability, without being a mouthpiece or echo chamber for SAP. Each episode brought together industry experts, practitioners, and influencers to discuss the human side of innovation. The premise wasn’t about software; it was about stories. Guests were encouraged to challenge assumptions, debate ideas, and share experiences that bridged technology and culture.
What made it so special is that it redefined how thought leadership could sound. Instead of broadcasting expertise from the top down, SAP created a platform that invited collaboration, curiosity, and community. It recognised that the people buying enterprise software are the same ones listening to podcasts on their morning run. The campaign achieved a potential reach of over 52 million through influencer shares, 66% more downloads than its previous season, and more than double the industry benchmark for podcast engagement. But beyond the numbers, it repositioned SAP as an empathetic, forward-thinking, innovative brand.
What These Campaigns Have in Common
All three completely rejected industry conventions and the belief that numbers justify everything. Instead, they built something with staying power by grounding their work in human truths.
- JCDecaux proved that empathy can outperform evidence.
- Mailchimp proved that self-awareness is a brand’s strongest differentiator.
- SAP proved that trust grows through active participation, not just persuasion.
Each one demonstrates a tangible shift seen across B2B marketing, the metamorphosis of campaign objectives from straightforward information delivery to emotional connection.
Chesamel’s Approach
Chesamel is more than a consultancy; we’re your partner in transformation.
We understand that legacy-building campaigns stem from a profound understanding of your brand, in-depth analyses of your audience, and a willingness to do something different.
Our formula for success leans into our:
- Human-first Approach: Even if you’re selling enterprise software, the end-user, the buyer, the influencer is still a human. Ask: what do they feel, what narrative will they remember?
- Novel Thinking: If you know what’s expected of you, like tired feature lists and recycled content, you can flip it. What tension can you exploit?
- Strategic Insight: How can you use your channels in a mutually-reinforcing way to maximise ROI?
- Vision for Scale: Big ideas don’t need big budgets; they need rigour, imagination and the right team behind them.
If you’re looking for a consultancy that will help you shake up your industry with disruptive campaigns that live rent-free in your market’s head, we should talk.
