G'day there 👋

Quick reminder before we dive in: We're still selling to humans.

We know, revolutionary take in 2025. But seriously—boring marketing won't outperform entertaining, well-designed, and consistent brands. Full stop.

The good news? More B2B, tech, and SaaS brands are finally figuring this out. They're moving away from corporate jargon and stock photos of people shaking hands in conference rooms, and instead embracing creativity, personality, and actual human emotion.

So let's celebrate some brands doing it right.

Square's latest campaign isn't about features or transaction fees or payment processing speeds. It's about the heartbeat of local commerce—the sellers who make our neighborhoods feel like, well, neighborhoods.

And they didn't just launch a campaign—they threw an event that was completely on brand. Sometimes you need to show up IRL to prove you actually care about the community you serve.

The Takeaway: When your product lives in the real world, your marketing should too.

Campaign details → | Event vibes →

Vanta's been crushing their brand voice consistently, and their latest campaign on SOC compliance somehow makes security feel... approachable?

Favorite detail: "This poster could have been an email." If you know, you know.

The Takeaway: Consistency in brand voice > one-off creative stunts. Vanta's been at this, and it shows.

See the campaign → | Campaign site →

Sometimes you just need to go big. SanDisk teamed up with Callen and 1stAveMachine to create "Robot Memory Man"—a spot that's equal parts entertaining and technically impressive.

Even when you're selling memory cards and storage solutions, you can still make people feel something.

The Takeaway: Entertainment value matters, even in B2B.

Watch the spot →

Town – Making Taxes Less Terrible: Finding a good accountant as a small business is rough. Town's tackling this with a brand that leans into the visual language of tax forms—notches, tabs, checker patterns, monospaced type. Instead of running from bureaucratic aesthetics, they owned it and made it work. The team at Smith Diction developed a custom wordmark and poster system that actually has presence. Check out the work → | More brand elements →

8x8 – "The Power of You": An AI brand campaign starring real customers. Clever move. Watch → Campaign page → Customer story →

ChatGPT's First Brand Campaign: As Nicholas Tran put it, "the marketing brains at Anthropic and OpenAI know that brand-building is still about getting someone to FEEL something about your brand." Great visuals, great work…created by humans. Learn more → Watch the film →

Claude’s Thinking Space pop-up cafe in NYC. Creative, authentic, and a beautiful immersive experience. We’ll be there!

Confluent's Data Monster: Sometimes a mascot really works. This is one of those times. See it here →

Ambrook's Blueprint for Design: Thoughtful, well-designed brands don't happen by accident. Jeff Anders breaks down their approach. Read the interview →

Good reminder from Megan Conahan: B2B creators are still figuring out their lane, but the ones who win are the ones who show up authentically. Her post →

Beautiful design inspiration: Will we see more of this level of craft in B2B over the next year? We're betting yes. Creative Boom roundup →

The Olivia from Ops test: Here's a great brand health question: "What will your brand look like when Olivia from Ops has to create a 'Toilet is closed' sign?" If your brand system doesn't hold up in the hands of non-designers, it's not robust enough. Watch the talk →

Wait, is Claude, ChaptGPT, and Perplexity following similar marketing, branding, and visual design strategies? We’ll keep thinking.

ServiceNow has been on the forefront for some time now. This campaign's been out for a minute, but here is a great example of B2B marketing content that explains what it does in a way that you'd actually want to watch. See for yourself →

Stripe → a leader in content that is authentic. This is from 2022. Wonderful customer story.

Keep making B2B not boring. The humans on the other end will thank you.

Your Circle Back Team

P.S. Got a campaign or brand we should check out? Hit reply and let us know!