Revisit the campaigns that sparked the conversation.

The Brave Gallery

Campaigns that generated real commercial impact by daring to be different.

Workday: Rockstars

One of the most-talked-about B2B Super Bowl ads, lauded for its humour and perfect use of celebrities (like Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol, and Joan Jett). Workday spent their Super Bowl budget challenging corporate jargon. By having real rock legends humorously complain about office workers being called "rockstars," they cleverly positioned their software as the tool that creates real business rockstars.

Credits: Workday (brand). Ogilvy (creative agency).

 ServiceNow: Idris Elba & AI Agents

The campaign was widely recognised for its bravery in bringing B2C-style star power to the B2B world. Instead of a dry, feature-led explanation of its new services, ServiceNow used a global-level celebrity (Idris Elba) to personify its platform. This was a brave, high-budget bet on brand-level storytelling, to make a complex enterprise platform (AI agents) feel accessible and mainstream.

Credits: ServiceNow (brand). BBDO New York (creative agency).

Mailchimp: "Did you mean Mailchimp?"

A massive critical success, winning a Cyber Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions festival. It generated huge online curiosity. This "Did You Mean Mailchimp?" campaign was brave for its extreme subtlety. Bizarrely, it never mentioned Mailchimp directly, instead creating absurd executions for invented brands - all a play on the brand name Mailchimp (like MailShrimp, JailBlimp, etc.). The campaign was designed to make people Google the misheard names, redirecting them to Mailchimp.

Credits: Mailchimp (brand) with Droga5 (creative agency).

Upwork: "Hey World"

The campaign was brave because it named real people and companies (like Elon Musk, NASA, and Game of Thrones). This "Hey World" campaign playfully inserted Upwork's freelance talent into major pop culture and business conversations, positioning them as the solution to well-known, high-stakes problems.

Credits: Upwork (brand) with Duncan Channon (creative agency)

Dreamdata: "Our CEO wanted... ads" Billboard

Its bravery came from its transparent "meta" message. The billboard, "Our CEO wanted us to use this money for online ads," speaks directly to its exact customer (B2B marketers) in their own language. Not only did the ad receive the reach from the physical OOH asset but was widely shared on LinkedIn as a prime example of meta marketing.

Credits: Dreamdata (brand)

Shopify: "Let's Make You a Business"

It was brave because it sold an emotion (the dream of independence) instead of a product. It bypassed technical features to focus on the human, and often daunting, journey of its target audience - the entrepreneur. Talk about climbing the emotional benefits ladder!

Credits: Shopify (brand) with R/GA (creative agency)

Examples From Our Panellists

Campaigns that generated real commercial impact by daring to be different.

Beats by Dre: Got No Strings

The campaign was a massive commercial success, driving one of the brand's best fiscal quarters. It earned over a billion impressions and millions of organic views, with the remixed "I've got no strings" song becoming a cultural soundtrack. The bravery was in refusing to sell a tech product. Instead of focusing on features (like battery life or pairing speed), it sold a pure, abstract feeling (wireless freedom). It positioned itself as a "culture brand first, tech brand second," a high-risk move that cut through the spec-driven space.

Credits: Beats by Dre (brand) with creative agency Anomaly LA, and media agencies PMG and Hayworth Media.

Boldyn Networks: Myth Busters

This campaign is powerful precisely because it dares to peel back the corporate veneer and address the fragile human reality of B2B decision-making. Boldyn leans into the paralysis, insecurity, and indecision that plague today’s overwhelmed tech buyers. It is a beautifully landed, playful confrontation of the myth that B2B purchasing is purely rational or robotic.  It cuts through the noise to tell buyers what they're desperate to hear: "You're safe with us."

Credits: Boldyn Networks (brand) with CHS (Agency)

Access Group: It's Not Magic. It's Evo

The campaign was exceptionally efficient and successful, delivering a 1.28% CTR (double the B2B average). Its bravery can be seen in its bold choice to avoid AI jargon and instead tap into human familiarity with the feeling of mastering a skill. To unify 60+ acquired software brands, Access ignored technical overload and instead focused on the simple, human feeling of "instant mastery", for its non-expert, frontline worker audience.

Credits: The Access Group (brand). Rooster Punk (creative agency) developed the positioning, with White Spider Media managing the paid media execution.