B2B Marketing Weekly

Big Budgets, Bold Content: What B2B Brands are Betting on

Ramp rented out the New York Stock Exchange so Tony Hawk and Bam Margera could do kickflips on the trading floor. It felt like a crime movie. It felt like Rush Hour. Then they used that same week to announce a $1.85 billion raise at a $60 billion valuation, instead of having every employee post "so proud of my company." Stan spent a reported $3 million filming 30 founder teams in the Poconos like a reality show. Meltwater put Kim Cattrall (Samantha Jones, not Carrie) on billboards. And LinkedIn finally started paying video creators. Ramp played on nostalgia for people between 30 and 50, the enterprise buyers they're after. They invited about 150 creators to the NYSE, including Vin Matano and the Corporate Dudes, to film the real thing instead of getting handed B-roll. They built a whole world at tonystockprotrader.com, dropped episodes like a Tarantino movie, and put the finale on YouTube. Will's cheat code: pick one cultural object that really matters to your audience, do something interesting, release it IRL, and run a clipping bounty so it outlives premiere week. Then Stan's Launchpad: 14 days, 30 teams, $100K on the line, posting daily with Stanley, their AI head of content. 700 applicants. Mentors like Gary Vee, Sophia Amoruso, and Daymond John. Real companies in AI and tech, not Scrub Daddy. The 30 teams generated over $200K in cash in 14 days. Chris's take: Stan is not Ramp or Oracle, and betting that high on content shows where the market is going. The critique: if big names don't post, $3 million can go down the drain. Will's playbook: run a time-boxed founder sprint with real stakes your audience cares about. Plus Meltwater's 25th anniversary campaign, "Intelligence is Always in Style": a New York short film and billboards starring Kim Cattrall. They didn't hire a random celebrity. They hired a character their buyers already trusted, aimed at the senior marketers who grew up with Sex and the City. Same play as Ramp. And no, Chris and Will did not watch the show growing up. LinkedIn finally added bold text (Chris is pretty sure he reported that first) and started paying video creators. Watch time is up 36% and video content is up 30% year over year. Instagram just opened the door to long-form that can compete with YouTube. Will's in BrandLink. The power is targeting: you can put video in front of heads of marketing and CFOs. Chris scrolled the feed and it was wall-to-wall movie clips with "watch for this moment" text. Their ask: reward the people actually trying to make you better at your job. Chris Cunningham (one of the original team behind ClickUp, 2B+ social views) and Will McTighe (400K+ on LinkedIn) break down what to steal from all four stories. Chapters 00:00:00 They spent $3 million to film 30 teams in the Poconos 00:00:16 Welcome to Ep 11 00:00:38 Ramp brought Tony Hawk and Bam Margera to the NYSE 00:03:16 $1.85B at a $60B valuation... announced with kickflips 00:05:10 How to copy the Ramp play (plus a clipping bounty) 00:05:58 Stan Launchpad: a $3M founder reality show 00:10:16 The gap: big mentors, not enough big posts 00:10:50 How to run a time-boxed founder sprint 00:11:20 Meltwater hired Samantha Jones for the billboards 00:13:32 Find the nostalgia YOUR buyers grew up with 00:14:34 LinkedIn is paying video creators (and you can finally use bold) 00:17:22 The movie-clip farm taking over LinkedIn video 00:20:00 Wrap Listen on the go Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b2b-marketing-weekly/id6800004950 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0344NLOgxBouVpu67vF4d9?si=9365b8681d464b97 All episodes: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2634343 Mentioned in this episode Tony Stock: Pro Trader: https://tonystockprotrader.com/ Amber Joy Layne on the series: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amber-joy-layne-52282581_excited-to-share-episode-14-of-the-series-activity-7514679152659156992-O_HU Ramp's $1.85B raise at $60B: https://ramp.com/blog/ramp-at-60-billion Tony Hawk: https://x.com/tonyhawk Vin Matano at the NYSE: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/vinmatano_this-company-built-a-skate-ramp-for-tony-activity-7519021734339985408-aqG9 Corporate Dudes at the NYSE: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/corporatedudes_just-a-casual-saturday-night-in-nyc-watching-activity-7517567809862778880-8ikM Stan Launchpad: https://launchpad.stan.com/ Meltwater x Kim Cattrall: https://www.meltwater.com/en/intelligence-always-in-style Chris on LinkedIn bold text: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chrisclickup_breaking-linkedin-news-bold-text-activity-7521230985141735424-3l9b LinkedIn BrandLink: https://business.linkedin.com/advertise/ads/sponsored-content/brandlink Instagram long-form video: https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/26/watch-out-youtube-instagram-goes-from-short-form-to-90-minute-videos/ Follow the hosts Chris Cunningham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup Will McTighe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-mctighe New episodes every week. #B2BMarketing #CreatorMarketing #ContentMarketing

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Why the Best B2B Brands Are Giving Away Their Playbooks

Ramp took Tony Hawk and put him in witness protection. Wispr Flow gave away its entire paid-ads playbook. Why are the best B2B brands handing out their secrets? Ramp's "Tony Stock: Pro Trader" series hides the most famous skater alive on a Wall Street trading floor as Anthony Stock, alongside Bam Margera. It plays on the pun in Ramp's name, nostalgia for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and a story told across several episodes instead of one hero video. Chris breaks down the 5-step formula behind it, which is the same one he followed at ClickUp: 1. Find something your brand is already adjacent to. 2. Pick something nostalgic. 3. Ship episodes. 4. Get creators to talk about it. 5. Hire unconventional creative talent. Then Wispr Flow went the other way: 600 ads a month, and not one of them stars a celebrity. Small creators like moms and college students make at least 25 videos a month and earn 7% of the ad spend behind their videos. That means $7K for a video that gets $100K behind it. Hector, the 22-year-old who built the program, posted how he'd rebuild it in 30 days, the post hit about 2M views, and now everyone on X wants to hire him. Plus: why "any time you're making a decision out of fear, especially in marketing, it's the wrong decision," and why giving away your playbook rarely costs you anything, because so much of it comes down to execution. Chris Cunningham (one of the original team behind ClickUp, 2B+ social views) and Will McTighe (400K+ on LinkedIn) break down what B2B marketers should actually take from both playbooks. Chapters 00:00:00 Tony Hawk in witness protection?! 00:01:00 Welcome to Ep 10 + Ramp is back again 00:02:00 Ramp x Tony Hawk: the perfect pun 00:05:00 "This is marketing": our take 00:07:00 Ramp built a system, not one-offs 00:08:00 The 5-step viral B2B formula 00:10:00 Nostalgia for YOUR buyer + Wispr Flow's 600 ads/month 00:11:00 Hector, 22, goes viral 00:13:00 7% of ad spend: how the creator deal works 00:14:00 Why give away your playbook? 00:16:00 Nobody copies the execution 00:17:00 Wispr Flow's creator playbook, step by step 00:19:00 Give creators a guaranteed minimum + wrap Listen on the go Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b2b-marketing-weekly/id6800004950 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0344NLOgxBouVpu67vF4d9?si=9365b8681d464b97 All episodes: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2634343 Mentioned in this episode Ramp's Tony Stock: Pro Trader series: https://tonystockprotrader.com/ Amber Joy Layne on writing the series for Ramp: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amber-joy-layne-52282581_excited-to-share-episode-14-of-the-series-activity-7514679152659156992-O_HU Ramp: https://ramp.com Tony Hawk: https://x.com/tonyhawk Hector's Wispr Flow paid ads playbook: https://x.com/hectorserrranoo/status/2108260769603486100 Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai ClickUp: https://clickup.com Follow the hosts Chris Cunningham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup Will McTighe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-mctighe New episodes every week. Follow us so you don't miss the next one.

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This Guy Sold His Body for $100K of Ads (And It Worked) + Gamma's Genius AI War

Marc Lou auctioned off his body as ad space for a HYROX race, and brands paid $100K+ for it. Higgsfield bought 10 placements, Stanley paid $20K for his glutes, and the live bidding war on X turned a stunt into a news cycle. Then Gamma launched Gamma 5 by declaring war on "AI smell," the generic look and feel of AI-made content. Founder Grant Lee's launch post pulled 1.5M impressions, while the company page got about 20K. Plus: Chris found his own face on a Smartlead billboard in NYC, and that leads into when tech billboards actually pay off (hint: only when they go viral on social). Chris Cunningham (one of the original team behind ClickUp, 2B+ social views) and Will McTighe (400K+ on LinkedIn) break down what B2B marketers should actually take from all three. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 This week on B2B Marketing Weekly 01:05 Welcome to the show 01:23 Marc Lou sold his body for $100K of ads 07:17 Gamma 5 and the war on "AI smell" 13:10 Chris ended up on a Smartlead billboard 18:47 See you next week 🎧 Listen on the go Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b2b-marketing-weekly/id6800004950 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0344NLOgxBouVpu67vF4d9?si=9365b8681d464b97 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-aDOh6GsU8mlWEWfQtZ5g All episodes: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2634343 🔗 Mentioned in this episode Marc Lou's body ad auction: https://x.com/marclou/status/2097326512169222407 Gamma 5 launch: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gamma-app_introducing-gamma-5-our-biggest-update-ever-activity-7513640172287090688-SRvi?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACUblNwBD-BK210CVS7a9x9wr-EWxk6FI98 Grant Lee's launch post: https://lnkd.in/p/eXWjasjw Smartlead billboard campaign: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd9OZXDSzl4/ 👋 Follow the hosts Chris Cunningham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisclickup Will McTighe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-mctighe New episodes every week. Follow so you don't miss the next one.

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The $10B Lie, the $10 Domain, and A Rare Mistake from Ramp

Instinct says it spent $0 on marketing. OpenAI’s Dots looks like a Tamagotchi. Ramp put on an actual musical. Different plays, same question: how do you get people to care? You can build a great product or rent a theater in New York, but you still need people talking about it. Instinct had investors posting all over X and people begging for one of three invites. Technically, the founder didn’t spend dollars on marketing. But he gave up equity, and those investors helped get the word out. Will’s take: VC is the new influencer marketing. Chris respects the play, even if that $10 billion valuation feels like a kick in the face after nine years building ClickUp. OpenAI has a different problem. The people who are already AI-pilled will use Dots if it’s useful. Everyone else needs a reason to feel comfortable with it. So after years of telling people AI is going to change everything, the industry is giving it a cute face and a name. We’ve gone from butthole logos to childhood pets. Chris named his agent “Pimp,” so clearly there are no rules here. That same thinking showed up at DevDay: get creators in the room, let them ask Sam Altman tough questions, and give people something to share. Of course, you can also get attention by grabbing your competitor’s domain and sending the traffic to your own product. Elon’s team did it with dot.com and Grok Bot. We hate to say it, but smart play. The harder part is keeping that attention. It’s why we’re not convinced a16z’s Cosign can copy Instinct’s launch strategy and take on LinkedIn. An invite gets someone through the door. The product still has to give them something worth coming back for, and ideally something worth posting about. Which brings us to Ramp. We loved the idea behind Bill Pay the Musical. But you got the actors, rented the theater, put in all that work, and we’re barely seeing clips of it? Where’s the aftermath? This week on B2B Marketing Weekly, we get into what these companies got right, where we think they missed, and why B2B brands need to put as much thought into getting a big idea seen as they put into making it. Subscribe. We’ll tell you when a company does a good job, and we’ll tell you when it doesn’t.

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B2B Broadway Theatre, Butthole Logos and Viral Tweeting

Ramp made a Broadway musical about paying bills. Meta’s Alexandr Wang is posting about AI logos that look like buttholes. And somewhere in the middle of all this, B2B marketers are supposed to figure out what actually gets attention and drives business. This week, Chris Cunningham and Will McTighe get into Ramp’s Bill Pay: The Musical. It has Billy Porter, Billy Zane, original songs, and an actual playwright. It’s a huge swing for a finance company, but Chris has a question: what happens after the curtain closes? If people remember the celebrities and forget Ramp, was it worth it? They talk about the clips, livestream, and follow-up that could turn one big event into something much bigger. Then, three Patreon leaders leave for OpenAI. Chris and Will try to work out what OpenAI might be building for creators, how creators could make money from it, and why marketers should pay attention when a new place to spend ad dollars opens up. These are possibilities, not announced product features, and they’re just as curious as everyone else. They also get into Alexandr Wang’s very online approach to promoting Meta’s AI product. His posts about suspiciously butthole-shaped AI logos are funny, but they’re doing something useful too: getting people to recognize him, talk about the product, and actually try it. What can B2B founders learn from that without handing their X account to someone who writes like a press release? Finally, they talk Suno, custom jingles, and the temptation to jump on a new ad format before everyone else finds it. The takeaway: test the interesting stuff while it’s still interesting, but ask for proof before believing someone’s screenshot of incredible results.

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Jev: The AI Launch That Broke the Internet

Jev’s AI launch got more than 30 million views on X. But the post was only the beginning. Developers started building demos with the model, people joined the waitlist, and TypeSafe gave that early interest a place to grow through its community. In this episode, Chris Cunningham and Will McTighe break down what made the launch spread: a strong opening hook, a product people wanted to try, and an easy way for others to join the conversation. They also look at GrokBot’s “Ship by Thursday” stunt, which showed people using the product to build a business in three days, and Air’s fake CMO announcement, which turned a LinkedIn hiring post into a story. All three campaigns got attention in different ways. Chris and Will discuss which ones showed the product in action, which were more about awareness, and how often a B2B brand can make a big splash before the novelty wears off.

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Meta Muse Took Over the Internet. Did It Work?

Meta Muse bought the feed for a day. Suddenly, every AI creator you follow was posting about it. The takeover was impossible to miss, and it got people talking. Then 48 hours passed… and the internet had already moved on. So did Meta Muse actually win the internet, or did Meta just rent everyone’s attention for 24 hours? In this episode of B2B Marketing Weekly, Chris Cunningham and Will McTighe break down MetaMuse’s influencer blitz, why the launch needed a second act, and how smaller brands can compete when they don’t have a Meta-sized budget. They also get into Salesforce borrowing Claude’s aura with the Claude Force rebrand, Samsung having the perfect opportunity to roast Apple and somehow forgetting to be funny, and the ZoomInfo CRO turning one employee shoutout into a recruiting play. Big budgets, borrowed aura, bad brand jokes, and the fight to own the feed.

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Ramp/Kumar, the MegaChurch of Tech and the end of AI slop

LinkedIn has officially added an “AI slop” button, Ramp was behind Kumar the whole time, and Chris accidentally became the main character on SF Twitter because his apartment has no bed. This week, Chris Cunningham and Will McTighe get into what LinkedIn’s AI crackdown means for creators, why comment-to-get lead magnets are getting nerfed, and whether the platform is actually improving the feed or killing one of its most useful growth plays. Then they unpack the Kumar reveal. Ramp nailed the character, the audience, and the anti-tech-bro angle, but may have left hundreds of thousands of emails on the table. Chris also shares how one random post about his extremely empty San Francisco apartment pulled millions of views and became a whole content arc. Plus: the right way to use Grok Bot without outsourcing your personality to AI, YC turning the Chase Center into the “mega church of tech,” and why IRL events might matter more than ever now that anyone can spin up almost anything online.

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Open AI got cancelled & Claude lost 15k on lemonade

OpenAI spent big on an influencer trip—and got absolutely dragged for it. Chris and Will break down why the campaign backfired, how brands can avoid choosing the wrong creators, and why an influencer’s audience and associations matter just as much as their own content. They also look at brands chasing attention with morph-suit stunts, why being first and different beats copying what already worked, and the story behind ClickUp’s Dreamforce protest. Then they unpack GenSpark’s viral experiment where Claude and ChatGPT ran competing lemonade stands, burned through roughly $15,000, and made less than $100. The big question throughout: how do you create marketing people actually remember without forcing your product—or looking like every other brand in the feed?

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The CEO Product Demo Is the New Press Release

What happens when the CEO stops announcing the product—and starts demonstrating it? In Episode 2 of B2B Marketing Weekly, Chris Cunningham and Will McTighe break down three shifts changing how B2B brands earn attention: why influencer budgets are moving toward smaller creators, how ZoomInfo CEO Henry Schuck turned a product demo into a high-performing piece of content, and how Listen Labs brought measurement and social amplification to a $1 million billboard campaign. They also share practical advice on balancing macro- and micro-creator spend, using creator content to support answer engine visibility, making CEO demos pain-point-led rather than feature-led, and getting more value from out-of-home campaigns. In this episode: Why micro-creators can offer stronger trust, lower risk, and more creative options Chris’s approach to dividing influencer spend between large and small creators How creator campaigns may support visibility in AI answer engines Why the CEO product demo is becoming the new press release How to structure product demos people want to share internally What Listen Labs did differently with its New York billboard campaign How photography, video, employees, and creators can amplify out-of-home spend

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The Signals Shaping B2B

B2B buyers aren’t procurement robots. They scroll Instagram, follow creators, get pulled into trends, and spend plenty of time online just like everyone else. So why does so much B2B content still feel like it was made for a committee instead of a person? In the first episode of B2B Weekly, Chris Cunningham and Will McTighe break down the signals shaping where B2B marketing is headed. They unpack the mysterious Kumar account that gained more than a million followers in under a week, why brands should consider building recognizable characters of their own, and how Vanta turned an unglamorous compliance problem into a live, watchable series for exactly the right audience. Then they get into why livestreaming may be B2B’s next big format, how to tell a useful trend from a lazy brand trap, and what Chris learned at Cannes Lions about creating experiences people will still talk about after the event ends. Throughout, they make the case that reach alone isn’t the goal—the best B2B content earns attention by feeling human, specific, and impossible to confuse with everyone else. If your content strategy still depends on polished interviews, copied trends, or one-off events with no amplification plan, this episode will show you what to do differently.

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Introducing: B2B Marketing Weekly

B2B Marketing Weekly is where Chris Cunningham and Will McTighe break down what B2B marketers can learn from the creators, consumer brands, trends, and content taking over the internet. With more than 2 billion social views generated at ClickUp, an audience of 400,000+ built on LinkedIn, and 600+ B2B founders helped along the way, Chris and Will have spent years proving that the best B2B marketing ideas don’t always come from B2B. Every week, they’ll break down what’s working, what’s worth stealing, and which trends B2B brands are better off leaving alone. Follow B2B Marketing Weekly on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and subscribe on YouTube so you don’t miss an episode.