Parents just don’t understand B2B in LinkedIn’s amusing ads from Maximum Effort

It’s long been said, though less commonly acted upon, that B2B campaigns should be just as entertaining, or at least interesting, as consumer campaigns—since business people are, of course, also just ... people. Now, LinkedIn takes that lesson to heart with an endearingly comic B2B campaign from Maximum Effort. The insight is as universal as it gets—that your parents, in the end, really have no clue what you do for a living. This is particularly true if you have a confusing-sounding B2B job, in which case your parents might not only be confused—they could be questioning how they raised you. For example, cloud sales—what the hell is that? So wonders a sweet old mom in the spot below. The campaign will run on connected TV and social platforms such as TikTok and Reddit—the first time LinkedIn has used those media for a brand campaign. Owned channels and paid media are also part of the mix, with a full-funnel marketing strategy in the U.S. and U.K. and mid-funnel support across 16 additional markets, LinkedIn said. Here’s a second spot, in which a glum dad is just as regretful about his parenting choices. Jim Habig, VP of marketing for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, told Ad Age that the strength of the campaign is its relatability for a B2B audience. “The difficulty of explaining what it is we actually do—which many of us will do around the holiday table—seems to be a shared experience,” he said. “We love how Maximum Effort took that insight and brought it to life in their characteristically tongue-in-cheek fashion, and underlined how, on LinkedIn, you can find all the people who do, in fact, understand what you do.” “For decades, my parents could not describe what I did beyond the single word ‘advertising,’” added George Dewey, president of Maximum Effort. “As someone with job duties that parents couldn’t exactly nail, I have special empathy for B2B workers. We love this campaign because of its insight and its humanity. LinkedIn is the place for B2B exactly for the same reason they immediately embraced this campaign—they get it.” Maximum Effort is no stranger to doing entertaining B2B advertising, having created amusing spots from companies including MNTN and Zoom.

Parents just don’t understand B2B in LinkedIn’s amusing ads from Maximum Effort

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