Cliché Killers debut in San Francisco showcases immense change and opportunity in B2B marketing here
The Drum’s satirical video series Cliché Killers, produced in association with Stein IAS, was debuted at the opening of the agency's California office on Thursday (October 13), marking a new era for the B2B global agency.
The search for fresh ideas and rejection of tired habits in marketing is a key theme behind Cliché Killers, as it asks B2B marketers to put old slogans behind them going forward in the post-modern age.
The goal is to challenge and poke a bit of fun at standard clichés used by B2B marketers that include the light bulb, the tape measure, the piggy bank, the puzzle and safe to name a few.
"The series is meant to poke a bit of fun at marketers and act as a form of guilty pleasure," said Rueben Webb, creative director EMEA of Stein IAS and author of 101 Clichés. “But the next time the light bulb pops into our heads as a solution for our next PowerPoint slide or ad, we hope marketers will push through to find something more original."
The Cliché Killer debut in San Francisco also gave Stein IAS the opportunity to showcase its new office which, because of the tech boom in San Francisco, is slated to grow considerably.
As Michael Ruby, vice president and executive creative director of Stein IAS said, the short film is a “natural fit” for the booming tech sector in San Francisco.
"San Francisco feels like the home of B2B business. All the companies we love to work with are here. We felt that having a West Coast office was not only a natural fit but imperative," he added.
The move from Silicon Valley to downtown San Francisco is a fairly recent phenomenon brought about – in part – by the youthful nature of the tech startup players who prefer the inspiration of the city over the suburbs.
"Our office is strategic and easily accessible," Ruby said. "This location is a hot bed for tech startups with companies like LinkedIn, Twitter and Yelp to name a few within walking distance. It is cool to have tech innovators as our neighbors. Our office was an old firehouse and, briefly, a recording studio for the Grateful Dead. So, we have accessibility, culture and an overall vibe from the neighborhood."
The Cliche' Killers video series movie stars: web psychologist Nathalie Nahai; Kesah Trowell, head of CSR at Dixons Carphone; David Burnand, marketing lead for Northern Europe, Adobe Marketing Cloud; Google head of marketing Nishma Robb; Stein IAS chief executive Tom Stein; and Stein IAS creative director EMEA Reuben Webb.