When Bold Choices Break B2B Barriers

Real change in marketing happens when leaders are willing to break the script. For too long, B2B has leaned on the same formula: spend big on performance, chase leads, call it growth. But hope is not a strategy.

That is why ServiceNow’s Global CMO, Colin Fleming, stands out. Stepping into a 178 billion dollar company, he cut 63 percent of lead generation spend, ended the reliance on MQLs, and put millions into brand and AI. His team built synthetic personas, digital twins of CIOs, CFOs and CHROs, to test campaigns before launch. They cleared away what he called the “foggy bullshit” of B2B jargon and focused on clarity. The result was powerful: a 133 percent increase in conversions in just three months.

Culture eats BAU for breakfast

At Human Digital, we say there is nothing business-as-usual about the way we do B2B. Marketing should not flood feeds with generic content. It should connect human to human. It should dare to be different. ServiceNow’s pivot proves that brand is not an optional extra. It is the engine that powers measurable growth.

What leaders can learn

Fleming’s shift offers lessons for any organisation looking to break through:

• Signals not leads. ServiceNow now treats a lead as the start of a buying group, not the end of a funnel.
  
  
• AI as accelerator. Synthetic personas compressed creative cycles, reduced risk and sped up time to market.
  
  
• Brand as equal partner. Marketing spend was rebalanced to an even split between brand and demand, keeping ServiceNow on shortlists that have shrunk from seven or eight vendors to just three.
  
  

Where ambition meets opportunity

The bigger picture is clear. Growth is not about being seen. It is about being remembered. ServiceNow shows that when waste is cut, AI is used with intent, and brand is strengthened, people respond.

The future of B2B will belong to the companies that dare to rebalance short term tactics with long term brand. Those that use AI with intent, not noise. And those that treat culture as the true engine of growth.

Human Digital shares that conviction. Strategy must be data led and AI informed, but always human first. Creative should not just grab attention, it should spark conversation. Results must not only be measurable, they must be meaningful.

Because where funnels meet fingerprints, clicks turn into conversations and ambition turns into opportunity.