From Ted.
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Tech Brand Brief, brought to you by fred&ted—perhaps the only agency that can make your brand as innovative as your technology.Tech Brand Brief is the quick-hit resource for enterprise technology CMOs and brand leaders who need sharp, relevant insights without wading through yet another 50-page white paper. Each month, we tackle a theme that’s driving the enterprise technology marketing conversation, and what better place to start than the enterprise buyer?
They’re changing fast—more self-directed, finalizing vendor choices before talking to sales, and expecting ROI yesterday. We’re diving into key data points and examples to help you adapt your brand strategy to these shifting behaviors.
Metrics that matter.
Enterprise buyers are shrinking their vendor short lists faster than a CFO slashing a budget—which means top-of-funnel brand awareness is now critical to even be in the game. Do you know where you stand? And more importantly, do your prospects know who you are before they start their search?
Here are three stats showing how the buyer journey is shifting and why brand visibility is crucial.
of B2B buyers now consider only one to three products during their selection process—a significant increase from 33% the previous year.
– G2
of enterprise buyers have already shortlisted a product they were familiar with before initiating their research.
– PR Newswire + Exploding Topics
of B2B buyers prefer to gather product information independently, with 57% having made purchases in the past year without any interaction with a sales team.
– HubSpot Blog
10-K signals for brand leaders.
Want a peek into how enterprise tech giants are playing the game? Each month, we analyze 10-K filings from major players to reveal what they’re prioritizing in sales and marketing.
Sales and Marketing Budget: 39% of revenue (~$1.1B), in line with the 40/40/20/20 rule of thumb.
Key Takeaway: If you’re in cybersecurity, the bar for brand spend is high. Are you investing enough to be a real player?
AI Mentions in 2025 10-K: 57 times.
Key Takeaway: Workday calls out AI-powered competitive risk several times. If you’re not positioning AI to today's enterprise buyers as part of your brand’s future, you’re behind.
Strategy Focus: As part of its growth strategy, Snowflake is targeting regulated industries (finance, public sector, countries with data localization requirements).
Key Takeaway: If Snowflake is doubling down on verticalized buyers, should you?
Carrie Palin, CMO, Cisco
Cybersecurity brands love a good fear play, but Cisco’s Carrie Palin flipped the script. Instead of the usual doom-and-gloom messaging, Cisco positions itself as a resilience partner, helping businesses thrive, not just survive. Smart move? We think so.
Carrie Palin, CMO, Cisco
Cybersecurity brands love a good fear play, but Cisco’s Carrie Palin flipped the script. Instead of the usual doom-and-gloom messaging, Cisco positions itself as a resilience partner, helping businesses thrive, not just survive. Smart move? We think so.
AI & brand.
Pro tip: Play the role of a prospective buyer—run a deep research prompt in ChatGPT. Does your brand show up? Who’s winning? If you’re not in the AI-driven discovery flow, you may be invisible.
Eighty-one percent of B2B buyers already have a preferred vendor before sales outreach. 6Sense’s AI predicts buyer intent early, so you can engage before competitors even know there’s a deal on the table.
From the research desk.
As a market researcher who has worked with dozens of B2B brands over the years, I’ve had a front-row seat for the emerging challenges around survey respondent quality. For decades, most research platforms have been able to programmatically identify low-quality respondents—such as speeders (those who complete surveys faster than what’s expected for thoughtful responses), and straightliners (respondents who give the same answer across rating scales—strongly agreeing with everything!). More recently, platforms have incorporated text analysis to remove respondents who input gibberish or foul language in open-ended responses.
But despite these guardrails, bad actors still find ways to game the system—taking surveys they’re not qualified for. These “fake respondents” can mask their IP addresses and bypass quality checks designed to catch straightlining, speeding, and other suspicious behavior. Survey panel companies often have polished slide decks showcasing their respondent verification methods—and I have no doubt most are doing their best to ensure quality. Still, it’s nearly impossible to guarantee 100% accuracy, especially when some vendors rely on third-party panels of questionable quality.
In a recent case, the owners of a survey data company were indicted for fabricating responses. It was a real blow to the industry—not to mention sneaky and slimy. According to the DOJ, “To evade detection, the defendants… exchanged instructions with each other and the ‘ants.’ These instructions included directions on how to answer survey screener questions, provided parameters on how long ‘ants’ should remain on surveys, and encouraged the use of virtual private network (VPN) services to conceal real IP addresses.”
Why does this matter? Because high-quality marketing research is mission-critical for B2B companies. A well-constructed survey—reaching the right respondents—can help marketers understand brand awareness, perception, and positioning. It uncovers customer pain points and ensures that your message resonates with your target audience. But all of that breaks down when you're relying on fraudulent data.
So what’s a market researcher to do?
Here are a few techniques we use at fred & ted to ensure that our B2B survey respondents are of the highest possible quality:
What’s making headlines in enterprise tech—and what brand leaders can take away from it.
2025 may be the year for agentic AI. Here's one indication: ServiceNow buys AI agent company Moveworks for $2.85 billion. Which raises the question: How will agents begin to play a role in your brand leadership strategy?
Adobe unveils Experience Platform Agent Orchestrator, featuring purpose-built agents designed to streamline marketing and CX processes through AI-driven automation. Did we mention agents already?
Palo Alto Networks and the NHL announce multiyear partnership. Can we offer a recommendation? Surely, since it's a security brand, Palo Alto's logo should be in the crease. Just saying...
What’s coming up.
June 16–20, 2025
The creative festival you wish you could expense, Cannes Lions 2025, is happening soon! Book this, then rebook your summer family vacation for Europe. No coincidence whatsoever.
Sept. 16–18, 20255
Let's go from Cannes to Aspen, shall we? Themed "What Matters Most," the Summit will focus on driving growth in a climate of uncertainty. You can say that again!
Oct. 21–24, 2025
After Aspen, it looks like a visit to Mickey is in order. This must-attend event for CMOs will be packed with brand strategy insights, top execs, and bold ideas to drive marketing impact.
fred&ted in the wild.
Last month we shot a video for our friends at Informatica for the Informatica World annual user conference. We shot at SV Studios, which has an incredible production stage and LED wall. Less than two weeks from shoot to final product, in time for Informatica World. Special thanks to the one and only Nate Robinson and his amazing team at Ntropic. Massive team effort! Check out the videos here.
From Fred.
If you aren’t signing documents daily (Ted’s job, obviously), you might’ve missed Docusign’s brand evolution. As Carla Weis, Sr. Director of Brand & Creative at Docusign, put it: “The world knows Docusign as a digital dotted line — but that’s changing.”
With the launch of Intelligent Agreement Management, Docusign isn’t just digitizing contracts—it’s reshaping how businesses handle agreements. And its new “Bringing Agreements to Life” brand promise and tagline is in lockstep.
At fred&ted, we would consider this a BOP—a Business Organizing Platform. It’s not a fleeting campaign, rather a foundational brand idea that can fuel everything: HR, sales, PR, advertising, content—you name it.
Congratulations to Docusign on the launch of the new tagline–errr, I mean BOP!
Buyers are picking favorites before sales even gets a shot. If your brand isn’t in their mental short list, you’re fighting an uphill battle. Demand gen alone won’t save you—a strong brand earns you a seat at the table before the conversation starts.
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