From Ted.
Welcome to the September 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.Every year has a last lap. And for enterprise tech marketers, Q4 isn’t the time to pace yourself—it’s the time to accelerate. The best brands we work with treat this as a strategic moment, not a mad dash. They streamline decision-making, clear creative bottlenecks, and launch work that lands before the clock runs out. This isn’t about burning out your team—it’s about cutting what doesn’t matter so the work that does can move faster and hit harder.
Metrics that matter.
Q4 is where brands prove they can sprint without tripping. Budgets vanish, ROI hawks circle, and buying committees stall. Here are three stats that shine a spotlight on the Year-End Sprint.
of enterprise marketers predict greater pressure to prove every dollar’s ROI in real time in 2025, upping the stakes on end-of-year performance metrics.
—EMARKETER
of B2B tech buyers involve four or more stakeholders in purchase decisions, raising coordination challenges for closing deals by year-end.
—Sopro
of companies end their fiscal year in Q4, fueling last-minute “use-it-or-lose-it” budget spending and high-stakes deadlines.
—Sopro
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.
Year-End Brand Sprint: APIs and specialization help Okta cut time-to-value for enterprise identity rollouts.
Key Takeaway: In Q4, speed wins. Make your solution seamless, fast, and impossible to stall.
Year-End Brand Sprint: HPE’s aaS model and Intelligent Edge growth drive faster enterprise adoption.
Key Takeaway: Offer outcome-priced pilots. Lower friction to help close before December 31.
Year-End Brand Sprint: Nokia pivots into enterprise with private 5G and IoT for urgent growth.
Key Takeaway: Reinvention is urgency. Pivot fast and prove value in new spaces by year’s end.
CMO voices.
Jim Jackson, Former CMO, HPE
Finishing the year strong often requires gutsy strategy, and HPE’s Jim Jackson exemplifies this with his mantra, “big moments call for bold moves.” Faced with pivotal opportunities (like HPE’s showcase at a one-of-a-kind venue), Jackson opted for high-impact experiences over playing it safe. His approach is a wake-up call for year-end marketers: This final quarter is a big moment, so consider bold campaigns or creative bets that break through the noise. A daring move in December can redefine your brand’s momentum into the new year.
AI & brand.
Skip the dev backlog. Storylanelets marketers build interactive demos fast—so you can launch in Q4 and show value before budgets disappear.
No time for endless brainstorms? IdeaApe surfaces AI-driven campaign concepts instantly—helping CMOs move from insight to execution before the quarter closes.
From the account director’s desk.
Winning Every Moment in Q4
Q4 is crunch time. Budgets are burning, goals are looming, and buyers are buried in noise. The brands that win don’t just run faster—they run smarter.
The year-end sprint is your chance to prove that urgency and clarity can coexist. Nail this quarter, and you’re already running ahead in 2026.
What’s making headlines in enterprise tech—and what brand leaders can take away from it.
The future of advertising isn’t coming—it’s here. Google’s Marketing Live unveiled AI-driven ad tools from creative generation to smarter bidding. As the year-end sprint nears, leaning into these innovations could be the edge your brand needs.
Content demands will explode as the year ends. Newell’s generative AI leap with Adobe shows how supercharging content creation boosts marketing agility. Year-end sprint insight: Use AI to create more, faster—without breaking brand consistency.
AI innovation is surging—so are its risks. Palo Alto’s Protect AI buy signals that securing AI systems is mission-critical. As brands sprint toward year-end goals, safeguarding AI initiatives is as vital as the innovations themselves.
What’s coming up.
November 2–5, 2025 | Austin, USA
As Q4 budgets tighten, Forrester’s Technology & Innovation Summit is where market leaders hustle to prioritize, partner smart, and finish the year with momentum.
November 10–13, 2025 | Lisbon, Portugal
The world’s tech stage in Q4—where enterprise brands must cut the noise and move fast to stay relevant as the year closes.
December 10–11, 2025 | New York, USA
The year-end sprint is all about speed. AI Summit NY shows how fast enterprise teams can move when data, tech, and brand strategy click.
fred&ted in the wild.
This September, we celebrate six years of fred&ted “in the wild.” It began on the picnic tables at Larkspur Landing outside of Marin Brewing Co. (may they RIP) in the summer of 2019. Then came our first year-end sprint: rainy season (we needed an office!), deadlines, and the need to land clients who believed in Fred (aka Kevin) and Ted (aka Matt) and that they could quickly assemble a senior team deep in enterprise tech. That urgency shaped our ethos: clarity, creativity, and moving fast without cutting corners. Six years on, we’ve had the honor of partnering with startups and global leaders alike. To all of our clients over the last six years—it’s been a privilege, and we thank you for the trust. Here’s to sprinting into what’s next!
From Fred.
The Creative Deadline Advantage
In Q4, every brand feels the squeeze—budgets closing, buyers distracted, teams stretched. But here’s the creative secret: Deadlines can be rocket fuel. They force clarity, cut endless tinkering, and push us to trust our instincts. At fred&ted, we’ve seen some of our sharpest, most memorable campaigns come together under sprint conditions. Not because we rush, but because urgency strips away the noise and forces focus on what actually matters. As a CMO, the end of the year isn’t a reason to retreat—it’s the best excuse to go bold. When everyone else is slowing down, the brand that delivers with speed and simplicity wins the final lap.
The year-end sprint isn’t about panic—it’s about precision. Brands that cut clutter, move fast, and focus on what matters don’t just finish strong—they start the new year ahead.
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