The Epic Split: Why B2B and Brand Are Not Opposites

In 2013, Jean-Claude Van Damme positions himself between two trucks at dawn, slowly moves into a split, and holds it as the vehicles drift apart. No voice-over, no product pitch, no technical detail in the foreground – and yet everyone understands what it’s about: absolute control, precision, trust in technology. With the “Epic Split,” Volvo Trucks turned dull commercial vehicle engineering into a pop-cultural moment and proved that even highly complex B2B products can be emotionally charged without losing credibility.

The Misunderstanding of Professionalism

The example shows not only that B2B can be creative, but also what happens when brands dare to enter cultural spaces instead of hiding behind functional arguments. And yet, in B2B marketing, the belief persists that sobriety is synonymous with professionalism and that emotional staging automatically undermines seriousness.

The result is a communications landscape that is correct but lifeless: blue, grey, and white; technically clean but culturally ineffective; argumentatively precise, yet barely memorable. A lot is explained, little is said, and above all, it remains one thing: interchangeable.

The irony is that precisely those campaigns now held up as benchmarks deliberately ignored these supposed rules – and in doing so, built trust.

Attention Is No Longer Optional, but a Prerequisite

That creative disruption has become so important today is not due to a passing trend, but to a changed reality. Decision-makers move through a constant stream of content: presentations, LinkedIn posts, videos, and sales messages. Attention has become the hardest currency – and it is not won through the next perfectly phrased value proposition, but through relevance, surprise, and emotional points of connection.

Those who do not stand out in this environment are not heard. And those who are not heard do not matter – regardless of product quality or level of innovation.

Creativity Rarely Fails Because of Ideas, but Because of Structures

Especially in B2B, the problem is rarely a lack of sensitivity for good communication. Many marketing leaders consume strong campaigns in their private lives, understand cultural references, and immediately recognize when an idea has potential. In a corporate context, however, these impulses collide with brand guidelines, approval loops, and a deeply rooted fear of standing out with unconventional approaches. Creativity is not openly rejected, but gradually defused until it no longer offends anyone – and for precisely that reason, no longer interests anyone.

Why Explanation Comes Too Late

Another widespread misconception in B2B is the belief that communication should begin with explanation. But every customer journey starts with an impulse, not with depth. In the early phase, it’s not about features or technical details, but about resonance. Only once curiosity has been sparked does the willingness arise to engage with complex content. Without this emotional entry point, even the best white paper remains unread.

Emotion and rationality are not mutually exclusive; they depend on one another. Even in B2B, decisions are made by people – people with preferences, memories, aesthetic expectations, and cultural imprints. Brands that ignore this dimension communicate only halfway. Emotion is not a substitute for substance; it is the mechanism that makes substance accessible in the first place.

Media Biographies as an Underestimated Lever

Van Damme worked not because of his fame alone, but because of his cultural significance. He represents a generation that now holds decision-making positions. This campaign did not address abstract target group models, but concrete media biographies – with images, sounds, and memories that immediately created resonance. That is precisely where its strategic strength lies.

Aesthetics Are Not Decoration, but Attitude

A similar shift can increasingly be observed in fields such as manufacturing, software, education, or consulting. Design, art, and staging are deliberately used to make innovation and attitude visible. Not as a gimmick, but as a strategic signal: this brand thinks beyond the next feature list.

When Cultural Precision Replaces Budget: Teenage Engineering and the OP-XY

Few examples demonstrate as clearly as the launch of the OP-XY by Teenage Engineering in 2024 that creative differentiation is not dependent on large budgets. A music production tool that resembles a calculator more than a traditional instrument, the OP-XY was not introduced through technical specifications, feature lists, or performance claims. Instead, the company opted for a radically reduced, aesthetically highly precise approach, consistently oriented toward the cultural lifeworld of its audience.

The OP-XY itself appears as a monochrome, almost austere object that deliberately evokes associations with “German Design” and “German Engineering,” references that are also frequently invoked in interviews with the product managers. The accompanying videos and visuals reinforce this impression: two dancers move with cool gazes through a strictly geometric, graphically reduced environment to a cold, driving 1980s techno sound, unmistakably reminiscent of the aesthetic of Gabi Delgado’s DAF and early electronic music from the German-speaking world. A visual and sonic universe emerges that explains less than it asserts – and precisely for that reason, is effective.

Crucially, the campaign does not attempt to popularize or simplify the product. On the contrary, it relies on cultural coding and an implicit agreement with its audience. Those who recognize the references feel addressed, not lectured. Those who do not recognize them at least understand that a clear stance is being communicated. The OP-XY is not staged as a tool, but as a cultural artifact – an object for people who define themselves through design, music, and reduction.

This is precisely where the campaign’s strategic strength lies. Teenage Engineering consciously forgoes reach at any cost and instead focuses on relevance within a clearly defined cultural milieu. The brand positions itself not through volume or prominence, but through aesthetic consistency and cultural precision. The result is not a short-term spike in attention, but a lasting positioning as a design- and culture-driven actor at the intersection of technology, music, and industrial aesthetics.

Why Many Companies Still Hesitate

Despite these examples, many companies remain cautious. Budget pressure, uncertainty about impact, fear of rejection, and bad experiences with agencies lead them to stick with what has proven familiar – even when that familiarity has long since lost its effect. Yet creative B2B communication does not require a taste for adventure, but structure, clear objectives, and partners who combine creativity with entrepreneurial thinking.

The Way Out of Interchangeability

The first step out of irrelevance is not a new campaign, but an honest analysis: which cultural codes shape the target audience, which visual languages resonate with them, which narratives generate attention and sympathy? On this basis, communication concepts emerge that surprise without being arbitrary and emotionalize without losing credibility.

B2B Can Do Anything – Except Be Irrelevant

The “Epic Split” and the “German music box” exemplify a simple truth: B2B marketing does not have to be quiet, grey, or explanation-heavy. It has to be relevant. Relevance emerges where brands stop hiding behind rationality and begin to see themselves as part of a vibrant, culturally shaped world. Those who are remembered are chosen. Everything else is polished communication without impact.