Our creative billboards at RSAC this year generated quite a buzz. Fellow marketers, investors, and even a few competitors reached out with questions about our whimsical campaign.

Let's be honest. Out-of-home advertising has long been the domain of deep-pocketed enterprises with more marketing dollars than they know what to do with. Not scrappy startups where every dollar is managed under a microscope.

But there we were, our distinctive brand messages rolling through downtown San Francisco on digital displays while the security industry's biggest players gathered. I'm here to share how we created standout creative that cut through the noise without giving our finance leader heartburn.

"How much did you spend?"

This is always the first question, isn't it? People assume we blew our Q1 budget on a vanity project. The truth? It didn't make a dent in our marketing budget because technically, it wasn't in our budget at all.

The entire campaign was funded through our Brex points.

Yes, corporate card points. The real cost was opportunity cost. We could've used those points for team retreats or office perks. But Brex has brilliantly positioned itself as the enabler of startup visibility, letting companies like ours access channels typically reserved for the Fortune 500 crowd. It's genius. They've created a pathway for startups to look bigger than they are while everyone thinks, "Damn, they must be crushing it if they can afford billboards."

"What was your ROI?"

Let's get real. Nobody's scanning QR codes while crossing the street or sitting in San Francisco traffic. If they are, they are another marketer trying to test out the user flow. 

Instead, we measured what I call Return on Interest. And by that metric, we crushed it:

Our employee engagement on campaign content jumped 300%. People who normally scroll past company updates were suddenly tagging us in photos, showing their families, "Look what my company did!" We passed what I call the "backyard BBQ test"—when your employees' grandmother can finally understand what the company does because "we're the ones with the funny truck ads." That's cultural currency you can't buy with a LinkedIn post.

People literally followed our truck to see the full rotation of creatives before showing up at our booth. "Can you make t-shirts next year?" they asked. Some weren't our ideal customer profile, but now they know our name, and next year they'll have their phones ready when our truck approaches.

In an industry where marketing has been dominated by images of hooded hackers typing in dark rooms with green text, we gave people permission to smile. Security doesn't have to feel like an astronaut lost in space.

Our LinkedIn engagement extended far beyond our typical network. For the first time ever, we outpaced competitors ten times our size in follower growth. We showed up bigger than we are—isn't that the whole point of marketing?

"How did you convince your exec team?"

I didn't have to, and that's the secret sauce.

When the cost doesn't hit your expense line, any outcome is additive. But the real magic happened when we made the campaign a company-wide creative exercise during our annual kickoff.

Every team, from engineering to finance, got one hour to develop concepts. They pitched their ideas to the whole company in a mini creative shootout. The concepts ranged from our CEO rendered as various memes to an aging green dinosaur.

The winning concept became the foundation of our campaign. Everyone had skin in the game. Our CEO was right there in the trenches, pitching ideas that unfortunately didn't make the final cut. When your entire company feels ownership over a creative concept, our employees become the most effective distribution channel.

"What would you do differently next time?"

Perfect the truck route. If I could do it again, I'd have that vehicle circling the Moscone Center like a digital shark, creating maximum repeat impressions for conference attendees.

I'd also optimize for legibility. Some competing trucks clearly didn't test their creatives in motion. Their muted colors and tiny fonts might look great in a Figma file, but they were completely unreadable from 50 feet away. Contrast wins on the street.

And I'd dial back the animation. When your audience is already in motion, whether driving or walking, static images provide a moment of stability. The human eye needs a chance to process, especially when you only have a 2-3 second impression window.

The Real Lesson Here

The most effective marketing doesn't always come from the biggest budgets; it comes from creative constraints and cultural alignment. We transformed points that would have otherwise turned into perks into a campaign that made us look twice our size.

While the giants spent six figures on booth spaces, buying out restaurants, and throwing big parties, we created a memorable moment that stamped our name top-of-mind after the conference.

Sometimes the best way to stand out is to roll in a different direction. Preferably, creativity that your competitors can't help but notice.