Last Halloween season, Boomm shared a blog article with some of our favorite B2B horror stories. But you know how it works with scary movies: There’s always a sequel.

Here are this year’s tales of terror with more of the ghostly apparitions that haunt the hallways of agencies. These are all true-life B2B horror stories. In fact, you probably have encountered one or two of these frights in your career.

The curse of the “Bloody Logo”

It was almost midnight but the lights were still burning in the Creative Department.

In the morning, the agency needed to send a digital campaign to a long list of industry publications across the globe, and that meant all hands on deck.

Was anyone afraid they’d miss the deadline? Of course not: The concept was approved, the content was written, the design was tight, and the final versioning was just about done.

Suddenly, the calm was shattered by a shriek. The account coordinator had noticed something horrifying on her laptop.

“We’re using the 2024 logo! Don’t we have the latest one?”

Everyone rushed in to gawk at her screen. Then, collective panic set in and each person voiced their innermost fears.

“That is definitely the latest logo…or is it?”

“Who knows anymore? It’s like they tweak the logo every quarter.”

“That’s not the latest and greatest. The new version of the logo is rouge.”

“No way. It’s crimson.”

“Looks kinda scarlet to me.”

“The client said it was…well…blood red. She even called it the ‘Bloody Logo.’”

“Yeah, but what blood type? RGB positive?”

“No jokes. This is serious.”

“Sorry, but there’s no way to be sure…the logo looks different on every screen. How will we know if it our version is right?”

“Can’t contact the client, they’re on Eastern Time. Probably dreaming of sales while we lose sleep over this nightmare.”

“This is the end, my friends. We’re all doomed.”

Just as the logo hysteria reached its crescendo, a low, angry growl cut through the air. Everyone cowered as a hulking figure slowly stalked toward them from the darkened hallway.

As the gigantic form emerged into the light, everyone recognized it as Cranky Chris, the veteran production artist.

 “You geniuses might wanna check this before freaking out,” he grumbled.

Chris tossed a warm printout on the desk and stumbled back into the gloom.

“It…it is the right logo after all,” whispered the copywriter.

“What is that document?” gasped the account coordinator.

“Page 14 of the brand standards,” groaned Cranky Chris from the gloom. “Always check your brand guide first. Oh…and always keep it updated if you wanna sleep in peace.”

Invasion of the Strategy Snatcher

 The Monday morning agency production meeting was about to get rolling when Danny, the new business director, poked his shining head in the door.

“Guess who just called yours truly out of the blue?” he asked breathlessly.

When no one answered, Danny boldly declared, “Only Ms. Joanna Skamma, the new marketing consultant at Central Manufacturing. She’s got a boatload of projects to get done in her new gig and she needs a B2B agency ASAP. But first, she’s going to let us help her develop a strategy to share with upper management. Just a formality, of course. Oh man, this is huge and I thought you would all want to know.”

Danny poured a steaming cup of java and strutted from the room beaming. “Coffee is for closers,” he said with a wink.

There was a moment of silence, then almost everyone in the room began to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” asked a perplexed intern. “That sounded like a big deal.”

“You’re right,” admitted the agency president. “It did sound promising, but…”

“…But he’ll learn the gruesome truth,” finished the account director. “We all did. Danny just met the Strategy Snatcher.”

“Huh?” gulped the intern, looking a little pale.

“Joanna Skammer steals B2B strategies and never pays a cent for them.”

“How does she manage that?”

“It’s a brilliant scheme, really. First, she lands a new consulting job. Then, she contacts a vulnerable B2B agency with the promise of a huge new account. When the agency is hooked on hype, she drops her little caveat…’I just want a little help with my strategy first.’”

“I’m not sure I understand,” admitted the intern.

“The agency develops the entire strategy from scratch. Then Joanna snatches it and takes all the credit.”

“But doesn’t the agency protest?”

“Joanna’s too fast for that. She cashes in and disappears until the next consulting gig.”

“Well, shouldn’t we tell Danny the ugly truth?”

“Let’s wait until Tuesday. Don’t want to spoil his buzz.”

 

That was scary stuff, particularly if you’ve lived through it. But no one ever said B2B was for the faint-hearted. We hope you have a safe and happy Halloween. And if you happen to see Joanna Skamma out there trick-or-treating, run the other way.