Zoom expands beyond video calls

Zoom has grown into contact center software, AI tools, and sales products, but customers still think of it only for video conferencing.

The brand needed to go iconic

Zoom's marketing team decided comedy was the way to break free from its video call association and lean into its cultural presence.

“We felt like we had permission to lean in in a way that a lot of brands didn't.”

Colin Jost's No Notes studio

SNL alumnus Colin Jost launched No Notes to work directly with brand marketers, drawing on years of writing commercial parodies.

The Zoom Ahead campaign

Zoom first partnered with No Notes on the Zoom Ahead campaign last December, followed by a spot where Zoom comedically plots its own destruction.

Trust the comedy, trust the process

Zoom's marketing team debated the self-destruction concept internally but decided to trust Jost's vision and let the comedy lead.

“Let's make it the way Colin envisioned it, trust the comedy, and trust that we wouldn't get pushback internally.”

Making something funny is relentless

Jost emphasized that creating comedy is a demanding process that requires constant refinement to get right.

“The biggest leap is making something that you think is funny. That's such a relentless process to get right.”