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Millions and millions of views. And a company most people had never heard of became the main character on the internet for three straight days. A viral moment has led us to say something we thought we’d never say: Let’s go deep on Coldplay
Read:
B2B brand is no longer back office: Astronomer CEO Andy Byron resigns after viral Coldplay scandal
Video, reputation, and the power of showing up first (take note, Astronomer)
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Voice, velocity, and the cost of waiting: What Astronomer’s messaging missed
90 million impressions. Zero control. In just 3 days.
—Jay & Adam
💼➡️💥
💥 MARKET MOVES:
B2B brand is no longer back office: Astronomer CEO Andy Byron resigns after viral Coldplay scandal
A kiss-cam clip at a Coldplay concert just took down the CEO of a B2B data company and turned Astronomer into a case study in modern brand risk.
The video of CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot went viral. Two days later, Byron was out. Cabot was placed on leave. To make matters worse, the company slept on the scandal for 48 hours and then scrambled to correct misinformation and reclaim the narrative after half of the planet had internalized it as the most irresistible story of the week.
The reputational damage here goes beyond the CEO.
Astronomer isn’t a consumer brand. It’s a DataOps platform for enterprises. But in 2025, every brand is public-facing and B2B buyers are paying attention.
This moment created:
Instant visibility for all the wrong reasons
A trust gap with current and potential customers
Questions about internal culture, leadership standards, and risk management
And it all happened before any sales deck or product demo could set the record straight. In a B2B world where zero-click is decimating the sales funnel and your brand is becoming your best salesperson, this is a catastrophe no matter how you look at it.
Not all brand awareness is created equal, and there is actually, such a thing as bad PR.
Also not a great sign when MLB mascots are getting involved.
👉 Takeaway:
This is the new reality: Perception starts upstream.
Buyers Google before they engage. They make early decisions based on what they see, feel, and trust—long before your team gets a chance to pitch.
🤝 If you still think brand is a “nice to have,” this is your wake-up call
If you're planning a rebrand, relaunch, or GTM shift and your message still feels muddy, don’t wait until Q4 panic sets in. Now’s your chance to get clarity that cuts through.
We partner with B2B teams that want to lead the conversation.
In 2025, brand isn’t decoration. It’s your defense, your demand driver, your differentiator.
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🌋 DEMAND & GROWTH:
Video, reputation, and the power of showing up first (take note, Astronomer)
LinkedIn just dropped a study analyzing 13,000 B2B video ads and the results are a blueprint for how modern buyers engage, trust, and decide.
Some standouts:
+129% engagement for cinematic, story-led brand videos
+78% lift when authentic emotion is present
+40% bump when named experts speak directly to the audience
Cultural cues = clicks: Speaking the internet’s language
Notably, there is a +111% engagement when memes or cultural cues are used effectively. Harnessing the power of a moment, when handled with skill and in a timely manner, is a gamechanger.
Cultural coding at speed: What Astronomer could’ve done
So let’s talk Astronomer.
How could they have capitalized on this moment? Well, it would help if that cultural moment that many brands have seized on wasn’t about their C-Suite. But it was, and they fumbled the bag.
The brand was handed unexpected reach on a global stage. But instead of owning the moment or even redirecting it, they paused for 2 days. That’s time you don’t get back.
Imagine this instead:
A ‘real talk’ video with the interim CEO resetting tone and trust
A short, mobile-native message to customers and prospects
A reminder of the work they do, not just the drama they endured
It’s not about making content from chaos. It’s about showing up when it matters most and turning a public spectacle into a public act of leadership.
👉 Takeaway:
Emotion wins. Realness scales.
The best-performing B2B videos don’t look like ads, they look like people, sound like people and talk about what people care about professionally and culturally.
✍️ THE MESSAGING LAB:
Voice, velocity, and the cost of waiting: What Astronomer’s messaging missed
The Coldplay kiss-cam moment happened on a Wednesday.
The CEO resigned Saturday.
Astronomer’s interim CEO, Pete DeJoy, issued a formal statement Monday.
That’s not fast enough. In internet time, that’s not a delay, it’s an eternity.
And in that vacuum, fake statements, memes, and parody accounts took over the narrative.
Astronomer interim CEO, Pete DeJoy
DeJoy’s eventual message was solid: humble, focused, and values-led
He reframed the moment as a turning point for a company that helps “data teams move the world forward.” But the tone wasn’t the problem.
The timing was.
A few lessons for B2B leaders, whether you’re dealing with a scandal or a cultural opportunity
Control fades fast. The longer you wait, the more the story belongs to someone else.
Scroll speed is story speed. Memes move faster than PR approvals—and silence is a statement too.
Authenticity still matters. DeJoy’s message hit the right notes once it arrived: resolve, purpose, and personality. But brand trust is shaped in the reaction window, not the press release window.
Your tone is only as powerful as your timing.
👉 Takeaway:
Clarity without speed is still a missed opportunity. If you don’t move fast, your audience will write your story for you.
How will the Coldplay scandal impact Astronomer
📊 DATA & INSIGHTS:
90 million impressions. Zero control. In just 3 days.
The Astronomer scandal racked up 90 million views on TikTok in just three days. That’s legit transformational cultural penetration. And it happened without a single ad dollar spent.
For context:
The moment is now listed as the top entry under “Notable Moments” on the Wikipedia page for Kiss Cam. That’s how deep the story cut through.
It is.
👉 Takeaway:
Massive reach doesn’t equal meaningful trust.
Without brand clarity, awareness can create confusion or worse, reputational risk.
🤝 Attention is a gift (or a liability)
In today’s landscape, visibility comes fast.
If your brand isn’t ready to respond, clarify, or steer the narrative, you don’t just miss the moment. You risk turning it against you.
We make sure you’re ready.
We’re a nimble network of senior brand and growth experts who act quickly on your behalf, helping you make meaning before momentum fades, or backfires.
When attention hits, make sure you’re not just seen, you’re understood.
🔥 FAMOUS TAKE:
Exposure is only valuable if the perception it creates is aligned.
Attention isn’t leverage.
If what people see isn’t what you stand for, you’re not growing, you’re confusing.
Misaligned visibility is risky.
The goal isn’t just to be seen. It’s to be understood.
—Adam
Thanks for reading. You could be spending your time anywhere—we’re glad you’re here. 💥
—Jay & Adam
Heads Up: In each issue of B2BOOM!, we highlight services from our crew at FamousFolks or friends we trust. When you see the 🤝, it means we’re sharing something we genuinely back. We only shout out things we believe are truly valuable for your business—no shady promos, just stuff we stand behind.