Note: I can’t take credit for finding this ad. It was shared on LinkedIn by Anthony Pierri, and I couldn’t resist.
The Hook
Because I’m a diplomatic fella, I’ll start things off by saying the handshakes are a decent visual hook. There’s something more human and simple vs most ad designs.
And if they were for a B2C app for making friends or getting support for something, they’d be pretty good.
But Attio is a CRM. An ‘Agentic CRM’. They’re literally describing themselves in the least human way, just below these images.
And then there’s the heading “Sales is changing. This feeling isn’t.”. What the fuck does this even mean? Is the idea that these handshakes are people making deals? Is the handshake supposed to represent the feeling you get when you make the sale? Or is it supposed to represent the human interaction?
I've only ever worked in sales for two weeks (turns out I’m awful at selling advertising space to hotels in Bournemouth for a free Nottingham-based newspaper), so if any salespeople are reading his, let me know what “this feeling” is.
The Angle
The body copy doesn’t really clear anything up, either. “Sales was always a people job” makes me think the image is about the personal connection, but “this feeling” is then even more of a mystery.
Then “The software turned it into a data entry job” starts to establish an actual angle. That other CRMs have turned sales into a data entry job. I assume they mean Salesforce, because they always are.
Not a terrible angle, in isolation. The problem is that the image hints at it, the heading says something else, then they follow this with “Attio is the agentic CRM that turns it back on.”.
Surely they must realise ‘agentic’ screams anything but human? I understand positioning yourself as “The agentic CRM” in 2026. I’m sure their investors love it. But if you’re doing that, why would you possibly try to sell your software off a human angle?
Either you’re doubling down on AI or you’re focusing on the real relationships. Trying to do both is like trying to market a vegan sausage made from the best quality meat.
The Ask
The ‘ask’ is less of an ask and more just repeating ‘The agentic CRM’ for the third time…in an ad about the importance of people.
The Landing
This ad links to…their regular homepage. Where the entire message is essentially “THE AGENTS DO IT ALL FOR YOU. NO HUMANS NEEDED!”
There is zero mention of sales being a people job, about ‘this feeling’, or anything remotely similar to the angle they try to hit in this ad.
The Verdict
I have no idea who this ad is for. It feels entirely at odds with their general positioning and messaging, and drops the angle before you even finish reading.
What’s the point?