Can It Scan It? Turning AI Checkout into Entertainment

Can It Scan It? — Social-Native Experiment in B2B AI Marketing

Video Type: Short-form experimental social series
Role: Creator, Producer, Director, On-Screen Talent, Editor
Audience: Social audiences (TikTok), B2B tech buyers, sales prospects
Objective: Channel experimentation, brand differentiation, awareness

Context

B2B AI marketing often defaults to product demos, explainer videos, and corporate messaging. At Mashgin, we wanted to test whether a more culturally native, short-form format could make complex computer-vision technology instantly understandable — and more memorable.

TikTok was rapidly becoming a dominant video platform, but very few enterprise AI companies were experimenting there in a serious way.

The question was simple:
Could we make B2B tech content that felt native to short-form social — without losing clarity?

Challenge

Computer vision checkout is powerful but abstract. It can be difficult to demonstrate speed and flexibility without lengthy explanation.

We needed a format that:

• Demonstrated capability instantly

• Required zero technical background to understand

• Differentiated Mashgin in a crowded AI marketplace

• Could live natively on vertical-first social platforms

At the same time, we deliberately wanted to avoid over-produced, corporate-looking content.

Strategy

The concept became “Can It Scan It?” — a short-form series that stress-tested Mashgin’s AI with unexpected objects:

• Cheeseburgers

• Telephones

• Diplomas

• “Secret, Even Better Harvard” parody products

Instead of explaining the technology, we showed it reacting in real time.

Creative decisions included:

• Deliberately lo-fi aesthetic to contrast with polished SaaS marketing

• Retro visual treatment, shot on a Super-16 video sensor rig with vintage 1970s cinema lenses

• Degraded further in post to achieve an intentionally rough, experimental feel

• Delivered in 9:16 vertical format optimized for TikTok

The goal was to make advanced AI feel playful, understandable, and human.

Execution

I conceived and led the series end-to-end:

• Developed the format and episodic structure

• Directed and produced all shoots

• Designed the aesthetic treatment and visual identity

• Edited for tight pacing and social-native rhythm

• Managed distribution across TikTok and LinkedIn

Each episode functioned as a micro-proof point of Mashgin’s flexibility — without ever feeling like a demo.

Outcome

The experiment produced unexpected channel insights:

• The series underperformed on TikTok, failing to gain algorithmic traction in a consumer-dominated feed.

• However, the same content performed exceptionally well on LinkedIn, where B2B audiences embraced its clarity and distinctiveness.

As a result:

• The campaign became one of Mashgin’s most-viewed LinkedIn content initiatives.

• Sales teams adopted the videos as memorable conversation starters in outbound efforts.

• The brand differentiated itself in a saturated AI market through humor and creative risk-taking.

The series demonstrated that experimental, culturally native content can drive strong performance — but platform fit matters as much as format.