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Black Hat USA 2025 once again proved why it remains one of the most significant and competitive gatherings on the cybersecurity calendar. As the energy of Las Vegas spilled into meeting rooms, hotel suites, and packed presentation halls, thousands of attendees navigated a week crowded with announcements, demos, and conversations all vying for their attention.
But in a week where everyone was clamoring for airtime, the real challenge was being heard. For security vendors, the question wasn’t just how to show up, it was how to breakthrough. With every corner of the event saturated with news, the brands that succeeded were those who planned early, aligned tightly to the themes that mattered, and made smart, early investments in visibility.
While the week was bursting with genuinely compelling announcements, the reality is that most struggled to gain meaningful traction amidst the sheer volume of product launches, research drops, and partnership reveals.
Vendors that tied their messaging to dominant topics such as: AI, cloud security, and resilience tended to attract more interest from journalists and analysts. Similarly, those who had secured media and analyst briefings well in advance, positioned their stories in the context of broader trends, and began building momentum before the show often saw significantly more engagement, and in some cases, three to four times more coverage.
By contrast, companies that waited until the week of the show to release news found themselves competing with breaking vulnerability disclosures, high-impact security research unveiled on stage, and attention-grabbing vendor announcements that dominated the headlines throughout the week.
In fact, one journalist told us they received over 300 pitches before the event even started, a stat that speaks for itself.
In that kind of environment, exclusive research, credible commentary on breaking news, or unique customer use cases were often the difference between landing coverage and being overlooked.
While some booths buzzed with activity, much of the real business was conducted off the show floor – in private meeting rooms, hospitality suites, and informal gatherings. Attendees increasingly prioritized scheduled discussions over spontaneous booth visits, making pre-arranged meetings, strong relationships, and targeted outreach just as critical as booth design or giveaways.
During conversations several vendors reflected on the difficulty of breaking through when so much news is concentrated into a single week. Many found that treating Black Hat as a stage for relationship building, thought leadership, and reinforcing momentum from earlier launches was a far more effective way to maintain visibility and engagement over the long-term vs trying to launch something net new. This approach also left them room to pivot quickly if breaking news reshaped the event’s media agenda, something that, as always, was a very real possibility.
For vendors already looking ahead to Black Hat 2026, the advice is simple:
Black Hat is undoubtedly one of the most influential moments in the cybersecurity calendar, but it is not the only one. The companies that get the most value out of it are those that treat it as a key milestone in a longer-term communications strategy, not as their one shot to make an impact in the marketing year.
At Brands2Life, we help clients maximize the impact of their time and investment at events like Black Hat. From strategic planning and message development to securing high-value meetings and cutting through the noise with targeted storytelling, we can help ensure your presence delivers measurable results, both during the show and long after it ends.
If you’re already planning for 2026, or want to keep momentum going now, get in touch. We’d love to help.
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