Did You Mean MailChimp?
Mailchimp2017
Did You Mean MailChimp? is a 2017 integrated search campaign (short films, microsites, interactive pieces) for Mailchimp, created by Droga5, New York.
The line
Did You Mean MailChimp?
Why it works
Mailchimp's first campaign with Droga5 barely said "Mailchimp" at all. Droga5 took the "MailKimp" stumble from the company's 2014 ad on the podcast Serial and turned mispronunciation into a system: nine projects whose names only sound like the brand, among them MailShrimp, KaleLimp and JailBlimp (three surreal 60-second films made for cinemas and the web), FailChips, SnailPrimp, MaleCrimp, VeilHymn, WhaleSynth and NailChamp. Resn built the digital pieces, including an interactive music video and a whale synthesiser. Each oddity was designed to provoke a search, and a looping web of microsites routed the curious to a single page that explained the joke. It is studied as a search campaign disguised as a scattering of curiosities, letting small, specific audiences discover the brand for themselves rather than being told about it. Launched in January 2017, it was one of three Cyber Grand Prix winners at Cannes that June, and in 2018 it collected a Best of Discipline Pencil at the One Show.
Techniques
- Humour Surreal oddities with names that only sound like the brand, from a shrimp film to a whale synthesiser, turn a mispronunciation into a running joke.
- Participation Each curiosity is designed to provoke a search, so audiences piece the joke together and discover the brand for themselves.
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