Although the email marketing platform MailChimp has an easily pronounceable name, an audio advertisement, which ran back in 2014, proved their team otherwise when a kid mistakenly renamed the company as “MailKimp”. The cute and simple mispronunciation represented the brand’s adorable way of introducing itself to the world and establishing stronger connections with its clients.
The American company’s officials wanted to highlight that they weren’t bothered by people’s mistakes especially when it comes to their brand’s name. They saw this as an opportunity to share who they really are and what they do.
The Atlanta-based brand put its trust in Droga5‘s creative skills, which turned their attention towards the cute mispronunciation and transformed it into a clever campaign, titled “Did You Mean MailChimp?”
This week’s #ThrowBrandThursday compresses the fascinating story of the company’s first major marketing campaign. It debuted in January 2017 and rolled out in selected theatres across the US, and then continued its epic show on small screens in February. The New York-based agency managed to capture the attention of larger audiences by creating “an ecosystem of additive, artful, and playful experiences.”
The artists tried to ‘read’ people’s minds in order to figure out how MailChimp would sound in their heads. So, they played around with the brand’s name and finally revealed nine weird words that rhyme with it. With all ideas clear, the creatives assigned each invented term to products that were part of a collection inspired by the initial incorrect pronunciation.
The showcase included uncanny items that spanned across various categories like food, film, fashion, and beauty; from smashed potato chips or singing shrimps to anti-aging treatments based on snail secretions.
The whole line-up included customized websites for every single imaginable play on words: MailShrimp, KaleLimp, JailBlimp, MaleCrimp, FailChips, SnailPrimp, WhaleSynth, and NailChamp. The campaign reached its delightful apogee through VeilHymn, which featured an interactive music video made in collaboration with Dev Hynes and Bryndon Cook. Even though all products have been sold out, you can still enjoy the special treats of these videos.
The success of the award-winning campaign is reflected within the creative agency’s remarkable work, which managed to make people aware of the company’s services even without mentioning their correct name. A similar campaign that doesn’t directly reference the brand was the sweet Compare the Meerkat initiative for the insurance company Compare the Market, in which a billionaire meerkat explains that consumers should not confuse the word “market” with “meerkat.”
Whilst all original products were part of different industries, they all had one thing in common, namely, to direct you to MailChimp’s official website. So, have a look at the initiative’s short films or try searching for one of the ingenious names elaborated by Droga5. Google’s suggestions may surprise you!
Credits:
Agency: Droga5
Client: MailChimp