Mailchimp: advert-top-1 by Droga5
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Despite having a name that's pretty easy to pronounce, MailChimp claims that the e-mail marketing platform has a history of people mispronouncing it (a claim that stems from an audio ad that ran in 2014 before the hit podcast "Serial" in which someone mispronounces the brand as "MailKimp").
The company's oddball name is now the basis of an elaborate marketing campaign that the brand recently launched in partnership with Droga5. Over the past few months, MailChimp has been creating all sorts products, events and videos that play off of its name but don't directly reference the brand in any significant way. For example, the brand recently created three eccentric short films called "JailBlimp," "MailShrimp" and "KaleLimp" that screened in select theaters in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Atlanta. It also created a line of chips called "FailChips" and an anti-aging beauty treatment called "SnailPrimp."
One of the largest activations that MailChimp created for the campaign was a song called "Hymn" by Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange) and Bryndon Cook. The collaboration between the two artists, dubbed "VeilHymn," features an interactive music video that fans can check out at a dedicated website. The song's release received media coverage in publications including Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.
While the eclectic activations spanned categories including food, film, fashion and beauty, the one thing that tied them all together was that they all directed people to MailChimp's website. When people typed in things like "MailShrimp" or "FailChips" into Google, the search engine would ask if they meant "MailChimp."
To commemorate the many activations that have made up "Did You Mean MailChimp?" over the past few months, the brand has released a short video that details why it created a "massive search campaign featuring nine mysterious projects" for its first major marketing effort.
"We used mispronunciation as a creative device to inspire all kinds of different executions, knowing that people would be curious about what they were seeing and search for more information," said Mark DiCristina, senior director of brand marketing at MailChimp, in a statement. “We have a history of not taking ourselves too seriously and having fun with our name, and this felt like a perfect way to introduce ourselves to potential new customers in a big and creative way.”
Credits
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Executive Creative Director: Neil Heymann
Group Creative Director: Don Shelford
Senior Copywriter: Julie Matheny
Senior Art Director: Matt Rogers
Copywriter: Ryan Snyder
Art Director: Katie Willis
Design Director: Devin Croda
Senior Designer: Nate Moore
Experience Design Director: Daniel Perlin
Junior Experience Designer: James Garvey
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Director of Interactive Production: Niklas Lindstrom
Associate Director of Interactive Production: Justin Durazzo
Executive Producer, Experiential: Bo Djogo
Senior Producer, Interactive: Leo Seeley
Producers, Interactive: Grace Wang, Morgan Mendel
Integrated Producer: Riely Clough
Director of Art Production: Cliff Lewis
Executive Producer, Art: Julia Menassa
Producer, Art: Nichole Katsikas, Frannie Schultz
Co-Directors of Film Production: Jesse Brihn, Bryan Litman
Senior Producer, Film: Anders Hedberg
Associate Producer, Film: Isabella Lebovitz
Music Supervisors: Ryan Barkan, Mike Ladman
Senior Editor: Matt Badger
Audio Mixer: Jesse Peterson
Sr. Integrated Production Business Managers: Denise Klapp, Tom Vendittelli
Director of Print Services: Rob Lugo
Senior Producer, Print: Alyssa Dolman
Retouching Studio Manager: Michelle Leedy
Graphics Studio Manager: Virginia Vargas
Quality Control Manager: Lisa Bishai
Quality Control: Susanne Johansson
Retouching Coordinator: Michael Mockler
Retouchers: Pete Gibson, John Ciambriello, Mike Vorassi, Shari Alexander, Natasha Kaser, John Clendenen
Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Co-Head of Strategy: Colm Murphy
Strategy Director: Katie Coane
Senior Strategist: Justin Pak
Strategist: Midori McSwain
Senior Communications Strategist: Elsa Stahura
Senior Communications Strategist: Taylor Hines
Data Strategy Director: Lily Ng, Bethany Bengtson
Data Strategist: Kaveri Gautam
Chief Operating Officer: Susie Nam
Executive Group Director: Julian Cheevers
Group Account Director: Matt Ahumada
Account Director: Pat Rowley
Account Supervisor: Josh Freeland
Associate Account Manager: Camille Cheeks-Lomax
Global Head of PR: Marianne Stefanowicz
PR Manager: Danny Hernandez
PR Coordinator: Ahrim Nam
Head of Project Management: Katia Billings
Project Managers: Leslie Alexander
Counsel: Sarah Fox
Associate Counsel: Zach Werner
Media Agency: PHD
Strategy Director: Ji Kim
Director, Marketing Sciences: Phil D'Addio
Associate Strategy Director: Alex Arcuri
Associate Director Digital Investment: Tina Qu
Interactive Production Company: Resn
PR Agency: RSquared
PR Consultant: Alison Voetsch
Mood Films
Production Company: Riff Raff Films & The Directors Bureau
Director: The Sacred Egg
DOP: Ben Todd
1st Assistant Director: Eric Kaskens
Producer: Jane Tredget
Production Design: Petr Kunc
Production Service: Unit+Sofa
Editorial: Big Chop
Editor: Sam Bould
Movie Poster Photography: JUCO
Artist Representation: Billy Diesel @ Art & Motion
Post Production: MPC
VFX Supervisor: Alex Lovejoy
Producer: Louise Unwin
Music: Bimbi by Joy Boy.
Additional Arrangement by Found Objects
(JailBlimp)
Plantasia by Mort Garson (KaleLimp)
Ricall (MailShrimp)
Sound: Factory
Mixer: Jon Clarke
Interactive Production Company: Resn
VeilHymn (Song + Video)
Artists: Devonte Hynes, Bryndon Cook
Record Company: Domino Records
Music Video Production Company: Strangelove
DOP: Jackson Hunt
Executive Producer: Melinda Nugent
Executive Producer: Sara Greco
Line Producer: Laure Salgon
Conform/VFX: The Artery VFX
Colour: MPC London
Colourist: Houmam
Music Video Director: Malia James
Music Video Editor: Mandy Brown
Cover Art Photography: JUCO
Artist Representation: Billy Diesel @ Art & Motion
Interactive Production Company: Resn
FailChips
Interactive Production Company: Resn
Product Development: MADE
Photography: Paul McGeiver
SnailPrimp
Event Production Company: The Uprising Creative
Interactive Production Company: Resn
WhaleSynth
Interactive Production Company: Resn
NailChamp
Interactive Production Company: Resn
Promotional Photography: JUCO
Artist Representation: Billy Diesel @ Art & Motion
MaleCrimp
Interactive Production Company: Resn
Photographer: Paul McGeiver
Inception Mural
Illustrator: Brosmind
Artist Representation: Liz Leavitt @ Levine/Leavitt
