A Menacing Black Hole Embodies Marketers' Greatest Fears in the Latest MailChimp Campaign

You've heard of MailChimp. And if you've followed the ad industry or listened to any podcasts over the past year-plus, you know what it isn't: a shrimp, a blimp, a limp, or any other adorably rhyming object. But what does the company sell, exactly? According to the latest campaign from creative agency of record Droga5, the answer is simple: certainty. More specifically, MailChimp promises to help reduce what its own consumers have called "the black hole of uncertainty" that shadows every decision they make when marketing their own businesses. In a series of spots that debuted today, the role of that bottomless void is played by a very literal black hole that pulses and expands, threatening to engulf the wary small business owner who only wanted to find more customers on Instagram! [kickout id="1"] "There are lots of unknowns; you're not sure if you're doing the right thing," said Droga5 executive creative director Neil Heymann in explaining the challenges faced by MailChimp customers. They are, overwhelmingly, small business owners who lack the budgets to hire in-house marketers—and in repeated surveys they say the very act of organizing and automating a marketing campaign can feel like "throwing money into a black hole." Sound familiar? "We now have the task of talking in some detail about what MailChimp products do," Heymann added, describing the colorful campaigns that launched in January as "more about saying hello." All four new spots play on the same theme. [kickout id="2"] No previous MailChimp promos have touched on measuring one's Instagram spend. "We wanted to say, as simply as possible, that MailChimp is more than just an email service," Heymann noted. Then there's the hole itself, which begins to take on a certain personality as the series progresses. [kickout id="3"] That was almost frightening. Heymann said, "What good story doesn't have some conflict or enemy? In this case, [that enemy is] nothingness itself ... anything that does not provide clarity." [kickout id="4"] This digital-only campaign will be carefully targeted toward the sort of people who use MailChimp. Heymann noted that the work aims to illustrate the "emotional rollercoaster" experienced by those using the products while also reflecting MailChimp's desire to express strong opinions without taking itself too seriously. "We want to continue to put out a brand with a personality in what can be a very dry category," he said. CREDITS Client: MailChimp Agency: Droga5 Campaign: "MailChimp vs. The Black Hole" Chief Marketing Officer: Tom Klein VP of Marketing: Sean Cook Sr Director of Brand Marketing: Mark DiCristina Sr Director of Design: Todd Dominey Director of Marketing Operations: Amy Sturgill Senior Marketing Manager: Palmer Houchins Creative Chairman: David Droga Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer Executive Creative Director: Neil Heymann Group Creative Director: Don Shelford Senior Copywriter: Julie Matheny Design Director: Devin Croda Senior Designer: Nate Moore Junior UX Designer: James Garvey Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale Co-Directors of Film Production: Jesse Brihn, Bryan Litman Associate Director of Film Production: Ruben Mercadal Associate Producers, Film: Sasha Pace, Isabella Lebovitz Business Affairs Manager: Denise Klapp Director of Interactive Production: Niklas Lindstrom Associate Director of Interactive Production: Justin Durazzo Senior Producer, Interactive Media: Madison Goldberg Producer, Interactive: Grace Wang Director of Art Production: Cliff Lewis Director of Print Services: Rob Lugo Retoucher: Cayla Zahoran Graphics Studio Managers: Michelle Leedy, Virginia Vargas Production Artist: Emmanuel Perez Quality Control Specialist: Susanne Johansson Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer Co-Head of Strategy: Colm Murphy Strategy Director: Katie Coane Head of Communications Strategy: Colleen Leddy Communications Strategy Director: Taylor Hines Chief Intelligence Officer: Amy Avery Data Strategist: Kaveri Gautam Executive Group Director: Julian Cheevers Account Director: Pat Rowley Account Supervisor: Josh Freeland Account Manager: Camille Cheeks-Lomax Performance Group Director: Paul Eckelmann Project Manager: Rayna Lucier Counsel: Sarah Fox Associate Counsel: Zachary Werner Media Agency: PHD Group Account Director: Ji Kim Marketing Science Director: Phil D'Addio Associate Strategy Director: Alex Arcuri Digital Associate Director: Tina Qu Digital Analyst: Sachin Manghnani Associate Search Director: David Weiss Production Company: Ruffian Director: Greg Barth DOP: Andrij Parekh Executive Producer: David Richards Producer: Erin Wile Production Company: Second Child Line Producer: Gabrielle Nicoletti Photographer: Paul McGeiver Editorial: Wax Editor: Paul Watts Executive Producer: Toni Lipari Producer: Annabelle Cuthbert Post Production: MPC Executive Producer: Camila De Biaggi Telecine: Richard Fearon VFX: Marcus Wood Producer: Elissa Norman Sound Design: Factory (Anthony Moore, Neil Johnson) Sound Mix: Sonic Union (David Papa)

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A Menacing Black Hole Embodies Marketers' Greatest Fears in the Latest MailChimp Campaign

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