MailChimp, a provider of digital marketing solutions for small creative businesses, was growing at pace with the category. They had grown organically and on their own terms while maintaining their independence, authenticity and playful personality. They’ve always done things their own way, and they've been better for it.

However, the brand was at an inflection point where organic growth was no longer enough. It was time to introduce new people to the brand and grow faster than the category while preserving their underdog, maverick personality.

But before launching their first-ever mass brand campaign, MailChimp needed to center themselves around their core purpose as a brand. So we crystallized and rallied around what MailChimp does best: helping small businesses grow without compromise.

This was at the heart of what our campaign needed to communicate: the power of staying true to yourself. But to inspire our audience to stay true to themselves without compromise, we needed to stay true to ourselves without compromise. To demonstrate this, we took a nontraditional approach of “cultural bombs”—a series of intriguing and provocative products and experiences across music, fashion, beauty, film and more, each designed to spark conversation and drive our audience to MailChimp.

What they had in common? They all sounded a bit like MailChimp.

We invented FailChips, a real brand of crushed potato chips that flew off shelves in bars, bodegas and sandwich shops everywhere.

We formed VeilHymn, a musical collaboration between Dev Hynes and Bryndon Cook that spawned a hit single (on SoundCloud and Spotify) and received praise from Rolling Stone.

We started the MaleCrimp, a hair trend so ridiculous it was covered by major fashion magazines, including Vogue Paris.

We made WhaleSynth, a real, digital instrument made entirely out of whale noises.

We launched NailChamp, an online battle in which hundreds of thousands voted for the world's top nail-art artists.

We introduced SnailPrimp, an anti-aging beauty treatment that had LA beauty bloggers covering their faces with snail slime at the Ace Hotel.

We created MailShrimp, JailBlimp and KaleLimp, three cinematic short films that entertained audiences in theaters nationwide.

This collection of "cultural bombs," each with its own cultural footprint, was all part of a highly orchestrated ecosystem of digital and physical content connected by mispronunciation, design and a paid search campaign that fueled the experience with a simple question: Did you mean MailChimp?

We knew that if we made something different and intriguing enough, our like-minded audience would connect with it. And when they did, we'd be there waiting for them, championing the belief that doing things your way is good for business, pointing them toward the MailChimp tools that help them do it.

This unconventional approach was richly rewarded with double-digit growth in sign-ups, driven by spikes in conversation and engagement. Rather than having to chase culture, we successfully created it, driving buzz for the brand, top-of-mind awareness, interest and action, proving that amazing (and profitable) things can happen when you stay true to yourself.