Situation:

Many people dream about starting their own businesses based on their own ideas and dreams. They try to break free from workplace rules, politics, and all the internal chaos that can limit their growth. So as these marketers and entrepreneurs look for sources of inspiration to make the jump or start their own idea we wanted to be there to help propel them forward.

Brief:

Create a source of inspiration for new and aspiring small business entrepreneurs. Help inspire them to take the next step forward in starting and growing their own business.

Objectives:

Inspire small business entrepreneurs around the world

Increase brand awareness of Mailchimp

Be a beacon for creativity

We all know Björk - the genre-bending musician whose success is the result of constant tinkering and constant creative reinvention.

So what does Björk…have to do with Mailchimp? And more specifically, small business owners?

More than you might think.

As a company devoted to inspiring small business owners throughout their journey, Mailchimp saw Björk and the lessons she learned along her own journey, as just the thing to inspire a new generation of small business owners.

Mailchimp believes there's a shared spirit between artists and entrepreneurs. Both are just trying to get their ideas out into the world. So, whether you're opening a coffee shop or releasing an album - you're expressing a vision. And who better to speak to that vision and the art of doing things differently than Björk herself.

So we approached her team with the idea of the podcast Sonic Symbolism.

Knowing small business marketers look to numerous places for inspiration we opted to combine two of their favorites together: Music and Podcasts. With Sonic Symbolism and Björk we were able to draw parallels of the creative process of starting and growing a business to that of making a record and growing as an artist over time.

To show this we partnered and collaborated with Björk ultimately landing on an approach and strategy to dedicate each episode of the podcast to talking exclusively about each album produced, starting with her first record and ending with her last.

From Björk: "Most of us go through phases in our lives, this podcast is an experiment to capture which moods, timbres, and tempos were vibrating during each of these phases."

Sonic Symbolism is a 9-episode podcast with Björk that explores the textures, timbres, and emotional landscapes of Björk’s nine albums —with friend, philosopher and writer Oddný Eir and musical curator Ásmundur Jónsson. In the podcast Björk breaks down her professional and creative history in meticulous detail and with characteristically elliptical charm, offering listeners a surprisingly intimate glimpse into her life and art.

Impact:

Sonic Symbolism not only inspired Mailchimp's small business customers, it also inspired other entrepreneurs around the world to share the podcast at an outstanding rate. The podcast has reached over 837 million people to date, with an average rating of 4.9 stars. Critics like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The Guardian and others put it on hundreds of Best Of The Year lists, and Sonic Symbolism even reached #1 on Apple iTunes.

And when it comes to the effect Sonic Symbolism has had on our audience, perhaps Bjork herself said it best: “I learn a little bit more and become just a little bit better.”

Brand tracker results:

U.S. unaided awareness increased in October 2022 to an all-time high. A month after Sonic Symbolism was released.

Unaided & aided awareness of Mailchimp increased (United States, Australia, Canada), driving increased familiarity and consideration (United States, Australia, Canada, Spain and Brazil).