This spot centers around a Clustomer. The Clustomer is a visual personification of what happens when marketers fail to segment and personalize their marketing. The result is a 14-foot-tall mess of customers, all clumped together.

To create the Clustomer, we had to figure out a way of creating a moving ball of intertwined humans, who still functioned independently of each other. Additionally, the actors inside the Clustomer would need to deliver lines while contorted in strange positions. As such, we crafted the Clustomer, using AI modeling to pull off the film in the most practical way possible with limited VFX.

Clustomer is a play on words. Combining Customer and Cluster together.

(Customer + Cluster = Clustomer)

Meaning a clustomer of people. All grouped together to form one giant customer. Which is the personification of our main business problem. Marketer clump their customers together resulting in bad marketing. Mailchimp helps turn clustomers into customers with personalized email marketing.

In this film, a group of marketers are surprised to see an enormous ball of humans roll into their office space. The voiceover informs us “This is a Clustomer. It’s what happens when marketers group customers with very different behaviors into one tangled mess…” And the Clustomer is a tangled mess, indeed: they’re a diverse group of customers who we see squabbling and complaining about their unfavorable situation. After a few moments, however, a random arm holding a computer presents itself to the marketers. Using Mailchimp, one of the marketers is able to create personalized emails that speaks to each of the customers individually. As that happens, the customers inside the Clustomer receive personalized marketing on their phone, and with each tap of their phone, the Clustomer breaks up. When the Clustomer has finally broken up into customers, the marketers are relieved and able to relax.

Acquiring new customers is the #1 priority for every marketer. But when it comes to making their marketing more personal for those customers, we found that 3 out of 4 marketers are overwhelmed by the different personalization options available today.

Their fear of messing up outweighs their fear of missing out and they end up not doing much personalization at all. They often send the same generic message to everyone.

Our strategic approach was to ratchet up the tension of what happens when marketers do nothing. By not taking advantage of a key marketing strategy, they were creating a monster. A tangled mess of customers that you treat exactly the same resulting in the formation of a Clustomer.

Since this spot centers around a 14 foot ball of intertwined humans, we weren’t just looking for a diverse group of 20 excellent actors. We were looking for actors who could deliver their lines while twisted up like a pretzel.

We brought in a bevy of contortionists and gymnasts, along with ballerinas and other lithe athletes.

From a low-lit room in sunny LA, they acted out their parts while contorted into impossible shapes.

After whittling down the favorites, we had to make sure they could work together on set, so we gathered them around a 12ft by 8ft orb and asked them to hang from it. This gave us a sense of their strength and endurance and, frankly, their patience. From a group of hundreds we chose just under 20- and here we hesitate to say “lucky”- cast members.