Email is Dead - London

Hosted at the Design Museum in London, Email is Dead reimagined email as a sensory, cultural experience. Conceived and creatively contribited from concept through to execution, the exhibition explored email's evolution and its emotional impact through sight, sound, scent, and interactivity, with playful installations including a historical email montage, a personality quiz, and an email time capsule.

The exhibition space was infused with an 'Eau du Email' scent, developed in collaboration with Tatiana Godoy Betancur to evoke the smell of email itself. Crafted from aromatic plants including bergamot, geranium, sage, lavender, and sandalwood, the fragrance played on the idea that scent has the power to transform mood and mindset, tying into email's role as a fosterer of connection. It was a chance to immerse visitors fully in the experience, and to explore a question rarely asked before: what does email actually smell like?

The visitor journey was structured across three key pillars, each building on the last to tell a fuller story of email's role in our lives. Part One, Email is Powerful, opened with the scale and global impact of email, reinforcing its timeless status as a powerful form of communication and marketing. Part Two, Email is Personal, shifted the lens inward, exploring the intimate relationship each of us has with our inbox and bringing a human side to the technology. Part Three, Email is the Future, closed the experience by inviting visitors to contemplate email's future potential, both in their own lives and in the broader world.

Visually, the exhibition leaned into a bold, non-digital aesthetic, using pixel patterns and typography inspired by the first email ever sent. A limited line of Emailcore merch, featuring iconic email phrases, was also launched alongside the show. The result was an immersive, thought-provoking look at the past, present, and speculative future of how we connect.

Brief: Raise Mailchimp's profile across the EMEA region and put the brand firmly on people's radar.

Solution: Make the mundane magnificent. Remind people of the forgotten powerhouse sitting in their palms and pockets, by treating email not as a utility but as a cultural artefact worth celebrating.

Result: 84M earned media impressions · 92% increase in UK brand awareness · 5.7M social media impressions · 16K email signups · 25K visitors across the 30-day exhibition.