CURIOSITY SLIDE

TitleCURIOSITY SLIDE
BrandMERCK
Product/Service#CATCHCURIOUS INITIATIVE
Category B02. Dimensional Mailing
Entrant FORK UNSTABLE MEDIA Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation FORK UNSTABLE MEDIA Hamburg, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Paul Taggart Ligalux & Fork Unstable Media Creative Direction
Johanna Stroex, Paul Taggart Ligalux & Fork Unstable Media Copy
Tobias Schaub Ligalux & Fork Unstable Media Art Direction
Sebastian Martens Ligalux & Fork Unstable Media Creative Technology
Lara Omlor, Carl-Jochen Reinhardt Ligalux & Fork Unstable Media Project Management
Gina Biel Ligalux & Fork Unstable Media Graphic Design
Maret Sager Ligalux & Fork Unstable Media Artwork
Claudio Colussi Ligalux & Fork Unstable Media Print Production

The Campaign

Our audience spends the majority of its time in laboratories. To this end, we communicated the brand’s curiosity message by sending contacts something, which required a closer look: the world’s smallest call-to-action! It started with a branded box with “Only the curious…” printed clearly on the front. Inside, recipients discovered a tiny metal sheet fixed to a branded lab slide. Illegible to the naked eye, recipients had to place the slide under a microscope to read the laser-inscribed copy “…have something to find: catch-curious.com”. The URL directed contacts to the Merck Curiosity Hub.

Creative Execution

Implementation: We used a laser to burn our tiny message to 1x1 cm metal sheets. These were fixed with adhesive to lab slides before being placed in high quality, Merck branded boxes. Timeline & Placement: The mailing was delivered via courier to selected recipients between January and March of 2017. Scale: 200 hundred copies of the Curiosity Slide were produced and delivered to selected Merck business contacts worldwide.

Results

Feedback from Merck clients and business partners has been stimulating. The idea, packaged in the brand’s unmistakable corporate design (a colourful world of cells and shapes inspired by the forms found under the microscope) helped reinforce the company’s position among important industry figures as a leader in vibrant science and technology. Plus, unique visits to the dedicated hub URL resulted in a fantastic 30% response rate for the mailing.

The Curiosity Slide harnesses the power of cognitive closure to encourage recipients to physically interact with Merck’s curiosity message and pursue it online. The process, known also as “need for closure”, describes the human brain’s acute desire to find satisfactory answers to ambiguous concepts or uncommon situations. Combining this natural human attribute with the “hands on” approach of our science-based target group, we crafted an unconventional piece to stimulate engagement and epitomise the overlying theme of scientific curiosity.

Innovations and technical advancements happen more often when people are curious. Forming our strategy with this in mind, our goal was to create a piece which really stimulated curiosity among recipients, making their interaction with the #catchcurious campaign both smart and entertaining. Our B2B audience consisted of influential scientists and researchers selected by our client Merck. These figures included clients, innovation partners, and academic educators. “Only the curious have something to find”. This simple yet inspirational text formed our combined message and call to action. Together with a URL to the Curiosity Hub, the mailing helped state an unmistakable case for increased curiosity in the workplace.