The first email was sent more than half a century ago. When Ray Tomlinson sent a message from one Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-10 computer to another placed next to it, he could hardly have foreseen the revolution he had instigated.
Since then, email has become indispensable to our daily lives and, despite rumours to the contrary, email is not dead. Far from it, in fact.
At this year’s SXSW Sydney, Intuit Mailchimp is popping up at Tumbalong Park, bringing its Email Is Dead exhibition down under. At the exhibition, you’ll be able to see, feel, hear and even smell the past, present and future of email in a dynamic, multi-sensory experience that is not to be missed.
“Email is one of the most prevalent communication tools in the world, and everyone’s connection to the medium is personal,” said Michelle Taite, Intuit Mailchimp’s chief marketing officer.
At the seven-day live activation, open to the public from 14 October to 20 October, Intuit Mailchimp will take you on a journey back into email’s past through a series of eye-opening experiences in a way that only Mailchimp can.
Email is Dead was brought to life by Mailchimp’s in-house creative agency, Wink, Ad Age’s In-House Agency of the Year in 2023. The activation was created in partnership with the Sydney-based creative agency Studio Messa.
More than four billion people use email around the world and four-fifths of us prefer email over any other form of communication with brands. At Email is Dead, the Intuit Mailchimp team is bringing that love for the medium to life with an original soundtrack designed to evoke the feeling of an email’s journey.
The smell of email will linger through an Eau du Email scent, with bergamot, geranium, sage, lavender and sandalwood, replicating the sense of connection and lucidity that email can generate. Even the exhibition’s style is more “email,” not “internet” with colourful, interactive displays and offers visitors the chance to email their future selves and find their email personality.
At its showing at London’s Design Museum, Email is Dead attracted more than 25,000 visitors. In fact, it even trended on TikTok, showing—perhaps once and for all—that email isn’t the medium of the past.
In fact, rather than being a transactional, impersonal tool for communication, Mailchimp will confound your expectations and show that email is a tool for creativity in its purest sense.
“Email is anything but mundane—it’s a deeply personal, universally connecting force that has shaped our world for decades. With this experience, we invite visitors to explore the eternal influence of the inbox and join us in celebrating email’s past, present, and AI-powered future. Is email dead? Not even close,” added Taite.
Expect to have your perceptions challenged, marketing knowledge expanded and see paradigms shifted as Email is Dead unpacks email’s transformative role in our work, relationships, culture, and beyond.
