Situation: As part of its “2016 State of Curiosity” report, Merck discovered that only 20% of workers in Germany, China and the USA self-identify as curious. To improve this situation, and infect science and technology audiences with the contagious effect of curiosity, the company started the global #catchcurious initiative.

Brief: Create a direct mail feature to spread the #catchcurious message among influential figures from the world of science and technology and encourage them to visit the Curiosity Hub, the online home to all campaign activities.

Objectives: Devise a creative solution, which has the ability to evoke a curious response from recipients, enticing them to examine the piece more closely and close the “information gap” opened by its initial message.

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.