Client Spotlight: McNeill’s 50th Birthday

Happy 50th, McNeill! 🎈

What do you give a brand that’s turning 50? If they’re a beloved German school bag company with a dog in their logo and a growing range of art supplies, the answer is: a year-long birthday party.

McNeill approached us in late 2023 with a clear brief: help celebrate their 50-year anniversary in a way that honors their legacy, activates their retail network, and expands awareness of their new product lines. In particular, they were looking to grow visibility for their art and office supply range while re-engaging their existing clients.

The campaign needed to be bilingual, cross-platform, targeting a range of audiences from retail partners to parents to children, and flexible enough to roll out over several months. And it had to feel unmistakably McNeill: creative, high-quality, and full of heart.

Challenge accepted.

A little nostalgia to share

McNeill has been around since 1975, when their very first trademark featured the family dog. Naturally, we brought that puppy back into the spotlight with a series of custom illustrations that nodded to the brand’s roots.

Their brand started out with the family dog in 1975, named McNeill, and the puppy was part of their first registered trademark. Look at their first logo!

Shoutout to Almostronaut Devyn who created these beautiful illustrations that were used throughout the campaign.

 

 

We kicked off the campaign with a special mailer to McNeill’s retail clients – an invitation to order their own “birthday surprise” via QR code and a custom landing page.

The birthday package contained

• A birthday card
• A McNeill balloon
• Sticker sheets (of course)
• Product samples from their recently expanded range of office and art supplies

 

This, and loads more – enamel keychains, postcards, new profile and banner images for social media… we did a little bit of everything.

Let’s throw a party that lasts all year

We started with a big idea: what if the celebration wasn’t just one day, but a full year of playful moments?

Enter the social media scavenger hunt: 13 monthly social media challenges (one bonus round for the birthday month!) that invited children and their families to get creative. Some were crafty. Some were silly. Some were designed around getting families out adventuring in nature. All were designed to make people smile, post, and feel part of something.

 

We also suggested to work with German charities throughout the year, to donate school supplies, plant trees, and give to animal shelters – playing with the number 50.

The glow-up, shown in infographics

To round things out, we made a series of short videos and infographics highlighting McNeill’s journey from “local backpack maker” to “pan-European icon of the schoolyard.” All in German, and all ready to roll out on social, LinkedIn, and retail comms.

• Video: Birthday Teaser (Animation)
• Video: Logo Evolution (Animation)
• Video: Logos throughout the Years (Morph)
• Video: Historic Schoolbags (Morph)

 

Why we loved this project

Because it was fun.

Because it was weirdly emotional to look at photos of vintage school bags and imagine how many kids carried them on their first day.

Because we got to do a bit of everything: strategy, storytelling, design, logistics and improvisation.

Most of all, because McNeill trusted us to celebrate their legacy their way. We didn’t try to reinvent them, we just made sure that their history (and their future) got the celebration it deserved. The birthday campaign highlighted where McNeill came from, and where they’re headed.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, McNeill! 50 looks good on you.