Yep, you guessed it. We’re not pivoting toward unlimited tattoo sessions. But, it was fun to see everyone’s reactions on April Fools’ Day!
We had exactly one week to fully plan and execute the prank. This is a behind the scenes look at how we did it.
 

Roles

The team for this campaign included Khai Tran, Johnathan Grzybowski, Jie Kuang, Ginny Nguyen, Naciye Cakir, and Liam Ely. Each member had a role in crafting the campaign. That includes brainstorming, crafting the messages for each platform, designing the images, and documenting the event.
 

In progress

It was a lot of fun working on this project. Many laughs were had and we even visited an actual tattoo studio located in a repurposed church!
tattoo tattoo
Johnathan Grzybowski Khai Tran
 
At first we weren’t sure who to “tattoo” but ultimately I ended up “tattooing” Johnathan. We also wanted to give Khai the infamous lower back tattoo but those images were never used. He might actually still have marker on his back to this day.
Johnathan Grzybowski Jie Kuang
Jie Johnathan
 
Khai reluctantly gets his lower back tattoo.
Jie Khai
 
Next, we crafted the April Fools’ Day messages for each social media platform and email. The biggest decisions here were our slogan and our promo code. Our slogan ended up being:
Unlimited Tattoo Sessions
No Revisions
One Flat Monthly Rate
Since the majority of our clients are millennials, we wanted to bring them back to the “Pen 15” club. So, for a discount off actual Penji packages, new customers can use the code “PEN15” for 15% off their subscription. Was it a risk? Probably. Did it get lots of laughs? Definitely.
 

Designing

Naciye designed all the images for social media while Liam manipulated the photos.
Before
Johnathan
Johnathan
 
After
Johnathan Johnathan
 

What you saw:

The message was spread throughout Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and some of you may have even received an email!
Cover photo:
LinkedIn Penji
Social media post:
Penji Twitter

Reactions:

Most people knew it was an April Fools’ Day prank. There were a few that thought it was a great idea!
Some were excited
Penji April Fools Day
 
A few saw through our promo code
April Fools Day
 
There were even a few that loved the idea
April Fools Day
 
And we even got some interest in design work because of it!
April Fools Day
 
But most importantly, everyone had a great time.
April Fools Day