CAMPAIGN: Merge Mansion Unlocked
CLIENT: Metacore
AGENCY: Jack Morton
Background
Merge Mansion is a hyper-casual mobile game from Metacore – a Finnish gaming company. Central to gameplay is the mysterious mansion inhabited by its mercurial caretaker, Grandma Ursula, and her hidden secrets.
Since launch, the mansion’s doors have remained locked, leaving millions of fans hungry to get inside and discover, what is Grandma hiding?
Then in 2023, the moment fans have been waiting finally arrived. The mansion’s doors would finally be open for gameplay.
In preparation for their biggest expansion in years, Metacore set out to execute a campaign that would spotlight the game’s lore and generate excitement among new and existing players.
Insight and Strategy
The only thing better than the spine-tingling suspense of a good mystery, is being a part of it.
So, Metacore decided to invest in their first major experiential marketing activation and create an experience that would turn would-be investigators into the world’s best detectives.
Idea and execution
Introducing Merge Mansion Unlocked, a one-of-a-kind immersive experience inside a real-life version of Merge Mansion. Using immersive storytelling and environmental design, we created an experience that blurred the lines between entertainment and reality.
First, Metacore partnered with Hollywood star, Pedro Pascal, to launch a video teaser campaign to announce the experience. Pascal played Tim Rockford, a detective investigating the most challenging case of his career – the mystery inside Merge Mansion and Grandma Ursula.
Then, Metacore invited super fans, press, celebrities and influencers to a 1-day immersive experience in Los Angeles. Led by detective Tim Rockford (Pascal), guests crawled through fireplaces, dug through pies for clues, and solved escape room style puzzles throughout the mansion. All with the goal to uncover grandma’s secrets. Generative AI was used as creative support to create fun, in-activation elements such as props, character scripts and voice recordings. Real-time clues, videos and prompts were shared on social throughout to engage digital audiences and expand reach.
Afterwards, Metacore released a recap video featuring Pedro Pascal, leading top talent and gaming influencers through the experience which helped to extend the activation and increase media engagement.
Impact
Merge Mansion Unlocked was a hit! The integrated campaign generated over 1 billion total impressions and social was a buzz with tons of requests for a Merge Mansion movie.
Over 1 billion total impressions (original target: 82M press impressions)
— 356.8M event press impressions
— 177.9M event social impressions
— 311.4M press impressions via talent partnership/video promotion in trailer films
— 16.3M game update press impressions
— 223.8M press impression for the theory film
Metacore loved the live mansion and the mystery elements so much, they were inspired to insert some of the creative elements into the game itself. Resulting in an inspirational creative loop from digital to live and back again.
When asked about the experience, Pedro Pascal said, “The result of a film set is entertainment. The experience of this, is entertainment.” -Pedro Pascal, Actor, Refinery29 Interview
