Ultralink Invasion
View the case- Brand
- Disney
- Year
- 2014
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Adventure & Quest
- Platform
- AR & VR
- Agency
- Mikael Emtinger
Objective
Mattel was launching season two of Max Steel and needed to keep young viewers engaged with the franchise between episodes. The campaign carried the season's central story — an alien Ultralink invasion — out of the show and into fans' own homes, giving boys a reason to come back to the brand outside the TV schedule, in line with Mattel's push for deeper multiplatform engagement with its "multimedia kids" audience.
Solution
The experience starts at the MaxSteel.com/Invasion hub, where fans enter their hometown and watch a season 2 trailer rebuilt on Google Maps, with Max battling Ultralinks down their own streets. From there, players download the free Max Steel Ultralink Invasion app and hold up their phone: the camera turns their room into invasion territory, with Ultralinks popping out from behind furniture and other real-world hiding spots. Players tap and swipe across the screen to swing Max's Turbo Whip, track the creatures down, and capture them one at a time. Every Ultralink caught gets banked in N-Tek, unlocking badges and gear upgrades, and players can break from the hunt to answer an episode quiz testing what they know about the show.
- 1
The campaign hub at MaxSteel.com/Invasion lets visitors personalize a season trailer by picking a nearby city, then plays it on a Google Maps engine that shows Max battling Ultralinks through that city's streets before linking out to the free app download.
- 2
The app opens on a mission briefing to help Max Steel and N-Tek repel the Ultralink invasion, then switches on the device camera into a first-person view where the player's own room or yard becomes the battle arena, Turbo Lash in hand.
- 3
Each level hides a set number of Ultralinks in the player's surroundings; players pan the phone around the space while an on-screen green arrow points toward the nearest hidden Ultralink.
- 4
Once an Ultralink is framed in the sights, the player taps and holds the screen to activate the Turbo Lash and capture it, with later Ultralinks demanding longer holds.
- 5
Some Ultralinks fight back and latch onto the player, who must physically shake the phone to throw them off.
- 6
Captured Ultralinks come in different types that players collect and then deposit at the N-Tek base.
- 7
Progress earns badges and turbo-upgrades that boost the player's abilities.
- 8
Throughout play, messages from Max, Steel, and other show characters arrive on an in-app N-Tek communicator, tying the game to the ongoing series.
- 9
A separate Episode Quiz mode tests players on their knowledge of the show's episodes.
