- Startup Spells 🪄
- Posts
- Merge Mansion’s Genius in Disguising the Sales Process
Merge Mansion’s Genius in Disguising the Sales Process
PLUS: How To Create Viral Hooks by Mike
Startup Spells 🪄
January 26, 2025
Merge Mansion’s Genius in Disguising the Sales Process
Merge Mansion, a mobile game by Metacore, found a smart way to market itself without being pushy. Instead of relying on flashy ads or direct calls to action, the game uses storytelling and celebrity appeal to draw players in naturally.
The game’s campaign features Pedro Pascal, known for his roles in Game of Thrones and The Last of Us. Pascal plays Detective Tim Rockford, a character who investigates the mysterious Grandma Ursula, a key figure in the game’s story. This ties the ads directly to the game’s narrative, making them feel like part of the experience rather than just promotions.
“Many of Merge Mansion’s players are millennial women who don’t necessarily consider themselves gamers or actively follow industry media or forums, so we can’t rely on traditional game marketing methods, either.”
By using Pascal’s popularity among women and a compelling storyline, Merge Mansion avoids the usual “download now” approach. Instead, the ads focus on curiosity and intrigue. Viewers want to know more about Grandma Ursula’s secrets and the detective’s investigation, which naturally leads them to check out the game.
The ads are so engaging that fans have created playlists featuring them.
This strategy works because it hides the sales process. The ads don’t feel like ads—they feel like a story you want to be part of. This approach has helped Merge Mansion stand out in a crowded market and attract players who might not usually play mobile games.
Whoever hides the sales process the longest, wins. Ads like these have insane retention.
Merge Mansion shows how blending storytelling, celebrity appeal, and subtle marketing can create a campaign that feels engaging rather than salesy. It’s a lesson in how to win over an audience without being obvious about it.
Top Tweets of the day
1/
humans don't want swiss army knives, they want perfect scissors that just cut really well
— Victor (@victor_explore)
4:09 PM • Jan 22, 2025
Love this analogy!
Most humans are lazy. They don't want to learn prompt engineering. They just want an input box and an output box. Input is where they paste their idea and output is where they get their Facebook Ad Copy.
2/
If you don’t track all your business metrics religiously you’re not gonna make it.
We noticed a halving of our conversion rate over the span of a week. Fixed it and went back to normal.
That halving meant 50% LESS revenue.
Imagine you don’t track your metrics and don’t… x.com/i/web/status/1…
— Danny Postma (@dannypostmaa)
2:27 AM • Jan 26, 2025
Everyone should learn data analysis. Most just use intuition.
But when you actually know your numbers, you can easily spend 10x more effort on that specific channel to grow.
3/
What, besides using Anki cards, talking to Claude, and meditation/broccoli/exercise, is highest on your list of “I can’t believe that not everyone else is doing this?”
— Richard Ludlow (@richardludlow)
8:42 PM • Jan 24, 2025
My fav replies:
Going out in morning for Circadian Rhythm to start the process of sleeping (h/t Andrew Huberman)
Idea capture. It makes the writing easy & you can easily reference all your thoughts previously. Use Obsidian for this.
Most people ignore the mind/body until its too late. But even YCombinator (YC) recommends not ignoring it. The only thing they tell you to do besides work is workout. Its a productivity hack.
How to Win by Daniel Gross covers the optimal hacks. One of the most underrated talks ever!
Rabbit Holes
What’d ya think of today’s newsletter? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know.
Do me a favor and share it in your company's Slack #marketing channel.
First time? Subscribe.
Follow me on X.
Reply