Create a global campaign to launch long-awaited, augmented reality mobile game Harry Potter Wizards Unite.

For fans who’ve been waiting for their Hogwarts letter since they were 11-years-old, Harry Potter Wizards Unite isn’t just a game, it’s their chance to be a wizard for real. So we worked with Niantic and Warner Bros to create a campaign that treated the game narrative as if it was really happening – a genuine calamity where magic is uncontrollably appearing in the real world. The Ministry of Magic needs wizards everywhere to help stop it before Muggles find out (Muggles being non-wizarding people, of course.)

The launch film, produced by Stink and The Mill, gives you a glimpse of what it feels like to be a wizard on the ground. It follows wizard-in-training Emily and her friends Emeka and Finn battling their way through magic-fuelled encounters in their local neighbourhood in a bid to save a young Harry Potter from the Dementors’ kiss.

The film, directed by Tom Green, launched on June 19 across TV, cinema, online and social in territories including America, Asia and Europe. The campaign also included widespread out-of-home and press activity, marking Niantic’s biggest media investment to date.

This latest work builds on early films which have been appearing on social channels since January, showing ‘traces of magic’ caught on Muggle CCTV and mobile phones. As well as a rallying cry from the Ministry of Magic, which took the form of The Trace Report, directed by William McGregor and Jorge Montiel. 

Check back at a later date for results.