Mattel Creations REVEALED

Role: Founding Creative Partner and Hybrid Creative Director (Art Direction and Copywriting)
Client: Mattel Creations | Mattel
Event Type: Global Digital Livestream (DTC)

Overview

As a founding creative partner of Mattel Creations REVEALED, I led hybrid creative direction and partnered on content strategy for a global digital livestream event. Under the direction of Jess Kirman, Mattel Creations Senior Global Director of Creative, I was briefed to:

Create a digital Comic Con for Mattel where fans, collectors, and consumers could connect with Mattel’s legacy brands through event-exclusive content, limited-edition collectible drops, and in-person fan engagement experiences.

To deliver on the brief, I scripted a two-day digital event that connected fans to the brands they love through a first-of-its-kind global launch. I led the creative vision in collaboration with the Mattel Creations teams, in-house production, art directors, designers, editors, trade show services, animators, and global brand marketing teams, from the first draft to final delivery, ensuring unified branding across all visual and scripted elements within the livestream and problem-solving every creative pivot along the way.

Results

Due to the success of the inaugural event launch, I was later contracted to expand and improve the program for Season 2, bringing six fan finalists to Mattel Headquarters for an in-studio REVEAL experience. I scripted and directed branded content that achieved:

• 128K total engagements (+38% year over year)

• 66K live views (+16% year over year)

• 356K initial stream views

• 22 million social impressions

• 2.5 million PR impressions worldwide

• 29-minute average watch time (+142% year over year)

• $3.4 million in direct-to-consumer sales (over four days)

• Global reach spanning 146 countries

Strategy and Creative Approach

The campaign demonstrated how story-driven content, fan participation, data insights, and integrated creative execution can deliver measurable results and global brand impact.

Strategic scripted programming helped involve fans, boost engagement, sell out products, increase DTC revenue, and exceed KPIs.

I led the creative vision within a matrixed environment, unifying more than ten distinct global brands with different audiences, tones, IP partnerships, artist collaborations, and marketing goals into one cohesive Mattel Creations tentpole event. I developed scalable systems, repeatable processes, and flexible content structures to support future launches.

This was my process in strategically structuring Mattel Creations REVEALED:

LIVE Event
I scripted everything the host communicated during the event; the only thing not scripted was the authentic fan reactions to the collectibles being REVEALED. Each segment began with a brief introduction of the fan who was flown to Mattel Headquarters, followed by the fan hitting a button to REVEAL the collectible for the first time, allowing them to serve as a proxy for fans worldwide to experience the limited collectible drop in real-time. This strategy significantly increased digital fan engagement.

Pre-Recorded Product Video Content

For each brand, I consulted with collectible designers, packaging designers, sculptors, brand managers, collaborating artists, and other team leads to craft a narrative for each brand’s collectible, which was REVEALED at the event. I scripted stop-motion animation and directed animators to bring each collectible to life through narrative storytelling.

Pre-Recorded Brand Video Content
For each brand, I consulted with each brand’s global marketing team and created exclusive content that provided fans and collectors with an inside look into the creative process behind the brands they love. I implemented a strategy of using online forums to connect with fans and collectors, polling them ahead of the event, and programming content that was aligned with their interests, which also helped in developing fan engagement, event interest, and participation.

Mattel Branded Commercial Breaks

I scripted and oversaw the in-house production teams in creating branded commercials to run between segments. This included interviews with Mattel employees showing the collectible collections at their desks, as well as showcasing real-life fans’ collections at home, which were used as part of our contest in selecting the lucky fans we flew to Mattel HQ.

Engagement Strategy | Teasers and Easter Eggs

For Mattel Creations REVEALED, dual Easter Eggs were created in tandem with promotional videos, and hawk-eyed fans speculated (and some guessed correctly) about what the hidden clues teased for the upcoming event. It was rewarding to see the fandoms come to life for this campaign addition and cement the lore of REVEALED.

Mattel Creations REVEALED 2025 can be viewed below:

Creative Director | Hawken Vance (Writer, Strategy, Art Director, and Copywriter)

Client:

Mattel | Mattel Creations

Participating Global Mattel Brands 2024 & 2025:

Hot Wheels, Barbie, WWE, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Little People Collector, Monster High, Street Sharks, and MEGA

Credits:
Jess Kirkman | Sr. Director of Global Creative

Kayla Bogucki | Director Global Brand Marketing

Luke Lamson | IMC Brand Director

Sara Gosschalk | IMC Brand Director

Rolex Vidal-Le | Associate Creative Director

Noelle Hoffman | Lead Project Manager

Kristoffer Friberg | DTC Performance Marketing

Malik Allen | Mattel Creations Project Manager

Brandon Yoon | Mattel Creations Associate Project Manager

Adam Haer | Live Event Director

Christa Troester | Live Event Assistant Director

Romy Erickson | Sr. Producer

Rachel Levine | Producer

Celine Allan | Social Media Team

Marie-Anne Aizac | Producer
Ella Weil | Producer

Trisha H. | Mattel Creations Revealed Host

Olivier Loranger Gagnoon | Segment Director

Symeon Platts | Segment Director & Director of Photography

Jose Ibarra | Gaffer

Johnny Karlsson | Sound Engineer

Zoey Towner | Segment Director & Grip

Reyhan Almazar | Camera Assistant

Charlotte Scovill | Stylist

Thien Le | Production Coordinator

Saris Ahmed | Production Assistant

Alfonso Estrada | Animator

Nick | Sound Engineer

Shellena Gonzalez | Hair and Makeup Artist

Thien Le | Production Coordinator

Naph Despres | Motion Designer

Elaine Chu | Editor & Social

Ken Rojanasupya | Graphic Designer

Ethan Paves | Producer

Darren Stone | Director of Photography

Colin Pregent | Director of Photography
Brendon V. | Staff Designer Hot Wheels
Rob M. | Lead Product Designer Hot Wheels
Philip R. | Principal Product Designer Hot Wheels
Dylan Price | Manager Global Brand Marketing MOTU
Jonathan B. | Manager Global Brand Marketing UNO
Carlyle N. | Lead Product Designer Barbie
Magic O. | Sr. Product Designer WWE

Glenda C. | Key Lead Product Designer MH
Steven Ozer | Manager Global Brand Marketing WWE
Jon P. | Product Design Manager Little People

Gary Baseman | Artist Bespoke
Eliana R | Archive Supervisor MOTU Archives

*It takes a village! Please reach out if you have been accidentally excluded from the list of credits above.