In the summer of 2022, USAA aimed to capitalize on the buzz and contextual relevance of the Top Gun: Maverick film to build brand awareness and promote USAA Insurance offerings among the military community.

Idea:

Surrounding the exciting return of Maverick, IMDb Creative Studios worked in partnership with Publicis Groupe and USAA to give Top Gun’s cross-generational fanbase a variety of custom content, including the first-to-market USAA Flight Simulator game.

Inspired by Navy fighters and Maverick’s sky-high movie action, the USAA Flight Simulator transported players into the cockpit of a Navy-certified F-18 during the film’s opening weekend. Military-centric elements including a personalized Call Sign Generator, U.S. Navy-supplied imagery, and reactionary sound FX helped to create an authentic experience for players, while building brand awareness and excitement for the blockbuster release. Players were able to use their mouse on desktop and a control pad on mobile to fly the aircraft through USAA-branded rings and collect points before the game timer ran out.

On the day of the release, USAA also sponsored a Live Show takeover on IMDb that featured expert host commentary, cast interviews, trivia and games to build excitement for the film.  The overall sponsorship also included 4 original videos about the film that were distributed across the IMDb website and social channels, along with a custom trivia game based on the film exclusively on Instagram.