Game of Thrones Season 7 Special: Marketing Lessons from HBO

Game of Thrones Season 7 Special: Marketing Lessons from HBO. Here’s what we love about the channel’s digital marketing gimmicks and what are the key takeaways for marketers. The official Game of Thrones page on the platform uses the space in an appropriate manner and creates a stir for the next season. Fans who could successfully spot the dragon (virtually of course) were rewarded with unique content or prizes. #TakeTheThrone After the fourth season premiere of Game of Thrones, HBO made the fans use the hashtag #TakeTheThrone. Taking a cue, HBO launched a YouTube video with a stunning recap of the first six seasons right before the season 7 premiere. Livestreaming Fire and Ice Building up the anticipation of people for the upcoming seventh season of the show, HBO launched a Facebook Live event to announce the premiere date. Taking the Audience Behind the Scenes For the seventh season of Game of Thrones, HBO took the fans behind the scenes. Key Takeaways The marketing of Game of Thrones is not only well-received by a very active fan base, but also well-executed. Keep the conversation going by giving users something to talk about.

Author: Guest Post / Source: Marketing Insider Group

There are two types of people in the world.

Those who watch the Game of Thrones.
Those who don’t.

Based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series, Game of Thrones is not only known for the story, well-written plot, shocking deaths (often of the most favorite characters), breathtaking visuals and mind boggling plot twists that leave an everlasting impact, but also for the colossal marketing efforts by HBO throughout the year.

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Every time there’s a season finale of Game of Thrones, the internet breaks. Talks about the show, its characters, behind-the-scenes and fan theories take the internet by storm and fuel imagination of the fans, who form a steady audience base.

The season five finale of the 38 Emmy Award Winning show generated 8.1 million views while season six got an astounding 8.9 million. We won’t be shocked if the penultimate season of the show breaks both the records, as fans all over the world are thrilled to see the characters fight for the iron throne. After all, the battle is intensifying.

Here’s what we love about the channel’s digital marketing gimmicks and what are the key takeaways for marketers.

1. Facebook Cover Video

Recently, Facebook introduced cover videos to enhance pages. The official Game of Thrones page on the platform uses the space in an appropriate manner and creates a stir for the next season. The last time we checked, it was being used as a placeholder for the announcement of the premiere date of the show.

2. #RoastJoffrey

Dubbed as the ‘first social media roast’ for one of the most despised characters of the show, “#RoastJoffrey” got fans, brands, celebrities and the cast doing their bit on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Vine and Instagram.

As a result, within the first 48 hours, it led to 60,000 roasts, 1 million interactions and 850 impressions. This happened when the show was off-air.

3. #CatchDrogon

During the premiere of the fifth season of the show, HBO asked the fans to #CatchDrogon (one of the three dragons who went rogue after roasting a goat herder’s daughter). It built up on viewers’ excitement and asked them to catch the fire-breathing beast with lures from “Drogon Bait Shop” on Giphy. Once they laid the bait tagged with the caption and spotted the dragon, fans needed to quickly retweet the same as a proof. And that’s not all. Fans who could successfully spot the dragon (virtually of course) were rewarded with unique content or prizes.

4. #TakeTheThrone

After the fourth season premiere of Game of Thrones, HBO made the fans use the hashtag #TakeTheThrone. This unique hashtag converted the fans’ letters of words into a replica of the Iron Throne that doubled as a 3D interactive model. It also gave fans the chance to sit on the Iron Throne at San Diego Comic Con or win other prizes.

5. #PrepareForWinter

For the seventh season, HBO asked viewers to tell them how they’re going to welcome winter with #PrepareForWintercampaign on the Twitterverse! It retweeted some of the Tweets on the official page much to the delight of the loyal fans!

6. Beautiful Death

Game of Thrones is known for iconic deaths of characters in every season. HBO knows this fact well and it created a site specially to highlight all the memorable deaths in the form of beautiful artwork. Then, it used the same for a 30-day countdown for the season four premiere. Available on the website Beautiful Death, it also pinned the amazing artwork on Pinterest for the fans.