Why Home of the Dragon’s Advertising Fooled Followers on Goal
HBO’s Home of the Dragon Season 2 advertising is fueling the hearth of discourse, leaving followers questioning the whole lot from their allegiances to their realities.
In partnership with Large Spoon, RQ and Busterwood, HBO and Max rolled out a worldwide marketing campaign immediately involving followers for Season 2 of the Sport of Thrones prequel, making them select a aspect within the Targaryen civil struggle between the inexperienced banners of King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) or the black banners of Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy).
The marketing campaign kicked off in the direction of the top of March with dueling trailers asking followers to decide on a aspect, with the trailers breaking Max viewership information. Then, it advanced into the message of “Elevate Your Banners,” with AI-generated posters, influencers weighing in and even a dragon showing on prime of the Empire State Constructing.
Plus, banners appeared around the globe to say landmarks for both aspect. Or did they?
In June, HBO and Max got down to divide New York, claiming the New York Inventory Trade, Rockefeller Middle, Grand Central Terminal and The Mets’ Citi Subject for both the inexperienced aspect or black aspect with bodily banners. Native NYC bars and eating places additionally joined in, providing customized meals objects and unique Home of the Dragon merch.
Nonetheless, along with the bodily activations, 32 establishments worldwide additionally donned CGI banners that had been amplified on social and thru varied companions and influencers. And the outcomes set the web ablaze.
“Elevate Your Banners” drove over 1.4 billion estimated social impressions the week of the June 16 premiere*, in accordance with information from CreatorIQ supplied by HBO and Max. And that’s with out counting press.
For example of the digital activations, the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges raised banners for Group Inexperienced and Group Black, respectively, in a viral CGI stunt. Different international landmarks, together with the Eiffel Tower, Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Sydney Harbor and Al Ula in Saudi Arabia, adopted swimsuit.
“What we needed to do was create a collection of stunts around the globe that simply blurred the strains between bodily and digital, after which we began seeing folks query, ‘Is that actual?’” Pia Barlow, evp of originals advertising at HBO and Max, advised ADWEEK. “What’s actual? What’s not actual? On the finish of the day, it didn’t matter. It was all about taking that easy name to motion, making it international and to get folks speaking, which we did.”
Past the billions of social impressions, press retailers had been additionally abuzz concerning the bodily—and CGI—banners. AP even despatched a reporter to confirm if the New York banners had been actual: “An AP reporter on Monday about 1 p.m. went to the world the place every video was filmed and confirmed no banners had been hanging from both bridge,” the outlet wrote.
Nonetheless, not all of the Home of the Dragon discuss was optimistic. Backlash ran the gamut, together with the whole lot from critics complaining about being tricked with CGI to others saying the CGI— typically mistakenly referred to as AI—didn’t look actual sufficient.
“There are all the time going to be some haters. It doesn’t matter,” Barlow mentioned to the criticisms. “It’s only a matter of making an attempt to get everybody speaking.”
The marketing campaign takes flight
In response to Barlow, the marketing campaign was round an 18-month course of through the two years the present was off the air.
The Season 1 marketing campaign was all about reinvigorating life into the Sport of Thrones franchise following a hiatus of fabric after the ultimate season’s combined critiques. Now, Season 2 was about bringing Home of the Dragon to the place Sport of Thrones was amongst followers, reaching a broad viewers and making it the unmissable occasion of the summer season, in accordance with Barlow.
“We’re extremely lucky that we now have this fandom with a number of love for the present, so how can we leverage this fandom, not simply to get them speaking concerning the present, but additionally the marketing campaign?” Barlow mentioned. “How can we assist create model ambassadors for us? What’s a rallying cry we will create that makes you wish to be a part of this neighborhood otherwise you’re simply lacking out?”
And nothing creates a neighborhood like a rivalry, particularly the place both sides has shades of grey.
Digital, AI-generated character posters, created in partnership with Media.Monks, added to the discourse, permitting followers to place themselves in paintings for his or her respective aspect. The posters additionally gave the collection a worldwide push as Max continues enlargement across the globe by way of Europe and Asia.
Home of the Dragon’s digital poster generator, which is out there globally in 9 languages, has already had greater than 2 million posters generated since launching on June 10, in accordance with the corporate. And it’s reside all through Season 2 in case any followers resolve to alter sides, which Barlow “totally expects.”
Elevate your Baa-nners
Among the many different marketing campaign components across the globe, in New Zealand, DDB Aotearoa and Neon put armor on sheep, dubbed Baattlewear, with totally different breeds siding with inexperienced or black. Plus, a partnership with Snapchat for a twin selfie and world view lens featured a high-fidelity dragon with audio machine studying (ML) capabilities, and HBO/Max has an “Iron Throne Room” on Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional.
The marketing campaign culminated in a 270-foot dragon set up that not too long ago appeared on prime of the Empire State Constructing. ADWEEK beforehand reported that the set up needed to pivot after dangerous climate delayed it every week. Nonetheless, Barlow mentioned the adjustment labored in Home of the Dragon’s favor, with an inflatable of Vhagar, the largest dragon within the present, showing on the day of the premiere, every week after Group Inexperienced claimed the Empire State Constructing.
The Home of the Dragon set up, which was achieved in partnership with the Empire State Constructing, included picture alternatives with the Iron Throne, early registration for Zynga’s Sport of Thrones: Legends cell recreation and had tens of hundreds of holiday makers over the ten days it was reside, in accordance with HBO.
Massive danger, huge reward
The Season 2 premiere drew 7.8 million viewers, which was 22% beneath the ten million viewers Home of the Dragon obtained on its Season 1 premiere evening in 2022. Nonetheless, HBO premiere evening numbers are solely a fraction of an episode’s ultimate viewership, with Season 1 episodes rising to achieve round 29 million viewers every.
With thousands and thousands of contributors in activations and billions of impressions, the marketing campaign achieved Barlow’s objective of getting folks speaking, even when the discuss—together with fan criticisms and even CGI banners on Chapultepec Fort main Mexican officers to reportedly threaten authorized motion—wasn’t all optimistic.
In response to Barlow, the response to this point was the whole lot the workforce mentioned: “In success, that is what it will appear to be.”
“Truthfully, it’s like a pinch-me second to see it play out. Even among the extra controversial like, ‘Ah, that’s clearly AI!’ I’m like, ‘It’s not AI. It’s CGI.’ Let’s be sure folks perceive the terminology,” Barlow mentioned. “Even the pivot that we needed to do with the Empire State Constructing and Vhagar, all of that. Frankly, I couldn’t have scripted it higher myself.”
*Owned & Earned Social Impressions + Advert Worth calculated primarily based on a $10 CPM through NetBase, Paid Creator Media Worth estimated by CreatorIQ
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