HBO on building excitement for House of Dragons TV launch
HBO Max needed to reignite passion in all things 'Game of Thrones' in the run up to the launch of prequel House of the Dragon. Their campaign scooped the prestigious Grand Prix at The Drum Awards for Media as well as in the Digital Platforms or Gaming, Launch Campaign, Integrated and Planning categories. Here is the award-winning case study.
Excitement builds for House of Dragons launch
The North Remembers. Fans also remember their disappointment with the final season of Game of Thrones, which was reported by NME to be the second most disappointing ending ever. To bring fans back to Westeros for the new prequel series House of the Dragon, we needed to reach out to fans and reignite their excitement for the show.
To engage a fellow dragon-loving fandom, we partnered with Riot Games’ League of Legends. With their players’ deep affinity for lore, magic and majestic winged lizards, and since over three-quarters of Riot Games esports fans think positively about Game of Thrones, we made House of the Dragon the first in-game sponsor of The League of Legends Championship Series.
The campaign built up to the show’s release. It wove key House of the Dragon iconography and language across vital gameplay moments, before rallying fans to custom battles at the LCS Championship weekend in Chicago and delivering specially-created in-game assets, that provoked some serious geeking out on socials.
By delivering on media value and positive reactions, the fiery union of House of the Dragon and League of Legends helped drive record streaming subscriptions and successfully ignited fans’ excitement for the upcoming show.