hbo - game of thrones

CATEGORY - BEST TOPICAL CAMPAIGN

HBO GAME OF THRONES SEASON 5 EST CAMPAIGN

CREATING THE ‘SPOILER FREE’ METRO



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The volume of online conversation on the evening of the series finale of

HBO’s Game of Thrones means that those who have been waiting to

legally download it have learned to avoid social media. But that doesn’t

protect them from all the other media out there.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVESGame of Thrones is a cultural phenomenon. It is the most pirated

show on TV and one of Sky’s hero shows, which they support with a

considerable media budget to promote the live broadcast and box

sets on the Sky Atlantic channel.

Metro had previously run a spoiler of a key

episode in Season 3, the day after

broadcast, which had not gone down well

with fans that weren’t able to watch the

episode live. The reaction from readers had

prompted the title to now include ‘Spoiler

Alerts’ in the preceding pages of the book

so that fans could choose to avoid spoiler

content.

By partnering with Metro on this release, we wanted to acknowledge

the debate around reporting TV news vs protecting readers from

spoiling their enjoyment of the show, and reassure them that their

journey into work would be safe from any shocking revelations.

INSIGHT

Game of Thrones has transcended the fantasy genre to draw in an

increasingly broad audience beyond ‘geeks’ and typical HBO fans (25-

44 ABC1s). Due to the shows exclusive broadcast on Sky Atlantic, we

knew the Season 5 finale would have a relatively small audience when

compared to the huge number of fans of the show.

This created an opportunity for us to use our media budget to reach

and influence as many fans as possible once the season was available

for purchase through EST (digital download).

We knew we couldn’t stop spoilers running as the storyline broke, but

by creating enticing content around the season itself we were able to

tap into the fans’ desires to purchase the season at the first

opportunity so that they could discover the plot twists for

themselves.

Ultimately we were able to exploit the buzz from broadcast while at

its peak, and transform it into a commercial message.

So, the morning after the Season 5 Finale of Game of Thrones was

broadcast on Sky Atlantic, we created a partnership with Metro whereby

any spoiler editorial was replaced with redacted content, utilising both

print and tablet platforms.

This ensured that the journey to work was a ‘safe zone’ for GoT fans -

and we created our own morning headlines, as the show dominated the

iTunes chart on day of release with Season Five sales up +75% against

Season Four.


THE PLAN

We partnered with Metro to create a ‘GoT spoiler-free Metro’ on

Tuesday 16th June. By working closely with the editorial team, we

were able to redact all of the spoiler content to ensure that no plot

lines were given away. This ran on P.g.6 of the paper and was

replicated on tablet where we were able to drive users directly to

download the season.



The partnership was flagged up on the front page of the paper so

readers were reassured that they could read the paper safely with

no nasty surprises.

Tactically we were able to create headlines of our own as we

supported this partnership with display formats across the quality

news brands front pages within both print and tablet platforms.Working in conjunction

with Premier PR, we were

also able to offer

commuters the

opportunity to have a

selfie with a real-life

White Walker who was

making his own way to

work on the Northern

Line. (See right)Furthering the multi-

channel strategy, HBO

wrapped the campaign

around an #ownthrones

social campaign, backed

by paid social - again

shifting the awareness

from on-air to purchase.


RESULTSReader engagement was incredibly positive with many positive

tweets from fans thanking Metro for keeping the paper spoiler free.“We always knew that there would be a big opportunity in releasing

the full season the day after it had finished airing on Sky Atlantic –

the combination of a fevered media and fanbase, a build-up of

shocking storylines that culminated in the final episodes, and a

continuous stream of social chatter around spoilers, plot twists,

demand and access.

We wanted a campaign that was part of that conversation, not trying

to engineer something new; something that would cut through the

noise and offer a compelling story of its own, built around one key

message: available to buy now. In the ever-diversifying world of

digital television, it's important to keep the message clear and

simple, eye-catching and bold. PHD helped us ride that momentum

and shift the hysteria into record-breaking EST sales for HBO UK. We

are ecstatic with the results.”



CLIENT VIEW

• Season 5 sales ended up +75%

versus Season 4.

• Game of Thrones Season 5 was

the NUMBER One selling title for

every retailer in Week one.

• This was HBO’s BIGGEST UK sales

week EVER for an EST Product.

• Day 1 sales were up an astonishing 600% on iTunes and 300% on

Amazon versus Season 4.

• The series dominated the iTunes

chart on release day, with a

Season 5 episode occupying

every slot on the Top 10

Programme Downloads. Season 5

remained at number 1 on iTunes

for over a month, a very rare

feat.

Colin Smith, Director, UK, HBO Home Entertainment


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