The cult “Game of Thrones”, which once turned the entire TV series industry upside down, celebrates 11 years since its first episode aired. Eight years on the air, eight seasons, 38 Emmys in various categories, tens of millions of fans, and an ingenious marketing strategy that has made The Game not only the main show of the early 21st century, but also a large-scale global one. Brand – In terms of epic level, hardly anyone today can compete with this story about the Seven Kingdoms and the fight for the Iron Throne. However, for its time, the project was a unique phenomenon that went far beyond the screen. Before that, only major feature-length franchises like Star Wars or Harry Potter were resolved on such a scale, and Game of Thrones came out at the turn of the decade, in the era of social networking, and took creators. its full advantage. For example, after them, Netflix will follow a similar scenario to promote its shows, with every second series having the effect of a bomb explosion.
The “Game” makers are said to have thought ahead of how the series would work with repeaters – a business and laid out all the marketing settings for its duplication. Moreover, the original story written by George RR Martin had it all: a special language, symbols, recognizable gadgets, bright characteristic details that companies actually just need to play competently. The main characters and showrunners did everything else for them: some portrayed the most daring script decisions and intrigues so that the audience was breathtaking and devoid of nerves, while others aroused interest in the Web. Yes, the official Igry accounts were a true paradise for all fans: exclusive content, Q&A sessions, red carpet and photos from the set, excerpts from the series, and more importantly, the never-ending “winter” (the so-called period) between the end of one season and the premiere of the next. ) news feed.
At some point, it turned out that literally everyone knew about Game of Thrones – not watching, or at least not hearing about it, was bad manners.
It is not surprising that all the goods and products based on the series were wildly successful, that is, they were stamped as if on a conveyor belt.
Game of Thrones: Conquest’s developers made $125 million in its first year of release; Adidas has released a limited collection of Ultraboost Game of Thrones sneakers, each model symbolizing one of the characters; Oreo filmed an ad that ran through the show’s opening credits; Johnie Walker launches White Walker whiskey line Urban Decay has released a themed makeup collection; A special Mountain Dew batch was launched, stylized as “The Game” and the slogan “The jar has no name”; Shake Shack offered a Drakaris burger and a Dragon Glass milkshake.
HBO even once hired Tom Colicchio, one of the best chefs of our time, to develop menus for each of the fictional regions featured in the series, and delivered food trucks bearing the symbols of the show – the campaign received millions of dollars. reach dollars.
What else can be said on the Duolingo platform – Daenerys Targaryen when artists from A$AP Rocky and The Weeknd to Chloe x Halle recorded a collection of music inspired by the series and more than 900,000 people took courses in the Valyrian language developed specifically for The Game. was more important to users than knowing Vietnamese or Norwegian.
Everyone benefited from such collaboration: both the writers of the series that gained a new audience and views, and the brands that made millions. And second, it’s actually guaranteed.
Given the scope of the project, it was enough to add the prefix “from Jon Snow” to any product, for example, to ensure that it was sold.
For the eight seasons of the show, experts estimate the total profit of HBO at about $2.28 billion: this amount includes paid subscriptions, sales of DVD and related products, licensed products. But there are no official figures – the company chose not to even count them. “There are thousands of products around the world, just so many,” said Jeff Peters, vice president of licensing and retail at HBO. “We’re so busy we don’t stop and count.”
The pinnacle of high-profile campaigns was, of course, the premiere campaign of the eighth and final season, to which the largest marketing budget in the history of the series was allocated – $ 20 million.
Only in Moscow, for the first part of the season, a cellar with the graves of all dead heroes was opened, and the last show was shown in a large stadium.
Of course, even after the project was closed, the marketing machine that was launched continued to work and reminded everyone of itself on the 10th anniversary of its premiere last year. The Faberge jeweler then presented a valuable $2.2 million egg inspired by Daenerys Targaryen and Warner Bros. and Danish brewery Mikkeller have signed a multi-year deal to launch a range-based beer line. Funko character toys were also released for the anniversary, and HBO launched a marathon called MaraThrone, giving access to a special episode with additional material.
From clothes to figurines, from jewels to Faberge eggs with rubies, gold and diamonds, they all coexist organically in the vast universe of Game of Thrones that has never planned to say goodbye until now. HBO is currently working on the House of the Dragon prequel, Nine Journeys spin-off, and other projects that push Westeros to its limits. And although they are unlikely to repeat the success of their ancestors (after all, the secret of the “Game” was largely a violation of all canons, taboos and rules, and the world saw this almost for the first time), they will once again confirm their immortality. Both on screen and in real life.
Source: People Talk
