Background

Foxtel have been the official broadcaster of ‘Game of Thrones’ in Australia for the last seven seasons. The premiere of the final season in April presented an opportunity to capitalise on the global hype surrounding the show, to help build brand love and drive sales. In recent years, Foxtel has had trouble fending off newer, more ‘hip’ broadcast offerings from streaming services like Netflix, and the brand has been perceived as ‘outdated’ and ‘uncool’. This event was particularly important in positioning Foxtel as not only a place to find the world’s best content, but as a brand that is culturally relevant, understands fans, and rewards them with experiences that competitors aren’t capable of.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

Game of Thrones isn’t just one of the most popular shows of all time, it’s also one of the deadliest, with more than 100,000 Kings, Queens, Giants and mythical beasts having lost their lives since it began. These deaths have had an incredible impact on fans, who react with delight and despair in equal measure. Recognising this, we tapped into an audience insight in a way no one had before, and built a ‘final resting place’, to promote the final season. The ‘Grave of Thrones’, a one-off experiential event, was an enormous cemetery erected in one of Sydney’s most popular public parks, where fans of the show were invited to come and pay their respects to those who had died over seven seasons. Turning fictional characters into something much more real than they were on screen.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

The 2,000 square metre cemetery featured the tombs of 34 of the show’s most notorious characters. The curation of characters were poured over, so that every grave was appealing for different reasons - from fan-favourites to the most hated. Each grave was layered in reference to the life and death of these characters. The tomb of Ramsay Bolton for example, who was eaten by his dogs, featured the macabre placement of a dog bowl at the base. Narratives like this were woven into every detail of every tomb. The headstones also featured the season and episode the character died, and using Foxtel’s mobile streaming service people could watch their death while standing at their grave. A streamable audio-tour provided further information about each characters life and death. The sheer size of the build took teams of Australia’s best set builders, sculptors, and artists thousands of hours to bring to life.

List the results (20% of vote)

The response was extraordinary and in just three days we saw a 300% increase in searches for Foxtel, resulting in a 17% increase in viewership. The Grave of Thrones cemetery saw nearly 30,000 people come and pay their respects, with some driving hours across the state of New South Wales to be there. The Grave of Thrones website saw more than 20,000 unique visitors and more than 5,000 downloads of the cemetery map. Social media was alight with tens of thousands of images, videos, tags and mentions across various platforms. Foxtel's brand sentiment was at an historic high of 97%, and there were more than 350+ global news stories mentioning Foxtel. Coverage included local mainstream television news, global news, digital publications, and mainstream local and global press. This resulted in more than 410 million media impressions, making the ‘Grave of Thrones’ the most successful promotional experience in the brand’s history.