The Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon has already secured HBO’s largest marketing spending spree in history before its release.
According to Deadline, HBO spent over $100 million on the marketing campaign for House of the Dragon, with the majority of that sum made up of a combination of ad spot value and actual financial outlays.
The goal of the network’s marketing effort, according to Pia Barlow, EVP of HBO Originals Marketing, is to “galvanize both new and existing fans.”
“The House of the Dragon campaign is really about generating big, broad awareness and interest throughout the summer, but to also make sure we’re signaling to existing fans as well as new fans alike that this is a new Game of Thrones story coming to HBO Max,” Barlow said.
David Zaslav, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, congratulated his team earlier this week in advance of the debut of House of the Dragon.
“We reached nearly 130 million people in the U.S. alone,” Zaslav wrote in email obtained by the Hollywood Reporter. “It has also been exciting to see teams across the company work collaboratively with the HBO team in what has been an unprecedented cross-promotional campaign. And we’ve done all of this in just a few short months, clearly showing what we can accomplish when our networks, streaming platforms, digital and social channels, all work collectively in support of one shared priority. We can really move the needle and I can’t wait to see what we will do on future campaigns when we harness the full reach and unique opportunities we bring to the table.”