To mark the arrival of the year’s biggest TV show, House of the Dragon (now streaming on BINGE), BINGE has delivered a dragon takeover of Australia with its biggest ever through the line integrated campaign, since the brand was launched in 2020.
The three month campaign beginning in August and ending in October - that runs across paid, owned, earned and social channels - was created in partnership with an agency village including Thinkerbell (creative and earned), Mindshare (media), We Are Social (social), Wonder (dragon egg activation) and Habitat (dragon eye and creative OOH).
To honor the scale of the show, nothing was left un-dragon-a-fied. The campaign which kicked off in August, included placements across the Southern Hemisphere’s largest billboard, national TV, cinema, print, outdoor, ambient, radio, video, display, social & search.
The campaign also included the execution of a massive 3D billboard on ‘The Bourke’, located on Bourke Street, Melbourne (an oOh! Media site), which was developed by The Mill. Appearing from August 22 as the first episode of the show dropped on BINGE, a giant dragon appears and roars at passersby.
Alison Hurbert-Burns, BINGE executive director said: “House of The Dragon is the year’s biggest TV show, so naturally we wanted to go big with our campaign…and that’s what we have done. Along with our wonderful agency partners, we have delivered the largest scale campaign ever implemented for BINGE since its launch in 2020.”
“At every touchpoint, around every corner and in every channel, people will be seeing and hearing about Dragons.”
“It’s been three long years since the Game of Thrones finale went to air, and fans, like me, have been eagerly awaiting the prequel set 200 years prior. Now the wait is over with House of the Dragon now streaming on BINGE with new episodes weekly.”
To accompany the above the line initiatives, the team created an earned stunt to fuel the fandom. Aussie animal expert and wildlife relocator, Matt Wright, was called in to inspect and help transport a giant dragon egg found washed up on Anglesea Beach, along the Great Ocean Road, confirming that dragons have, in-fact, landed on Australian soil.
With the help of a forklift and twelve tonne tilt tray truck, the dragon egg was transported to Melbourne where it was housed at Federation Square for fans to come and witness for themself. The discovery was played out as an episodic series across Instagram and TikTok. You can view the social campaign across Matt Wright’s Instagram.
Melbournians who visited the egg at Federation Square were also able to access the House of the Dragon: DracARys app - the newly released House of the Dragon augmented reality app, where fans can hatch their very own personalised virtual dragon egg.
Surrounding the giant egg, fans were also able to see the eye of a dragon keeping a vigilant watch over the egg youngling, along with silhouettes of a flight of dragons over buildings across the city and the sounds of Dragon growlings nearby.
The Australian Premiere of House of The Dragon, hosted at Sydney’s Entertainment Quarter on Tuesday (16 August) was attended by over 500 people including celebrities, sportspeople, influencers, cosplayers and some of Australia’s biggest fans.
The Premiere saw the reveal of the new Iron Throne which has now begun touring Australia for fans to get their very own photo sitting on top of the throne.
Adam Ferrier, chief thinker, Thinkerbell, said: “It’s only fitting that the world’s biggest show receives the biggest launch. From installations to flaming press ads, projections to 3D billboards, and a giant dragon egg, nowhere has been safe from the wrath of the fire breathing stars of the show. We’ve loved working with Mindshare, We Are Social, Wonder and the rest of the agency village, to give House of the Dragon the scale and impact it deserves.”
House of the Dragon premiered on BINGE, Monday 22 August, with new episodes dropping weekly. Fans can also catch up on all 8 seasons of award winning drama Game of Thrones.