Telenet and Game of Thrones fans ignite struggle for the Iron Throne

Game of Thrones fans worldwide had marked 12 April on their calendars, the day of the long-awaited launch of season 5 of HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones. Telenet (who are airing the episodes simultaneously with the US via Play More) and These Days Y&R didn’t want to let the start to season 5 go unnoticed so they decided to mount a campaign that actively involved the fans. The campaign set out to answer the million-dollar question once and for all: who will mount the Iron Throne?

Telenet enlisted the help of a small army of diehard GoT fans to help choose the campaign theme for the new season. They put their thinking caps on and the result was ‘the election of the most popular family’. Stand-up comedians Alex Agnew and Xander De Rycke, both superfans themselves, were more than happy to spearhead the campaign. They organised five debating sessions on what makes the series so memorable and which houses they feel will ultimately triumph in the struggle for the Iron Throne. The videos were shared via Telenet’s social media channels.

#Choosesides
To give the fans a voice in the debate, we launched the hashtag #choosesides, enabling them to vote for their favourite character on social media. In just a few days’ time, fans organised special activities such as ‘Howl like a wolf’ (howling at the full moon for the House of Stark on 4 April) or a road trip to Dorne, Limburg, in tribute to the eponymous Dorne peninsula, ruled in the series by the House of Martell. Still, it’s probably the tattoos that took the biscuit as several adoring fans chose to immortalise their favourite house in a tattoo.

By entering the #choosesides debate, the fiercest fans stood to win a ticket to the closing event on 12 April at the Monasterium Poortackere in Ghent. Especially for the occasion, the location was transformed into Westeros, the world of Game of Thrones. Characters from the series welcomed the guests and joined them for a medieval buffet in true GoT style. Afterwards, the winners were treated to a screening of the first episode of the new season. 

Credits:

Client: Telenet

Contact Telenet: Karen Van Belleghem, Marilyn Debisschop 

Agency: These Days YR

Account : Stephanie Katic

Chief Creative Officer : Werner Van Reck

Creative directors: Sam De Volder, Mateusz Mroszczak

Creation: Gertjan De Smet (AD); Matthias De Smet (Copy)

Strategy: Nicolas Moerman

Design: Jeroen Michiels, Dorien Wendelen

Event production agency: We Make You Happy

Radio & film production agency: Motion Makers

Producer: Ingeborg Van Hoof