Roku is unleashing unprecedented promotional firepower for “House of the Dragon,” the “Game of Thrones” prequel set to premiere Sunday on HBO Max, in what the streaming platform company says is its biggest-ever subscription VOD marketing deal.
Roku’s “House of the Dragon” campaign for HBO Max involved more than 100 staffers at the company. The multi-pronged initiative includes an array of on- and off-platform activations, including a custom pre-release special produced by the Roku Brand Studio, called the “Roku Rundown”; retail promos; and a “HOTD” Roku hub experiences featuring home-screen menu takeovers, a sweepstakes giveaway offering the chance to win a limited-edition “House of the Dragon”-skinned Roku Ultra player, interactive video ads, sneak-peek trailers and other content.
The campaign will be a season-long collaboration between Roku and HBO Max, designed to drive up audience engagement — and HBO Max subscriptions — throughout its 10-episode run. Under the pact, Roku Brand Studio also will produce a spotlight segment through “Roku Recommends” during the finale week.
“The ‘Roku Rundown’ is the perfect format to entertain our users and get them excited for one of the most anticipated streaming releases of the year,” said Brian Toombs, head of content for Roku Brand Studio.
Warner Bros. Discovery is banking on “House of the Dragon” to fuel growth for HBO Max. The show’s debut comes as HBO Max has purged dozens of titles to cut streaming content expenses.
The “Roku Rundown” highlighting “HOTD,” set to air Friday (Aug. 19) ahead of the Sunday premiere, is a 20-minute special recapping “Game of Thrones” in the lead-up to the premiere of “HOTD.” The show is hosted by actors Tiffany Smith and Andre Meadows.
Under the HBO Max partnership, Roku also will let users explore the world of Westeros with trailers, theme packs, special looks at the characters featured in “House of the Dragon,” and classic “Game of Thrones” season highlights. Roku device users also will be able to unlike free access to a sampling of fan-favorite episodes on the HBO Max channel.