Best Use of Visual Marketing; A Monday Marketing Masters A+

I’m not a Game of Thrones fan yet…simply because the last thing I need is another addictive TV series to get sucked into, and because I’m still mourning the Breaking Bad finale, and then that got replaced with Orange Is the New Black. My drama quotient has reached critical mass.

That being said, HBO’s Game of Thrones season 3 wins ‘Best Use of Visual Marketing’ in my book, and came this close to almost having me as a convert, with its use of the mysterious dragon shadow at the core of its branding. It’s the geek in me. And I couldn’t be farther from a dungeons and dragons girl.

Its subtle, yet alluring visuals for the upcoming season first seen in its poster, and when you could catch it, accompanied by this haunting music- also seen in all the magazines, built crazed momentum for its upcoming premiere. HBO was obviously making a concerted effort to transform the cult favorite show into a more mainstream experience, to attract a wider audience. Check it out:

Then came its print ad spread in the NY Times, where the dragon hovers over the 2 page fake news story, luring the reader to stop, take a moment and figure out what is going on. Masterful:

To see this amazing display of visual marketing and see where else the dragon popped up come on in here