GAME OF THRONES LIVE CASE STUDYFACEBOOK LIVE

Game of Thrones

WHAT: HBO’s Game of Thrones announces their season premiere date through an ice sculpture burning on Facebook Live

Game of Thrones – KPIs

KEY RESULTS (Final Live Stream):• 3.6M Views• 116K Sentiments• 18K Shares

HOW: GoT started the day by “teasing” the event with a 12 second video, which, itself, generated 1.6M views! The teaser video gave the start time of the Live event.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:GoT asked people to tune in to “help reveal”, which implied audience participation

Game of Thrones – Teaser

Game of Thrones – Comments

HOW: GoT asked viewers to comment with “FIRE” or “DRACARYS” to “reveal the #GoTS7 date” during the ice burning

KEY TAKEAWAYS:The comments were not imperative to the revealing, but GoT’s wording made it seem like it was.

Game of Thrones – Vanity

HOW: GoT randomly displayed commenters in the corner of the Live event

KEY TAKEAWAYS:Knowing that viewers would eventually realize that a comment of “Fire” or “Dracarys” would not produce any result, GoT still managed to make it worthwhile for some by giving them recognition

Game of Thrones – Surprises

HOW: GoT fan favorite, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, appears early in the event (2 min in) telling the audience that they’re going to want to stay tuned and they won’t be disappointed

KEY TAKEAWAYS:His appearance gives the illusion that there may be other surprise appearances (there aren’t until the end), which keeps the audience engrossed. It also breaks up the monotony of a 17 minute video of only fire and ice.

Game of Thrones – Reveal

HOW: After 15 minutes, the date is finally revealed at July 16, 2017

KEY TAKEAWAYS:Between Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and the reveal date, almost 13 minutes pass of viewers just watching a flame on ice. This extended time allows for commenters to engage — whether frustration, annoyance, or passion — it all helps

Game of Thrones – Wrap-Up

HOW: Another series favorite, Liam Cunningham, ends the event by telling viewers they will not be disappointed with the upcoming season

KEY TAKEAWAYS:While he reveals nothing, we are reminded of the many different characters involved in GoT. This also adds a bit of a personal feel as he addresses viewers directly to close the event.

Game of Thrones – Mistakes

WHAT: - The event cut out twice during the live stream, due to “technical difficulties”, which

left viewers annoyed. In all, viewers had to wait over 60 minutes — spread out over three live streams — to find out the premiere date of Game of Thrones

- Press coverage of the event was overwhelmingly negative, criticizing the length and mocking HBO for making their fans “watch ice melt”

KEY TAKEAWAYS:Even though viewers were annoyed, each live stream still generated over three million views. In this instance, all press was good press as all the articles mentioned the premiere date and reinforced the dedication of GoT fans. It would take a lot for this diehard fanbase to abandon the show, but the event should’ve been shortened to no more than 30 minutes.