To celebrate the final season of the HBO’s epic Game of Thrones series, HBO asked Snap to make the world stop for Game of Thrones, one last time. How could we ignite the internet and harness GoT’s passionate fan base to drive exponential global reach? HBO asked to leverage Snap’s expertise in AR to deliver innovative ideas, breakthrough AR experiences, and personalized engagement.

HBO and Snapchat joined forces to stop the world in its tracks. Snapchat leveraged Game of Thrones IP to create a series of augmented reality experiences that utilized real world spaces. Snapchat’s command of AR broke down the boundaries between physical and digital, bringing users into the world of Westeros. Through this activation, fans were introduced to a new creative frontier that will ultimately redefine the way people interact with the reality... all via Mobile activation.

Use Snapchat AR to make Westeros a part of fans’ physical reality. Set a new industry standard for innovation by leveraging Game of Thrones epic IP to unlock creative and technical firsts with AR at a global scale.

To push the boundaries between physical and digital, we trained the Snapchat camera to merge iconic elements from Game of Thrones with real world objects — from images, to the sky itself, to a major city landmark. 

Three AR Activations:

- Landmark AR: Ice Dragon at Flatiron Building

- Premiere Day Lens (Global)

- AR Marker Tech at SXSW Bleed for the Throne Experience

At SXSW, fans were led to discover four iconic elements of the show via immersive AR effects. Through Snapchat’s lens, fans were closer than ever to the kingdoms of Westeros.

Two days before Premiere, Snapchat introduced camera capabilities that could read real landmarks, including the Flatiron building in New York City. We constructed 3D models of the landmark, mapped out the building’s geometry, and brought it into the world of AR. Then, we built the ice dragon in AR and landed him atop the Flatiron building.

For Premiere, we delivered an AR lens that, with the help of sky mapping, featured dragons soaring through the skies around the world.  

The hype around Game of Thrones set the stage to deliver an experience that changes the way people interact with cities and landmarks through their phone.  We made the world stop for Game of Thrones, one last time.

Global National Lenses

- Delivered over 60.29M impressions and reached 23.55M fans in 11 global markets.

- Average playtime was over 29.06 seconds; HBO's most engaging lens to date.

- Unlock via Snapcode = 151 seconds of playtime — a record for engagement on Snapchat sponsored lenses

Total Lens playtime:

- 457M seconds

- 7.6M minutes

- 127K hours

- 5.3k days

- 14.5 years

Flatiron Landmarker

- Live for 7 days

- 414K total impressions

- Average playtime of 70 seconds

Bleed for the Throne/SXSW Activation Highlights 

- Snapchatters spent from 57 - 86 seconds playing with each of the 4 AR elements

Extensive press coverage from media outlets such as: Variety, Ad Age, Elite Daily, Mashable, NBC News, Fox News.

Incredible social conversation/reaction across Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram.