Tourism Ireland: Doors Of Thrones

Credits & Description:

Agency: Publicis London, United Kingdom
Client: Tourism Ireland
Product: Tourism
Entrant: Publicis London, United Kingdom
Title: Doors Of Thrones
Product/Service: Tourism
Idea Creation: Publicis London, United Kingdom
Media Placement: Publicis London, United Kingdom
Pr: Publicis London, United Kingdom
Production: Publicis London, United Kingdom
Copywriter: Leo Bellis-Jones (Publicis London)
Art Director: Josh Norbury (Publicis London)
Account Director: Alex Buckland (Publicis London)
Account Manager: Ben Mckee (Publicis London)
Creative Director: Pavlos Themistocleous (Publicis London)
Creative Director: Dave Monk (Publicis London)
Head of Image Production: Mark Wesley (Publicis London)
Account Executive: Joy Desseigne (Publicis London)
Designer: Duncan Rogers (Publicis London)
Digital Producer: Rachel Haines (Publicis London)
Producer: Kal Parmar (Publicis London)
Illustrator: Iain Macarthur (Publicis London)
Illustrator: Sam Dunn (Publicis London)
Illustrator: Steve Mitchell (Publicis London)
Illustrator: Joanna Malecka (Publicis London)
Illustrator: Alice Duke (Publicis London)
Illustrator: Kieran McKay (Publicis London)
Illustrator: Compain Samuel (Publicis London)
Social Media Strategist: Radd Nadesananthan (Publicis London)
Production Company: Believe Media
The Campaign
In January 2016, Storm Gertrude tore through Northern Ireland, battering the 400-year-old tourist attraction and iconic Game of Thrones filming location, The Dark Hedges.
Amidst the devastation, one thing remained. Wood. And lots of it. Over ten weeks, we transformed the trees that fell into 10 beautifully carved bespoke doors, each depicting storylines from an episode of Game of Thrones season 6.
Each week a new door was installed at the beating heart of a Northern Irish community – the local pub of a Game of Thrones filming location. Online fan communities were used to drive interest/buzz around the campaign as they attempted to decipher the doors. Together, the doors form a pub-crawl that spans the length and breadth of the country.
What began as a tragedy, is now a worldwide celebration of Northern Ireland’s links with the world’s most popular TV show. A permanent fixture embedded in Northern Irish culture.
Transforming the fallen trees of a devastated tourist attraction into a brand new one, using two things now synonymous with Northern Ireland - Game of Thrones and pubs.
Over ten weeks, fans watched online as we transformed the trees that fell into 10 beautifully carved doors, each depicting the storylines and themes from a different episode in GoT season 6.
Every week we shared content of a new door being designed, carved and installed at the beating heart of a Northern Irish community – the local pub of a GoT filming location.
Throughout the season, anticipation grew as fans speculated where the next door would appear.
Together they form a pub-crawl through season 6 that circles the country. Fans followed the whole process online, learned about each filming location, explored the doors in detail, deciphered their hidden meaning, and of course, planned trips.
With every reveal, the story grew.
What began as a tragedy turned into 10 weeks worth of entertainment, and a worldwide celebration of Northern Ireland’s links with the most popular TV show of all time.
Creative Execution
To create the stunning doors, we partnered with HBO who gave us advanced details about what each episode would hold for various characters and plot lines.
World-class illustrators and craftsmen then interpreted those storylines, ready to be carved it into that historic timber.
The timing of each door’s release, both online and in situ, was critical. Each reveal coincided with the episode’s airing, when interest was at its peak. The cryptic symbolism of the illustrations entertained fans by giving them something to decode. They had to be relevant enough to entertain, without being so overt as to give away spoilers – finding the balance was critical.
The locations were equally important. The finished doors were hung in pubs near filming locations relevant to each episode, adding a deeper layer to the campaign, and attracting fans to visit a specific part of the country.
The trees that fell that day were transformed from a devastated tourist attraction, into a brand new one, using two things now synonymous with Northern Ireland. Game of Thrones. And Pubs.
Beautiful design helped Tourism Ireland became a welcome part in worldwide Game of Thrones culture, with fans were actively seeking out our content.
But most importantly, the Game of Thrones pub-crawl is now a pilgrimage for Game of Thrones fans around the world.
One of the pubs has reported a doubling of profits since the trail was completed.
MTV: “The Irish Game of Thrones pub crawl is literally everything”
Cosmopolitan: “You NEED to know about this Game of Thrones pub crawl”
ITV News: “These doors are part of Game of Thrones history”
126,000,000 People Reached
17,876,088 Views
1,821,486 Likes
As a community, Game of Thrones fans generate a phenomenal amount of content.
So to engage with this tightknit group, and to stand out from the plethora of other media, we had to entertain our audience in a way that would add real value to their community. We needed content that would become engrained in the Game of Thrones culture.
The rugged yet beautiful Northern Irish countryside provides the perfect backdrop for the mythical land of Westeros. We want to position Northern Ireland as the home to Game of Thrones.
But the show’s fans are highly active online, and generate a huge amount of content, so anything we produced solely through digital channels risked being drowned out.
Fans are also notoriously critical of brands attempting to piggyback on the show’s popularity. So advertising through traditional media was ruled out.
Instead we aimed to present our message in a new and unexpected way.
The battered tourist attraction became our media, allowing us to draw attention to filming locations across the country. We aimed to turn the wood into works of art so appealing that fans would actively want to visit each site.