Roku helped viewers celebrate the premiere of HBO Max’s much-anticipated “House of the Dragon” with an exclusive fan experience on its streaming devices.
Featured content included trailers, theme packs and special looks at the characters in the series, whose action takes place 200 years before the events in the hit fantasy show “Game of Thrones.”
To help fans get up to speed on the prequel series, the streaming platform’s “Roku Rundown” show starring hosts Tiffany Smith and Andre Meadows offered a recap of “Game of Thrones” highlights. The series concluded three years ago after eight seasons.
“This program really has raised the bar for how Roku connects streamers with the content that they love,” Grace Lam, director of partner growth at Roku, said in this interview with Beet.tv, “and it’s an evolution in the way that Roku works with our content partners.”
The collaboration with HBO Max was a step beyond helping viewers to find the new show. The interactive content and exclusive programming were another way to engage fans with a more memorable experience.
“This campaign includes a long list of first-to-market tactics, but it’s really much bigger than that,” Lam said. “It’s the debut of a deeper partnership strategy in collaboration with a key partner of ours in Warner Bros. Discovery.”
Building an Advertising Business
Roku’s revenue has surged as the company diversifies beyond sales of its streaming devices into selling advertising. Its Roku Channel is a free, ad-supported television (FAST) service that’s available to almost anyone with a connected device, even those who don’t own one of Roku’s gadgets. Advertisers can reach those viewers with greater precision.
“We’re not just in Roku living rooms. We’re on other CTV platforms,” Lam said. “We are able with our first-party data, with our targeting and our measurement to make sure that we are creating a better advertising experience for our users.”
