House of the Dragon Showrunners Reveal How TikTok Boosted Its Popularity

House of the Dragon’s popularity gained traction after Variety x TikTok hosted it’s culture catalyst program. Showrunners comment.

By Pratyush Singh
November 24,2022
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Variety x TikTok recently happened on November 17th this year for the second time ever and this time House of the Dragon boomed. Hosted in New York City, Variety x TikTok was a tremendous marketing success, as HBO’s senior director of creative marketing revealed recently.

The first panel included four representatives who discussed TikTok’s role in the “House of the Dragon” advertising campaign: Michael Hagos, senior director of creative marketing for HBO Originals; Bill Leopold, director of editorial tactic and development at HBO/HBO Max; Kinney Edwards, global head of TikTok’s creative lab; and “Fantastic” Frankey Smith, a television presenter content creator who is presently operating in collaboration with HBO Max.

Here’s what the House of the Dragon show creators has said on the matter.

 

House of the Dragon’s Senior Director Talks About Variety x TikTok

Stage Talks During Variety x TikTok Culture Catalysts Dinner
Stage Talks During Variety x TikTok Culture Catalysts Dinner

In early 2021, a formal “Game of Thrones” TikTok profile was formed in honour of the series’ 10-year anniversary. However, when the August 2022 premiere of the spin-off “House of the Dragon” series neared, Hagos announced that the profile had been co-branded to embrace the whole “Game of Thrones” fanbase.

Michael Hagos from HBO said this about Variety x TikTok:

“It’s one of the biggest campaigns we’ve ever done. Everyone was working around the clock for months.”

 

House of the Dragon Associate Frankey Smith Speaks

Late Sunday nights and Monday mornings are ceremonial for devoted “House of the Dragon” viewers who openly turn to social networking sites to discuss the previous night’s episode. Frankey Smith, who is working with House of the Dragon noted that post-credit sequences in general are often a big subject of discussion on the web, which she credited “House of the Dragon” designers for promoting through brilliant Easter eggs that left fans guessing what will occur next.

“I think what was so great about the ‘House of the Dragon’ marketing was… it was so personal, and it gave us something to react over,” Smith said. “But beyond that, we can now have conversations via TikTok through the stitch feature, through the duet feature, and now we can react to the things that we’re seeing that ‘House of the Dragon’ is sharing with us.”

 

TikTok’s Global Head Comments On The Matter

TikTok and Taco Bell logo
TikTok and Taco Bell logo

In regards to the event and in the wake of House of the Dragon’s rising popularity, Kinney Edwards, Global Head of TikTok’s creative lab said this, to explain better how traction can be gained by using TikTok as a platform:

“It’s about that conversation that’s happening in the comments and the way that you’re able to respond and foster deeper dives into those opinions.”

The Variety x TikTok Culture Catalysts Dinner concluded with a drill-down into the development of “Mexican Pizza: The Musical” featuring many social media experts and influencers such as Nicole Weltman, Head of Social at our favourite Mexican fast food joint, Taco Bell. From TikTok, influencer Rema Vasan, who heads the firm’s North American marketing was also featured in the musical.