For the past six seasons of Game of Thrones, the massive global fan community has been told that “Winter Is Coming”. Leading into Season 7, HBO confirmed the long-predicted theory and declared that Winter Is Here in Season 7, with a clever “winterizing” blitz of activations and content across digital platforms.

HBO kicked off the Summer Solstice with a new, winter-themed trailer for Season 7, announcing #WinterIsHere. Game of Thrones activated a Twitter Emoji Engine, that gave fans the chance to unlock all 12 Season 7 character posters through use of clever combinations of #WinterIsHere + [an emoji] tweeted @GameOfThrones.

Other integrated campaign activations included a first-ever branded gift exchange for the over one million Game of Thrones subscribers on Reddit, real-time posts and updates in Game of Thrones Google search results page, and a #WinterIsHere primetime marathon on HBO 2.

On premiere day, HBO bought a sponsored lens on Snapchat that let fans turn themselves into an ice-breathing White Walker. On finale, fans became the Night King with a Facebook camera effect and post-finale they continued to delve into the series with the seven-part Game Revealed docuseries diving into the juiciest moments from every episode of the season.

When winter finally came on premiere day it was truly a season to remember. Game of Thrones’ social following grew to over 32M across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Season 7 was the most watched premiere and HBO program ever. It also dominated social buzz and was Nielsen's most social TV series of 2017.

With the Season 7 overarching theme of “Winter is Here,” HBO pursued a multi-platform strategy with a unified message everywhere that excited fans because—finally—what had been promised since Season 1 was coming to fruition at last.

For the past six seasons of Game of Thrones, the worldwide fan community has been told that “Winter Is Coming.” To promote Season 7 and foreshadow the imminent threat of the Night King descending on Westeros, HBO celebrated the end of a long wait and let fans know the “Winter Is Here” with buzzworthy activations that spanned across the show’s vast digital ecosystem.