Fire and dragons reign over All Blacks V Ireland game in new campaign via The Monkeys
To celebrate the upcoming launch of the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, spine-tingling roars, fire breathing, and imposing shadows were witnessed in the Kiwi capital, part of a new campaign via The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song.
High-drama and thrilling action is always to be expected when New Zealand take to the rugby pitch. However, the arrival of dragons at Sky Stadium during half-time at the All Blacks v Ireland match was not your typical pitch invasion.
Premiering express from the US, on Sky and Neon from Monday 22 August, HBO’s House of the Dragon is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen. Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel and Rhys Ifans all star in the new series.
Knowing how much New Zealanders loved the original franchise and wanting to create a truly memorable moment to launch the new series, Sky challenged creative agency The Monkeys, to do just that.
Says Sophie Moloney, chief executive, Sky: “Sky’s commitment to delivering world leading content to New Zealanders is well-established, and we are all eagerly anticipating House of the Dragon. As we look forward to the premiere on 22 August, we wanted to create genuine excitement and shareable moments for our customers and all Kiwis, and what better place to do it than at Sky Stadium. As the home of HBO’s House of the Dragon (and Game of Thrones) in New Zealand, we wanted an activation that felt true to the spirit of the programme but would also delight spectators at Sky Stadium and viewers at home alike. The Monkeys have certainly delivered on both fronts.”
Says Justin Mowday, chief executive officer of The Monkeys Aotearoa, part of Accenture Song: “Sky TV have the best sport and the best TV shows in the world on their channels, so it made sense to bring them together – launching HBO’s House of the Dragon within an All Blacks test match, at Sky Stadium. We wanted to make the promotion as epic as the show, what could be better than a dragon landing on the roof of a stadium in front of 38,000 people?”
Sky would also like to thank the teams at New Zealand Rugby and Sky Stadium for all their support.
House of the Dragon premieres on Monday 22 August on Neon and Sky Go, and on SoHo at 1pm and again at 8.30pm.
The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song:
Damon Stapleton, Chief Creative Officer
James Conner, Creative Director
Christie Cooper, Creative Director
Tom Sykes, Head of Planning
Craig McLeod, Senior Planner
Susannah O’hUadhaigh, Art Director
Arron Sharma, Copywriter
Rosie Grayson, Head of Integrated Production
Ruth Coulson, Group Business Director
Jackson Edgecombe, Business Executive
Firework Professionals Ltd
Liquid Studios
Creature Post
Kaboose Media
26 Comments
So the Monkeys have won Sky off DDB?
The sound at the stadium was huge. Visuals not so much.
For those at home.
Good to see DDB have lost both Westpac and Sky
I saw it from home and although it wasn’t perfectly executed I thought it was pretty good. Better than the All Blacks performance anyway. Would’ve been tricky to pull it off live. No retakes.
Saw this on telly live and it didn’t work. People at the ground didn’t get it either. Problem is the idea wasn’t quite sure what it was – a TV stunt or a live activation and so it fell between the conceptual cracks.
The performance of the rugby commentators so very poor. Those blokes can’t even present rugby wel let alone act.
Nice one. Good fun. Well done on winning Sky.
Seriously awful. Poorly delivered by commentators. Awful panning shot to the fire cannon which obviously had nothing to do with a dragon ffs. The “shadows” were badly timed and looked so cheesy. And the payoff was a giant m’eh.
It all came as viewers really wanted to hear about the game. One of the best in recent history.
And for what? A tv series most people have given up with.
This would have done absolutely nothing for future viewing potential. It makes monkeys look like just that and sky so out of touch.
Seriously why on earth would you PR it? Just walk away and learn for next time.
Doesn’t reflect the actual delivery.
What not just get an actual dragon? Much better.
Yep most of those reactions are to the game not the stunt.
If you going to do it, do it well like the NFL Carolina Panthers did two years ago.
It’s a poor idea executed really badly
This was the Monkey’s time to shine, but they sizzled.
Just to be clear, they haven’t won Sky.
They won a PR project (which hasn’t got much PR). Which was also done before and done alot better.
https://youtu.be/u5hQpRbHERg
There were some LinkedIn shares of the original footage on vimeo but this now seems to have been deleted? Would be great to understand why and whether anyone can post it back up.
So what we are saying is that this bad idea beat all of DDB’s ideas?
Apparently it did.
No one called it a bad idea though except you?
Everyone seems to be judging the execution. And originality.
It is a bad idea because they couldn’t execute it correctly.
Well I think it’s better than most outdoor in NZ.
Do we really have to explain the difference between an idea and execution to you? One can be great while the other is terrible. And vice versa.
And this is what they do with it.
Was talking about it and now know about the show. Overall win? I think so.
Mass NZ wasn’t talking about it, just some sad ad people.
Must be a brave client. Certainly a bold idea and a lot of eyeballs. The Monkeys are giving it a good whack.
eating popcorn, watching ad people cry about scam ads lmao
Not bad, but not the firing I was hoping for
Is how Sky Monkeys and ASB all go together