Roku’s ‘House of the Dragon’ collaboration signals larger shift in its partnership strategy

Starting today, Roku users might notice an unusual new option in their TV’s home interface: a tab in the device’s menu devoted to HBO Max’s upcoming “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon.” The tab is the result of a partnership that spans tech integration, custom content and digital and physical advertising—and signals a shift in Roku’s broader partnership plan to focus on collaborative content creation.

The campaign hub, a first for Roku, will automatically populate on all U.S. devices as the second option beneath the “home” button. When selected, it immerses fans in a show-branded interface with custom options, including free “Game of Thrones” episodes, a sweepstakes and a 15-minute fan special, “Roku Rundown,” produced by the Roku Brand Studio.

“It took over 100 people at the company to work on various elements of this campaign,” said Grace Lam, director of partner growth at Roku. “And the hub specifically, really involved a team of engineers—an army of engineers. We haven’t done anything like this before. So there were so many new things to figure out.”

The campaign’s sweepstakes, to win a “House of the Dragon” Roku Ultra device, will feature integrations in the Roku hub, but also in interactive, QR-code-driven advertising across Roku’s owned channels and within partner streaming apps. It will also live in physical spaces as the CTV company erects signage in retail stores.

The campaign will also evolve throughout the first season of “House of the Dragon.” Fans can set reminders through their device for upcoming episodes and Roku will update its custom content to reflect landmark events throughout the series—supported by the company’s close collaboration with HBO Max parent Warner Bros. Discovery.

“One of the most amazing things about this partnership [is] it’s not just an advertising tactic or placement or product, it takes so much more investment than that,” said Lam. “And we’re not just talking marketing dollars, we’re talking access to their content, whether it’s behind the scenes or ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes, but also access to their assets to be able to create new content altogether through our Brand Studio.”

Lam added that other partners have expressed interest in following in Warner Bros. Discovery’s footsteps to leverage Roku’s 63-million-household reach, with more collaborative Roku executions in the pipeline. As Roku looks to further establish its name in the original content space, with self-produced programming and films like “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” this fall, these ad partnerships act as an extension of the company’s creative ambitions.

Lam said Roku’s collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery took “many, many months of strategic planning and creative production alongside the partner. And we really hope that this creates a playbook for how we can engage with our other partners, to bring their IP to life in a whole brand new way—not just, ‘Hey, book a marketing campaign and give us some dollars and we'll run your ads,’ but we are actually going to create advertisements with you. We're going to create content with you.”