Title	TAPESTRY
Brand	TOURISM IRELAND
Product/Service	TOURISM IRELAND
Category	B05. Use of Outdoor
Entrant	TOURISM IRELAND Redmonds Hill, IRELAND
Idea Creation	PUBLICIS LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement	CARAT London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production	SPACE66 London, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
Dave Monk	Publicis	Executive Creative Director (London)
Dave Sullivan	Publicis	Creative Director
Josh Norbury	Publicis	Copywriter & Art Director
Chris Turner	Publicis	Strategist
Ben McKee	Publicis	Account Director
Katie Edwards	Publicis	Business Director
Kathryn Mason	Publicis	Account Manager
Kal Parma	Publicis	Agency Producer
Jelly Kitchen	Jelly Kitchen	Illustrator
Space66	Production & Post Production Company	Production & Post
Sam Stocking	Space66	Director
Ben Loach	Ben Loach	Editor
Chloe Shaw	Space66	Producer
Dash+Miller	Dash+Miller	Textile Production
Radd Nadesananthan	Publicis	Social Planner
Duncan Rogeres	Publicis London	Designer
Brian Twomey	Tourism Ireland	Head of Marketing Communications
Mark Henry	Tourism Ireland	Central Marketing Director

The Campaign

We decided to explore the rich heritage of textiles and linen manufacture in Northern Ireland and create Northern Ireland’s own ode to Game of Thrones, capturing every episode from the opening of Season 1 all the way through to Night King’s assault on The Wall at the end of Season 7, in an 80m+ long medieval tapestry.   Made of Irish linen, the Game of Thrones tapestry was illustrated, hand-woven and hand-embroidered each week in reaction to that week’s episode of the show, meaning that we were able to give fans a unique way of catching up on the previous week’s drama before the next episode aired.

Creative Execution

Every section of the tapestry was installed in the Ulster Museum, Belfast - giving fans a new iconic GOT experience to visit as soon as they land in the city. And visit they did, with more than 20,000 visitors to the installation in the first 6 weeks, with a further 62% of visits since being specifically to see the tapestry. Through the art of storytelling, and the resurrection of a dying craft, we created a brand new tourist attraction, and a permanent fixture in Northern Ireland’s culture.

40,000 visitors to the installation to date. So far this has resulted in 3.5 million engagements and 500,000 hotspot engagements on Ireland.com, plus 32.7 million video views and a 17.9% completion rate of our social content.   So, with a growing reach figure of 344,102,909 from online publicity, and earned advertising value of €16,681,354 for a campaign spend of only €268,364, the tapestry has achieved even more than we anticipated; building on the success of 2016, driving brand awareness, and ultimately increasing visitor numbers to Northern Ireland.

The Game of Thrones Tapestry merges the fantasy world of Westeros and the reality of Northern Ireland in a growing physical exhibition in Belfast’s historic Ulster Museum – combining the shows epic scale and drama with Northern Ireland’s rich craft and textile heritage. Knowing that, Game of Thrones fans vociferously consume content online, we then brought the physical asset to life through a series of reactive social content, and an immersive digital experience on Ireland.com, which gave fans the ability to explore and share the details of their favourite show, all the while learning about Northern Ireland’s stunning locations

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Our challenge was to bring the tapestry to life not just in person, but online as-well. We created an experience on Ireland.com which allowed visitors to scroll through, and zoom – in on a high-resolution scan of the tapestry, including hotspots referring to the show’s iconic filming locations in Northern Ireland. GOT fans were encouraged to explore the tapestry in more depth, and discover the places where the action took place, effectively turning fans of the show into fans of Northern Ireland.