The Wheel Of Time - 5 Ways To Differentiate From Game Of Thrones
1. Avoid Comparisons In Marketing
When the Wheel Of
Time does drop on Prime Video, you can be sure that every reviewer across every
publication and website will make the immediate comparison to Game of Thrones,
much like how HBO’s show was frequently compared to the Lord of the Rings
trilogy in its early days despite being vastly different in tone and content.
People find comfort in familiarity and are more likely to try something if they’ve had a positive experience with something similar before, so Amazon might welcome a degree of association with one of the most popular series of all time if it establishes an audience base. But they must quickly stand out on their own to avoid a fate akin to most of the mystery-based series that jumped on Lost’s bandwagon, or the myriad of Young Adult franchises that crashed and burned in the wake of Harry Potter and the Hunger Games’ success.
Success can come through heavy investment, word-of-mouth, or a combination of both. Netflix’s biggest success story is Stranger Things, which became an overnight sensation almost by accident, whereas Disney+’s has been The Mandalorian, which was marketed here, there and everywhere to ensure that everybody knew about it.
Amazon haven’t enjoyed a comparable ‘must see’ series on their streaming platform as of yet, but if they’re going to throw tens of millions into marketing the Wheel of Time, they have to do more than have it be labelled the new ‘Game of Thrones’ like Camelot and company were.