Marketers spend days, weeks and months working long, hard hours to craft experiences that break through the clutter.

Or, every now and then, that experience falls right into their lap.

While traveling through the London area by train, a communications consultant involved with HBO’s smash hit “Game of Thrones” overheard a stop announcement for a town just to the north called Kings Langley. The similarity to the series’ primary setting, Kings Landing, was undeniable. Inspiration struck.

With the DVD release of “Game of Thrones” Season 3 approaching, HBO promptly reached out to the Kings Langley borough council with an idea for an outdoor promotion: Why not, for the week leading up to the February 18 release date, change the town’s entrance sign to Kings Landing?

“I hadn’t at the time heard of the show,” confessed Alan Anderson, leader of the Kings Langley Parish Council. “So I went away and did some research and was thrilled that they showed an interest. As an amateur historian I was quite attracted by the historical connection. The royal palace at Kings Landing [in “Game of Thrones”] formed part of the backdrop to the real royal dynastic struggles which took place in England during the 1300s and 1400s, the Plantagenet Era, [which] I believe provided some inspiration for the show’s writers. It interested me as an example of history imitating fiction.”

In addition to its intriguing historical underpinnings, however, the partnership between Kings Langley and HBO has wound up being a historic promotional achievement. By simply changing the lettering of a rather quiet sign leading into a rather quiet English town, HBO has created remarkably loud buzz.

“Looking at our activity to date, our biggest coverage driver has been the renaming of the village Kings Langley to Kings Landing for the week of [the Season 3 DVD] release,” said Ian Fullerton, a marketing director for HBO in the UK. “Such a simple idea but the global coverage has been phenomenal.”

Media outlets ranging from local websites to the “Los Angeles Times” have picked up the story, but the greatest impact since the sign-change campaign unveiled on February 12 has been, unsurprisingly, on social media. “Game of Thrones” fans have made their way to Kings Langley/Landing to take photos of themselves next to the sign, tweeting the photos out with the hashtag #KingsLandingUK. In return, HBO is showcasing the images on its UK webpage for the show, and entering participants into a drawing for a “Game of Thrones” DVD box set.

Meanwhile, the town itself has rallied around the promotion, with local restaurants and hotels dressing in Medieval costumes and offering special menus, and schools making their own house banners. At last Tuesday’s unveiling of the new sign, a chorus of elementary children showed up to sing their rendition of a tune from the episode “The Rains Of Castermere.” Even the mayor of Kings Langley has gotten into the act, dressing in full “Game of Thrones” regalia to post her own #KingsLandingUK photo.

For HBO, the swarm of local activity has provided a major boost to its “Game of Thrones” marketing efforts for a pittance. For Kings Langley, the partnership has brought in a boon of visitors who, in turn, have bought a boon to local businesses that is rare for this time of year.

“It’s benefited us enormously,” said Anderson. “Monitoring Twitter and other social media, people the world over are suddenly hearing of Kings Langley.”

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