Game of Thrones provides a fascinating backdrop for personal branding lessons on power, clarity, morality and good old-fashioned dragon-fire.
If you have ever indulged in the cultural phenomenon of Game of Thrones, a magical fantasy adventure set in the world of Westeros, chances are that you have seen how characters are able to constantly re-invent themselves.
The latest season of Game of Thrones, the seventh of eight in total, regularly drew in over 10 million viewers to HBO, with millions more watching the episodes illegally online across the world. In 2016 alone, the show won 12 Primetime Emmy Awards, making it the Emmy’s second most successful TV series of all time (via Statista).
Why has this massively popular show gone on to crawl into the minds, memes and watercooler talks around the globe and what can we learn from it? Here are five wonderful personal branding lessons to take away from the show. SPOILERS AHEAD.
1) Blow them away with a bang.
If your personal brand feels stagnant and you have seen that your targeted demographic doesn’t remember you – the easiest way to get them to remember is with a bang. Either harking back to Lena Heady’s version of Cersei using of wildfire in Season 6 or Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys who had ill-advised use of Dragonfire in Season 8 – that has kept their populace in fear but also in remembrance of them.
2) Keep your moral high-ground.
In a show (and quite frankly) a world where morality (outside of a religious context) isn’t popular to discuss – Sean Bean’s portrayal of Ned Stark (and subsequent beheading) was particularly memorable. Ned did what he believed was right for his family and tried to trust/believe the people around him. For that, he was forever remembered throughout the show and by many other characters as a martyr and as a « good man. » Keep the high ground and keep a positive personal brand that lasts beyond the immediate timeline.
3) Be vulnerable.
Vulnerability is not the ability to share what you believe will elicit emotion but it is the ability to share what is held most closely to your heart and your convictions. Gwendoline Christie’s character of Brienne of Tarth showed deep vulnerability when she cried while being knighted by Ser Jamie Lannister.
