Marketing Harry Potter presentation delivered to the Wilson Dow sales and marketing team on June 14, 2012 at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida. Discusses how the Harry Potter brand grew to a global phenomenon and includes information from the book, "Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon" available through Amazon and all book stores.

1. Marketing Harry Potter
Susan Gunelius
President & CEO June 14, 2012
KeySplash Creative, Inc. Universal Studios
www.keysplashcreative.com
Orlando, FL

2. How Many of you
Have heard of Harry Potter?
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3. How Many of you
Heard of Harry Potter from…
• A friend,
• A colleague,
• A family member,
• A stranger,
• Or by any other source other than an
ad or marketing effort?
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4. tHat tells us…
Harry Potter grew to be a global
phenomenon through word-of-mouth
marketing by consumers.
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5. Harry Potter Brand evolution

6. tHe Boy wHo lived
It all started with a train ride…
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7. add a few dasHes of serendiPity
ry
ra t
ite en
i d e a l ag isHer
u.s. PuBl
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8. dasH #1: tHe idea
“The purest
• 1990: 24-year old Joanne stroke of
Rowling imagines Harry Potter inspiration I’ve
ever had in my
out of thin air.
life.” - J.K. Rowling
• 1995: Destitute single-mother completes the
final draft of the first Harry Potter book.
• 1996: Rowling visits the library to get
publisher addresses. She submits Harry Potter
to one and is rejected. The second accepts.
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9. dasH #2: tHe literary agent
• Early 1996: Byrony Evans of
the Christopher Little Agency
notices Rowling’s submission.
• Late 1996: After 12 publisher
rejections, Barry Cunningham
of Bloomsbury accepts Harry
Potter and the Philosopher’s
Stone.
• 1997:Joanne becomes J.K.
Rowling. 500 copies published
for $6,500 advance.
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10. dasH #3: tHe u.s. PuBlisHer
• 1997: Arthur Levine of Scholastic stumbles
on the first Harry Potter book. Pays
$105,000 advance for U.S. publishing rights.
• Late 1997: 70,000 copies of the book sold in
Great Britain ($7,500 to Rowling).
• July 1998: Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets debuts in Great Britain at #1.
• August 1998: Book 1 released in U.S. as
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
• Late 1998: 190,000 copies sold in U.S.
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11. sales keeP going uP
• July 1999: Scholastic release second book in
U.S. and third book, Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban, released in Great Britain
(sold more than 60,000 copies in first three
days).
• September 1999: Third book released in U.S.
• Late 1999: Harry Potter books are worldwide
bestsellers with nearly 30 million copies in
print in 27 languages. Rowling receives first
royalty check over $1 million.
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12. Movie studies CoMe Calling
• 1998-1999: Movie studios pitch Rowling who
refuses offers from several studios. Warner
Brothers agrees to meet her requirements and
movie and merchandising contract signed for
$1 million.
• July 8, 2000: Fourth book, Harry Potter and
the Goblet of Fire, released around the world
at midnight.
• November 2001: First movie opens.
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13. tHere’s no stoPPing Harry
Potter
• November 2002: Second movie debuts.
• June 2003: At midnight around the
world, book five, Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix, launches.
• Early 2004: Rowling launches website at
jkrowling.com.
• June 2004: Third movie debuts.
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14. deMand Continues to rise
• July 2005: At midnight around the
world, book six, Harry Potter and the
Half Blood Prince, launches.
• November 2005: Fourth movie debuts.
• May 2007: Wizarding World of Harry
Potter announced.
• July 2007: Fifth movie debuts.
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15. keePing tHe Brand alive
• November 2008: Sixth movie debuts.
• 2009: Wizarding World of Harry Potter
opens.
• 2010: Seventh movie debuts.
• 2011: Eighth movie debuts.
• 2012: Pottermore launches.
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16. Harry Potter Books By tHe
nuMBers – u.s. only
Book Date First Print Amazon / B&N First 24-hour
Run Pre-orders Sales
1 1998 50,000 n/a Unknown
2 1999 250,000 n/a Unknown
3 1999 500,000 n/a Unknown
4 2000 3.8 million 760,000 1.0 million
5 2003 8.5 million 1.4 million 5.0 million
6 2005 10.8 million 1.5 million 6.9 million
7 2007 12 million 2.2 million 8.3 million
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17. tHe Brand tHat lived
“I could not possibly have had the
expectation that we’d be printing 12
million copies for one book. That’s “There is no
beyond anyone’s experience. I would financial reward in
have had to be literally insane.” children’s books.”
- Arthur Levine
- Barry Cunningham
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18. seleCted Harry Potter
advertising sPending
• Source: Nielsen, July 2000 news release
 Book advertising = $3.5 million
 Movie advertising = $142.7 million
 DVD/video advertising = $68.5 million
 Merchandise/cross-promotion advertising =
$54 million
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19. Harry Potter Brand
lifeCyCle ManageMent

20. 1. ConsuMers Build Brands
• Emotional involvement
• Relationship brands
• Branded Experiences
• Consumer control, not company control
Lead to
Brand Loyalty, Brand Advocacy,
and Word-of-Mouth Marketing
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21. 2. word-of-MoutH Marketing
• Start with a good product and a brand
story to tell.
• Don’t give it all away.
• Add a viral component.
• Allow a sense of community.
• Join the conversation.
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22. fans take Control & Make Harry
Potter tHeir own
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23. 3. soCial Media
• Fans sites, fan fiction, fan art, fan blogs,
etc.
• Scholastic and Rowling originally sent
cease and desist letters.
• Recognize and embrace influencers and
advocates.
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24. eMBraCe
influenCers
With a multi-million dollar
budget to spend as she
pleased, Cindy Gordon of
Universal Orlando Resort
instead told just 7
people about the
Wizarding World of Harry
Potter.
And within just 24 hours
350 million people
around the world heard
the news.
All by telling just 7
people.
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25. 4. PerPetual & tease Marketing
• Heighten the online buzz and word-of-mouth
 “Watch this space” hooks online
 Countdown clocks online and in stores
 Midnight release parties and embargoed book
deliveries
 Movie details released in bits and pieces
 Casting information
 Set stills
 Storyboards
 Limited appearances by J.K. Rowling
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26. 5. integrated Marketing
• Unify efforts through consistent
communications and messaging.
• Surround consumers with branded experiences
so they can self-select how they want to
interact with or experience the brand.
 Times Square Jumbotron ads
 Knight Bus in London
 The Apprentice
 Contests
 Artificial supply limitations led to massive pre-orders
 Price discounting, product tie-ins, and promotional
discounts at store level for differentiation
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27. PeoPle look for new ways to
exPerienCe and sHare tHe Brand.
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28. Pull Marketing as tHe
Catalyst.
• Customer demand
drives sales, not
marketing tactics.
• Harry Potter fans
demanded more and
more and more!
• Social media offers a
place to listen to
consumer demands.
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29. 6. Brand ConsistenCy and
restraint
• All brand touch points must communicate
consistent brand message, image and promise.
• J.K. Rowling as brand guardian and brand
champion
• Brand restraint means not overextending the
brand -- No Harry Potter on Happy Meals
• Less merchandised than many other brands at
time such as Shrek and Cars
• Limiting brand extensions left fans wanting
more and fed into pull marketing/tease and
perpetual marketing strategies
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30. Potter, Potter everywHere!
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31. ConsuMers Made Harry Potter a
gloBal PHenoMenon.
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32. Maintaining tHe Harry Potter
Brand

33. extending tHe Brand in tHe
future
• Pottermore
 Content creation and curation
 Crowdsourcing
 Community development
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34. Content Creation & Curation
• Little new content required for Pottermore to
create virtual world.
• Doors open to create new content online and
offline by J.K. Rowling, experts, celebrities, and
so on.
 Examples: Financial sites, Web MD, Baby Center, AARP
• Content feeds integrated marketing.
• Curate and syndicate content from multiple
sources like media sites do.
 The Daily Beast built its business from curation.
Bloomberg uses Acquire Media for syndication.
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35. CrowdsourCing
• Not all content needs to be created by
the brand or company.
 Benchmark American Express OPEN Forum,
The Huffington Post.
• Crowdsource for Pinterest, Facebook,
and more content
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36. CoMMunity develoPMent
• Communities used to exist on fan sites
and at fan events.
• Pottermore puts some control back in the
hands of the brand by bringing
community to branded destination.
• Focus on growing relationships and
emotional involvement through the
Pottermore online community and
beyond.
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37. PotterMore’s first 14 days
• Pottermore launched with content for the first
book only and limited interactivity with a
tease of more to come.
• First two weeks after Pottermore launched:
 22 million visits
 7 million unique visitors
 1 billion page impressions
 Average visitor viewed 47 pages
 Average visitor spent 25 minutes on the site
 5 million people registered
 250,000 registered members had been sorted into
Hogwarts houses.
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38. wHat’s next for Harry Potter?
• Only J.K. Rowling knows what she’s willing to
allow for the Harry Potter brand.
• Consumers still want more from the brand.
• Confirmed brand extensions for the future
include:
 Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion in
Florida coming soon!
 Wizarding World of Harry Potter brought 68% increase in
attendance to Universal Orlando during first two years.
 Wizarding World of Harry Potter going to other
Universal locations like Japan and Los Angeles.
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39. tHe Brand tHat lived
As long as brand extensions
continue to meet consumer
expectations based on the
brand promise
(and J.K. Rowling will make sure
they do)
Harry Potter will be the brand
that lived for many years to
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40. now go get a
Frozen Butter Beer or Pumpkin Juice
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41. find Me online
Twitter:
www.Twitter.com/susangunelius
Books by
Susan Gunelius
Facebook:
www.Facebook.com/susangunelius
www.Facebook.com/keysplashcreative
LinkedIn: A
www.Linkedin.com/in/susangunelius
Email:
susan@keysplashcreative.com Also Available Now:
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to LinkedIn
Coming in 2012:
Blogging All-in-One for Dummies,
Second Edition
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