Harry Potter Brand Marketing: From Books to Global Empire

Introduction

The Harry Potter books became a global phenomenon, spawning a media empire that naturally included a hugely successful movie series. The marketing of the films came at a point when the books were already enormously popular, and that popularity had extended well beyond the normal boundaries of children's literature. A media empire had been born, and the movies were the key to pushing Harry Potter past the tipping point. Knowing that they had seven books with which to work, the marketing team at Warner Brothers had the opportunity to make the Harry Potter brand one that would continue to earn money for decades — if the films were good enough and the brand development strong enough. Certainly, the product had to be high quality, and if it was, there was tremendous opportunity for the brand (Field, 2015). This paper outlines the brand marketing strategy for Harry Potter to analyze how it became as large and enduring as it did.

Brand Attributes

The development of brand attributes begins with the creation of the stories themselves. The characters and the world in which they live are at the heart of those attributes. By the time Harry Potter reached the film marketing stage, it was simply a question of which brand attributes to highlight. As a fantasy story about child wizards, Harry Potter as a brand stands for the magic in the world — magic that exists just beyond our perception. For adults, it evokes the magic of childhood; for children, it represents the magic of imagination and endless possibility. The marketing of Harry Potter therefore had to strike a balance between promoting the brand, sometimes quite aggressively, while preserving that sense of magic. Although J.K. Rowling had a backstory that reinforced the magical quality of the brand — a struggling single mother who made good — Warner Brothers and the other major brand handlers did not share this attribute. In fact, during the earlier marketing phases, Warner Brothers actively pursued fan websites with cease-and-desist orders, a strategy that could have quickly damaged the brand (Gunelius, 2010).

Realizing this risk, Warner Brothers quickly abandoned the cease-and-desist strategy and allowed fans to create their own relationship with the brand (Gunelius, 2010). This shift became an essential component of the brand's marketing. With a fiction series featuring many characters and multiple heroes, fans become immersed in the world and relate to the characters and stories in personal ways. Each fan creates a unique relationship with the brand, and the ability to do so is essential to the brand experience. Another key brand attribute, therefore, is that the consumer defines his or her own relationship with the brand. This is relatively uncommon — marketers typically prefer to control the conversation — but it is also immensely powerful.

The product has to live up to the brand in order for this strategy to succeed (Field, 2015). There is only so much marketers can do with a weak product. Fortunately, Warner Brothers recognized that the Harry Potter books were high quality and wildly popular. Translating that quality into the films and subsequent brand development was largely a matter of not undermining the product. To that end, the studio spared no expense in getting the films right. In a book, readers are free to imagine what the world looks and feels like; a film has to visualize that world for the audience. Attention to detail was essential, and the final product delivered.

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