harry potter and the deathly hallows pt2 case...

A2 MEDIA STUDIES CASE STUDY

NARRATIVE

• This film is the last instalment of the major Hollywood tent pole series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is a 2011 epic fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the second of two cinematic parts based on the novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. The story continues to follow Harry Potter’s quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry’s best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

REPRESENTATION

INDUSTRY - BACKGROUND

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How Many of You

Have heard of Harry Potter?


How Many of You

• A friend,

• A colleague,

• A family member,

• A stranger,

• Or by any other source other than an ad or marketing effort?

Heard of Harry Potter from…


That Tells Us…Harry Potter grew to be a global

phenomenon through word-of-mouth marketing by consumers.

Harry Potter Brand Evolution


The Boy Who Lived

It all started with a train ride…


Add a few Dashes of Serendipity


Dash #1: The Idea

• 1990: 24-year old Joanne Rowling imagines Harry Potter out of thin air.

• 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.

“The purest stroke of inspiration I’ve ever had in my life.” - J.K. Rowling


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


Harry Potter Books by the Numbers – U.S. only

Book Date First Print

Run

Amazon / B&N

Pre-orders

First 24-hour

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


“I could not possibly have had the expectation that we’d be printing 12

million copies for one book. That’s beyond anyone’s experience. I would have had to be

literally insane.”- Arthur Levine

“There is no financial reward in children’s

books.”- Barry Cunningham

The Brand that lived


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

Harry Potter Brand Lifecycle Management


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


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.


Fans Take Control & Make Harry Potter Their Own


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.


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.


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


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


People look for new ways to experience and share the brand.


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.


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


Potter, Potter everywhere!


Consumers made Harry Potter a global phenomenon.

Maintaining the Harry Potter Brand


Extending the brand in the future

• Pottermore• Content creation and curation

• Crowdsourcing

• Community development


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.


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


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.


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.


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.


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 come.


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INDUSTRY - PRODUCTION

• Budget $250 million

• Box Office $1.34 billion

INDUSTRY - MARKETING

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2:The Marketing Campaign• Teaser Poster

• Teaser Trailer

• Website

• Main Poster

• Full Trailer

• T.V. Spot

• Publicity and Promotion

The Teaser Poster – 1

This poster shows the picture of Harry Potter; it will be instantly recognised by fans of the genre. The poster is very dark which represents evil, a major theme in the film, and Harry looks extremely distressed which shows that he is up against a great challenge.

Very little is revealed in this poster which leaves the audience wanting to know more about the film, which may encourage them to visit the website shown at the bottom which builds synergy.

Production companies are shown at the bottom which may be recognised. There are several other similar posters each with a separate character, which may encourage the audience to look out for the many varieties of the poster for their favourite character.

The Teaser Poster – 2

This poster shows the destruction of Hogwarts, an established icon of the Harry Potter series. It would immediately catch the eye of the intended audience, and the special effects also make the poster stand out; for people who have come to love the series may be very shocked by this image, and it would be very memorable.

The title is simply HP7, in the famous typeface Harry Potter. It keeps the poster simple and it is iconic, so it is easy to recognise it as another Harry Potter film even from a distance.

The tagline emphasises the fact that this is the final instalment of the series, so people may be interested in seeing it to find out how the story ends.

The release years for each part of the film are shown, so audience members can know when to see the film.

The website is shown to generate synergy and production companies are given, as audience members may recognise them.

The Main PosterThis poster depicts the three main Harry Potter characters running away from something. It is a very exciting and dynamic ‘freeze frame’ and thus shows off the film’s action elements. The desperation in the characters’ faces show that they are running for their lives which proves the film will be exciting to watch. The subtle red sparks on the picture represent danger which further shows how exciting the film should be.

The tagline shows how this will be the ‘epic finale’ of the series, which may encourage the audience to come and watch it to discover how the story ends; its other purpose is to remain in the minds of the audience so that they remember the film in future and a brand image can be built.

The release date is given which allows the audience to know when they can see this film, and production companies are shown so the audience can see that the film is the work of professionals, so should be good.

The title at the bottom uses an already established icon of the Harry Potter series so the audience can immediately know what film this poster is advertising. The poster was also adapted for use on busses to grab even more attention.

The WebsiteThe website experience begins with the film’s full trailer to immediately grab the attention of visitors.

There is a menu feature that allows visitors to simply explore the site. Every background on the site is one of the film posters, creating synergy. The consistent use of the “HP7” symbol symbolises the film and may help the audience to remember the website later on.

The “about” page consists of the film’s synopsis, so visitors can find out what the film is about and make a judgement as to whether they should see it or not.

It also includes a list of famous actors in the film, so visitors may recognise them and feel more inclined to see the film.

The “gallery” page shows iconic screenshots from the film, where the “downloads” section allows visitors to customise their computer with Harry Potter themed images. This allows the visitor to remember the film well, and IM icons may also spread the word through social networks.

The “videos” section shows Harry Potter trailers which are entertaining for the audience to watch and create synergy by leading the audience to this form of advertisement as well.

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The Teaser TrailerThis trailer gives a sneak preview of the film, with many iconic scenes so the audience can see roughly what the film will be like. It is used to inform the audience that the film is coming out soon, and to begin hype. It includes the release month, so the audience can know when it will come out.

It doesn’t tell much about the story so as not to give too much away, but it does show some scenes that establish the film’s genre and themes. The use of wands and spells immediately evoke the genre of fantasy, and the theme of magic.

The action adventure genre is represented by the depiction of chase scenes, fights and the large scale destruction, and the fast-paced scenes prove the film to be exciting.

The Full TrailerThe full trailer is full of action scenes that show that the film is exciting, and immediately interests any action lovers in the audience.

The fantasy genre and magic theme are set up with the use of wands and spells etc. There are many fast paced parts of the trailer which keep the audience interested; the fact that they enjoyed watching the trailer may mean that they want to see the movie itself. There are many scenes of conflict, especially between Harry and Voldemort giving an obvious “good vs. evil” idea to the film.

The narration explains the story to the audience without revealing too much. The audience may recognise many of the characters, so if they liked the previous Harry Potter films, they may be more likely to watch this one.

The trailer fills the audience in on all the important details. The release date is shown so the audience knows when they can watch the film, and the production companies involved are also depicted; the audience may be more likely to see a film by a well known production company like Warner Bros.

The title is the same as on the poster to maintain the brand image, and the website address is given to create synergy, so the audience can find out more if they so wish.

The T.V. SpotThe T.V. Spot is a summarised version of the full trailer so it

can be shown on T.V.

It shows snapshots of key scenes in the film in a more

brief way than the full trailer.

Airing it on T.V. would have attracted a very large amount of

attention for the film, so most of the public knows about it.

It shows all the necessary information, but faster so it can all be fit into a 30 second spot.

The PremiereThe premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was held on the 11th November 2010, and featured many of the actors from the Harry Potter films.

A lot of awareness is created for the film as many people went to the event to see the actors. This would have lead to huge media coverage on the topic, creating huge awareness of the film.

The media spreads the news of it free of charge which makes it even better for the film’s profits.

MerchandiseA lot of merchandise has been created, based upon the Harry

Potter films to further increase their awareness and popularity.

Examples include models of magic wands, sweets featured in the film (e.g. chocolate frogs) and Hogwarts uniforms.

This mainly targets younger fans, but older collectors may also be interested. Merchandise develops popularity for the film,

and creates interest about it among new audiences, in this case younger children.

Purchasing the merchandise may make the buyer feel more a part of the story, so they may feel more inclined to see the

film.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a theme park in Orlando, Florida, and not only brings in extra revenue for the film’s creators, it provides great publicity for the Harry Potter movies with an entire themed castle and village.

It helps to spark an interest in the film series saga in those who don’t already like it, and it generally raises awareness especially through the large amount of news coverage on the subject; this is a brilliant method of publicity as the newspapers and news programmes don’t even have to be paid to spread awareness of the Harry Potter series.

This park allows fans of the series to discover the world that they have grown to love in fiction, but in reality. A lot of the merchandise mentioned previously is also be sold here to further excite Harry Potter fans. There is an Ollivander’s wand shop, a Honeyduke’s Sweet Shop, Zonko’s Joke Shop, Dervish and Bange’s Uniform Shop, Owl Post Office and The Three Broomsticks Restaurant as well as The Hog’s Head Pub.

All these authentic experiences allow existing fans and new ones to be invited into the world of Harry Potter, which will ultimately lead to a greater awareness and popularity of the Harry Potter films.

INDUSTRY - DISTRIBUTION

INDUSTRY - GLOBAL

INDUSTRY - REGULATIONThe BBFC pass this film uncut for 12 / 12A audience and make some comments about the nature of the violence, threat and language in the film:“There are some sad moments, particularly when familiar characters are killed… There is a sense of threat throughout… there is quite a lot of blood on the victim's neck and on the wall behind … a single and aggressively directed use of the word 'bitch', during a fight scene”.But all fall within the 12A rubric.

AUDIENCE - TARGETING

AUDIENCE - POSITIONING

AUDIENCE - SUCCESS

AUDIENCE - DEBATES

harry potter and the deathly hallows pt2 case...

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