It isn’t magic: what Harry Potter can teach marketers

The Philosopher’s Stone hit the shelves in 1997. 20 years later with sales of over more than 500 million copies worldwide, Harry, Hermione and the rest of Hogworts can probably teach us ‘old’ marketers a few new tricks.

So to begin the Ministry of Marketing suggests these five lessons…

Don’t take no for an answer
If you truly believe in something, keep fighting for it. The first Harry Potter book was finished in 1995 and no fewer than 12 publishers rejected it before Bloomsbury decided to go with it. There are many parallel examples in the world of innovation – Nespresso ‘failed’ twice and was only a success at the third time of asking.

The power of packaging
One of the innovative twists that helped overcome the potential barrier of being ‘just a children’s book’ was the clever use of alternative front covers to target the dual target audience. Managing the multiplicity of multiple target groups, multiple products and services in multiple countries is the reality of today’s brands and you need to be coherent, not rigidly consistent.

Simplicity isn’t everything
One thing that the seven book series showed is that you don’t have to reduce everything to a soundbite, you don’t have to reduce your brand to one sentence or even one idea – the richness of the Harry Potter world helped to create its appeal.

Pay attention to the details
In all her books, J.K Rowling has clearly given a huge amount of thought to the minor details – the Mirror or Erised, Diagon Alley, the rules of Quiddtch… and it has paid off. It gives the story extra depth and has helped provide something for the (fanatical) fans – the brand advocates - to discuss endlessly. As many service brands know sometimes it is the little things that can make the difference.

Own a language
We, muggles, like wordplay and the invention of a new language can provide you and your brand with a real communication equity. We seem to enjoy being Tango’d!

And the only question left is which wizard would be the best instructor for a course in marketing magic.