With instant global recognition and reverence, any news from Potterville (no not that one) merits media attention. In this case, it’s the unveiling of…(drum roll please) the PR and marketing campaign to hype the release of the final chapter in the Harry Potter series.
Starting next month, news of Harry and his cohorts will begin to seep, I mean soar into the public consciousness — a full three months before fans can get their hands on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
The folks from Scholastic yesterday revealed how they intend to tease, tempt and tantalize fans in order to traffic the record first printing of 12 million books.
The branded marketing campaign includes a bi-weekly release of a provocative question, a 10-city, Knight-filled bus tour kicking off June 2 from New York City (!), and generous doses of advertising, retail and online promotions.
All this guarantees household name status before the book hits stores at 12:01 a.m. on July 21st. The anticipation and hyperbole are so strong that even the marketing campaign itself merited its own slogan: “THERE WILL SOON BE 7.”
Geesh. Couldn’t the literates at Scholastic come up with a better name than that? How about these?
- “The Harry Potter Die Another Day Tour,” or conversely
- “The Harry Potter Live and Let Die Tour”
- “The Harry Potter Uncut and Uncensored Tour”
- “The J.K. Rowling Calls It A Wrap, Enters Rehab Tour”
- “The Choose Your Passion Tour: 12 Million Books or 12 Million iPhones”
Stay tuned.