Potter-heads, Twi-hards and Tributes: Building Effective Brand

Potter-heads, Twi-hards and Tributes: Building Effective
Brand Communities Online
Online Marketing and Publishing: The Power of Brand Communities
Researchers affirm the growth of the Internet has brought about significant change in the
publishing industry, which is investing more readily in modern, online selling opportunities.
An online presence for the book, particularly crossover fiction, has now become essential and
is established with the close involvement of the author, particularly in the case of high-profile
crossover fiction published in the last decade.
The rise of fan culture within popular media has led to an increasing interest in brand
communities or ‘consumption related social networks’, defined as a ‘specialised, nongeographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among
admirers of a brand. It is specialised because at its centre is a branded good or service.’
(Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001).
Younger generations understand the deepest social value of online activity, which has
implications for the ultimate success of young adult crossover fiction. Elements of online
branded communities based around this genre exist in many forms, including tribute websites,
innumerable online encyclopaedias, role-playing games, fan-art, podcasts, photo galleries,
discussion groups, trivia quizzes and virtual reality stores (Brown, qtd. in Cova, Kozinets &
Shankar, 2007). Crucially, these examples represent participants in the brand’s larger social
construction, who ultimately play a vital role in the brand’s legacy (Muniz & O’ Guinn,
2001).
Effective Heroes and their Brands
To fully embrace those in the brand community in a way that contributes to the success and
positivity of the brand, the ‘brand hero’ must ‘engage with them, understand them, and meet
their need for quality’ in online channels, which enable this level of interaction (Evans, 2010).
Toni Eagar explains a brand hero is ‘someone who is recognised by the brand
community for their role within the brand’s creation’ (1999, p. 488); they exercise
considerable influence in terms of motivating the brand community to engage in behaviours
that ultimately benefit the brand itself. At present, the three most influential ‘brand heroes’ of
crossover fiction are J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series; Stephenie Meyer, author
of the Twilight Saga; and Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games Trilogy.
Harry Potter: Fifteen years after its first publication in 1997, Harry Potter has become the
best-selling book series in history, with physical sales totalling more than 450 million copies;
further, the film adaptations have become the most successful movie series of all time, taking
almost $8 billion at the box office worldwide (Richmond, 2012).
Brown and Patterson assert the correlation between the rise of the Internet and the rise
of Harry Potter is more than just mere coincidence, where the latter owes a considerable
amount of its success to the former (2010).
Twilight: On 1 June 2003, Stephenie Meyer, a Phoenix housewife, had a dream about a young
woman who was talking to a handsome, sparkling vampire in a meadow. This scene became
the crux of Meyer’s first novel, Twilight, a Young Adult paranormal romance novel, which
she completed in three months (Grossman, 2008).
The first book spawned a further three: New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn and
five blockbuster movies have been released. At the beginning of 2012, Stephenie Meyer’s
book sales had reached over 100 million worldwide, prompting Forbes to deem her one of the
‘10 Most Powerful Women Authors’. Further, the film adaptations of her books have grossed
over 2.3 billion dollars worldwide (David, 2011; Cohen 2012).
The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins was a 48-year-old mother-of-two who was working as a
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Branding Fiction Online
writer for children’s television when she wrote the Hunger Games in 2006 (Dominus, 2011).
The books juxtapose a futuristic fantasy capital of high-tech sophistication and earlyindustrial life in the twelve, half-starved districts it controls. It follows sixteen-year-old
protagonist Katniss Everdeen, one of twenty-four adolescents randomly chosen to participate
in the ‘Hunger Games’, a televised event in which the contestants must fight to the death until
there is one survivor.
Since its release in 2008, more than 36 million copies of the Hunger Games trilogy
have been printed, with sales in 2011 totalling over 9.2 million, up from 4.3 million in 2010
(Roback, 2012). The first film earned over $620 million at the global box office during the
first two months of its release. With three more movies in the works, books sales are expected
to rise substantially.
Relationship Marketing Through Official Author Websites
In 1983 Leonard Berry introduced the concept of ‘relationship marketing’, which emphasises
the role marketing plays not just in acquiring customers, but also in retaining their interest
over long periods of time (Leboff, 2011). Treating consumers as special members of an
‘insider’s club’ with prestige and benefits, including a sense of intimacy with the author, the
authors’ works and any added information regarding these facets, renders them more likely to
form long-term relationships with the marketing organization, becoming a ‘brand
community’. A good author website also offers writers the opportunity to interact directly
with fans, and, unlike fan forums, allows the writer to ‘talk back’ to their most loyal
followings (Trye, 2012), which is essential for building a successful brand relationship.
J.K. Rowling.com: In 2004, Rowling unveiled her new website, which contained puzzles and
secrets, including a locked door, which opened when the author had something special to
share with her fans (See Figure 1). To further garner her fan’s support, Rowling allowed them
access to information before the press. She would frequently offer extra information about
characters as well as a continually updated, personal FAQ section dispelling or confirming
rumours and answering fan questions (Pyne, 2010). She also publically rewarded those who
had created tribute websites to Harry Potter by setting up a link on her page to a different one
each year, based on the merits of the tribute site and how they presented the overall Harry
Potter brand.
StephenieMeyer.com: Established in 2005, StephenieMeyer.com is a personal website based
on different aspects of her life, including pictures and blog entries from her travels around the
world (See Figure 2). These personal touches are evident throughout, where Meyer includes
posts about what inspired her to write each book, and where she drew her inspiration. In
addition to pictures and descriptions of the characters cars and motorcycles and outtakes from
the books, she includes the personal playlists she listened to when writing each of the books.
Meyer has consistently engaged with her readers through her personal site, either by
writing back privately or by blogging about events she knows will interest them. Technology
expert Tim O’Reilly explains: ‘Stephenie was somebody who was early to use a new medium
and to use it effectively… An authentic connection really matters.’ (qtd. in Carpenter, 2008).
Site visitors are particularly placated by the offer of exclusive content, which ranges from
outtakes from the published books to a partial draft of Meyer’s Midnight Sun, Edward's
version of Twilight. Regular schedule updates of the author’s tour, book signings and area
appearances are prominently incorporated into the layout of Meyer’s website. To incorporate
the fans firmly into the value of the brand, Meyer includes dedicated sections to their support
throughout her website, including photos of Twilight-inspired events as well as links to all the
Twilight fan sites around the world.
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SuzanneCollinsBooks.co.uk: Suzanne Collins’ readings and appearances are rarely recorded
for television and she declines to partake in anything that involves her being in front of the
camera. As a result of her media-shy personality and unwillingness to place herself at centrestage, her personal website, SuzanneCollinsBooks.com, is remarkably low-tech and modest
(See Figure 3).
It is difficult to ascertain whether the lack of self-publicity is intentional or completely
innocent. The author may be uncomfortable being in the public eye or perhaps her lack of
self-publicity is a contrivance intended to deepen the mystery and reverie surrounding the
trilogy. Her reluctance to become a ‘celebrity author’ is reflected in her indictment of the
media in The Hunger Games where the camera is presented as a dangerous enemy, the notion
of celebrity is empty and the whole concept of fame is a destructive contrivance (Dominus,
2011). In this regard, it might seem hypocritical for an author so skilled at presenting the
darker side of fame to be push herself openly into the modern-day media, poised and ready to
self-market for the sake of The Hunger Games brand.
Official Brand-based Experiential Marketing
It has been discovered by hiding playable content, users are encouraged to interact with the
website, investing additional time and effort, which renders them more likely to return
(Lønberg et al., 2012). Furthermore, the rational consumer fosters an insatiable hunger for
reverie, mystery and fantasy (Brown, qtd. in Cova, Kozinets & Shankar, 2007); the more
immersive and complete an online brand-based experience is, the more readily the consumer,
particularly young adults, will respond to the brand.
Pottermore.com: By combining sensory, affective and cognitive elements in an environment
that enables communication with other like-minded individuals, Pottermore.com is furthering
the Harry Potter phenomenon into the world of experiential brands, which connect with the
real lives of consumers. These experience worlds are ‘specific worlds that produce complex
connections in a three dimensional way, where visitors can actively tour through these
domains in a playful and highly satisfying way’ (Kleeberger, 2002, p. 14).
Pottermore.com was opened to the public in April 2012 and enables the user to
become part of the experience as themself rather than playing vicariously through a pixelated
Harry Potter. The user can move from scene to scene, each of which contain interactive
elements that enhance the basic underlying story of each book (See Figure 4). The user can
read previously unpublished content, upload personal artwork relating to the books, collect
objects, brew potions, duel, become sorted into a house at Hogwarts, earn house points and
receive a custom-made wand based on a brief personality test.
Further, Pottermore.com allows each user to be ‘sorted’ into one of the four magical
houses, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, by completing a brief personality test
devised by J.K. Rowling herself. Once ‘sorted’, users join the ranks of their new house,
which comes complete with a ‘common room’ and additional information. They are then
encouraged, by their fellow house members and a video of J.K. Rowling herself, to compete
for the elusive ‘house cup’ by gaining points through duelling, potion-making and navigating
successfully through the story (See Figure 5).
TheHungerGames.co.uk: The presence of two online gaming component available through
the official Hunger Games website represents the brands involvement in experiential
marketing. The first game, ‘Tribute Trials’, is a personality test, comprised of eight unique
questions relating to the arena and how one would react in circumstances similar to the
heroine, Katniss Everdeen. Once the test has been completed, the user finds out which parts of
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Branding Fiction Online
their personality are evident from their answers, and are then informed whether they would
survive in the real ‘Hunger Games’ just as Katniss Everdeen did. A second game, ‘Trial by
Fire’, tests the user’s speed and accuracy when answering life or death questions, in order to
ascertain whether they are ready for their own journey inside the arena.
A Facebook gaming component has also been released (See Figure 6); this version is
more expansive, creating the world of Panem online, where fans of the series can play as their
favourite characters from the books (DePalma, 2012).
The Importance of Brand Co-Creation
Furthermore, in order for a brand relationship to truly exist there must be a degree of
interdependence between the partners (Hinde qtd. in Fournier, 1998); the opportunity to
contribute to the brand in a meaningful way is effective in terms of promoting loyalty and
ensuring longevity. Moreover, consumers who play an active role in brand communities are
71% more likely to support that brand; and, interactive experiences to this end induce a
positive mood in the consumer, which renders them more receptive to the idea of buying
(Jordisan, 2011).
Pottermore.com: J.K. Rowling has been keen to show her receptiveness to fan involvement
from the outset, assuring users that they play an integral role in the creation of the new online
world of Harry Potter. In June, she explained: ‘Just as the experience of reading requires that
the imaginations of the author and reader work together to create the story, so Pottermore will
be built, in part, by you, the reader’ (qtd. in Memmott, 2011).
In addition to providing the opportunity for fans to create their own adventures and
become their own wizards in the online world of Pottermore.com, Rowling has also provided
the opportunity for Pottermore users to create and upload art onto the website, where others
can view and appreciate it.
TheTwilightSaga.com: As the official industry site, theTwilightsaga.com’s primary function is
to promote the books and raise anticipation for commercial releases of anything brand-related
(Rutherford, 2009). During the release of the each novel, applications were added to pique
reader interest and encourage their involvement. Fans were invited to take part in polls,
speculating whether the heroine would choose vampire, Edward Cullen, or werewolf, Jacob
Black. Other techniques employed by the website include fan-contests, competitions
involving user-generated videos and original artwork and photographs.
Reinforcing Brand Engagement through Social Networking
Marketing expert, Robert Kozinets, explains virtual communities often propagate the
development of loyalty and heavy usage by socially reinforcing consumption. He suggests
tourists or occasional visitors can be socialised in a way that ‘upgrades’ them to devotees,
who become more likely to purchase from the brand and support it into the future (1999).
Creating an online space, which allows socialisation, promotes the development of a brand
and results in a ‘socially embedded and entrenched loyalty and commitment’ (Jacody and
Chestnut; Keller; qtd. in Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001, p. 427). Moreover, practices such as social
engagement and co-creation often become self-perpetuating and can attract new users, who
are in search of lively communication channels (Schau, Muniz and Arnould, 2009).
Pottermore.com: By allowing the formation of relational ties built around the series, the
marketing team behind Pottermore.com has recognised their consumers live in a highly
connected world (Henderson & Palmatier, 2010). Users are encouraged to interact with each
other by duelling, commenting in forums, sending gifts found throughout the chapters, adding
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one another as friends or liking comments posted by others. Users are able to add their friends
by typing in their ‘magical’ name, e.g. ‘Heartblade1234’, and, when acceptance has been
cleared on each end, both users can then input the real name of their peer under the assigned
‘magical’ one for clarity’s sake.
TheTwilightSaga.com: Arguably the most important aspect of the official brand-based
Twilight site is the prominent social networking element. Since the first publication in 2005,
the Twilight Saga was relatively unique because, almost immediately, fans of the publication
began to track down fellow readers once they had finished reading the books (Green, 2008).
Seeing the need for a social networking component to achieve these kinds of interactions
online, Little, Brown instigated a Facebook-like layout to their website which, at the time of
writing, has close to half a million registered users (See Figure 7). The revamped layout
allows fans to sign up and create personal profile pages, where they can take part in
discussion boards, comment one another, join special groups, such as ‘Team Edward’, and
most importantly, form bonds with other members of the brand community.
Profiting from Online Support Channels
Enjoyable, interactive experiences induce a positive mood in the consumer, which renders
them more receptive to the idea of buying (Jordisan, 2011).
Pottermore.com: The Harry Potter eBooks were released on 27 March 2012, making over £1
million in the first three days of trading and £3m in the first month (Jones, 2012).
In a recent interview, Charlie Redmayne explained in the first two weeks following
the public opening of Pottermore.com in April 2012, the site had garnered 22 million visits
from 7 million unique users; this activity generated more than one billion page impressions,
where the average user visited 47 pages and would spend at least 25 minutes at a time
interacting with the website (Jones, 2012). By the end of April, over 5 million new users had
registered, half of whom had completed the ‘sorting’ stage of the story and were members of
one of the four houses of Hogwarts (Jones).
TheTwilightSaga.com & TheHungerGames.co.uk: Web presence is essential with in-store
browsing becoming rarer as a result of popular electronic media such as Amazon.com and ereaders. TheTwilightsaga.com and TheHungerGames.co.uk are the first of hundreds of
websites established in support of the Twilight and Hunger Games brand, many of which have
been set up by avid fans and are supported by the authors themselves. The tendency for
official brand-centred websites to inspire fan-made websites, which operate along the same
principles and are oftentimes more successful than the official endeavours, is integral to
maintaining viral publicity, amplifying brand community and ensuring longevity far beyond
the physical publication of the final book in each series.
Furthermore, by providing positive reinforcement in the form of social networking,
gaming or immersive role-playing opportunities, marketers are offering a deeper and more
appealing brand-experience; these experiences are rivalling other forms of modern day
entertainment, which are often considered a threat to reading.
Having grown up in an immersive, digital world, users will increasingly want to
interact with what they are reading, watching or listening to in meaningful ways that surpass
the text itself either socially, psychologically or experientially (Gomez, 2008). As such, they
are more receptive to modern marketing techniques, which, when used correctly, can be
highly successful.
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Branding Fiction Online
Works Cited
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Psychology and Marketing, 27(6), 541-56.
Carpenter, S. (2008, November 29). Web Gave Twilight Fresh Blood. LA Times. Retrieved
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David, A. (2011, May 25). The 10 Most Powerful Women Authors. Forbes Magazine.
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DePalma, D. (2012, April 1). Inside 'The Hunger Games' Social Media Machine. Co.Create.
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Jordisan, S. (2011, June 23). Pottermore Gives Away J.K. Rowling's Marketing Genius. The
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Communities of Consumption. European Management Journal, 17(3), 252-64.
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Leboff, Grant. (2011). Sticky Marketing: Why Everything in Marketing Has Changed and
What to Do about It. London, UK: Kogan Page.
Lønberg, O., Rasmussen, P., Lorentzen, M. & Nygaard, E. (2012). Pottermore, What Is It, and
Why Is It Important? Phill-it.in. Retrieved from http://phill-it.in/wpcontent/uploads/Group-2-second-draft.pdf.
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Appendix
Case Questions
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each brand’s approach to online marketing?
Identify which of the three examples is the most effective. Identify which of the three
examples is the least effective. What could they do to improve?
2. How important is the role of these websites in the brand’s overall success? Explain your
answer.
3. To what extent does this kind of approach to engaging fans provide a competitive
advantage?
4. If you were to develop a checklist for successful online engagement with readers and fans,
what main points/areas would you include?
5. In what ways can brand communities positively contribute to the brand’s longevity?
6. Identify another modern ‘brand hero’, and outline how they engage with their community.
Figure 1: Screenshot of Puzzle uploaded at jkrowling.com, 2004
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Figure 2: Screenshot of Stephenie Meyer’s Personal Photo Tour Album
Figure 3: Screenshot of SuzanneCollinsBooks.com Home-screen
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Figure 4: Scene from Pottermore.com, ‘Diagon Alley’.
Figure 5: Screenshot of House Cup Statistics from Pottermore.com
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Figure 6: Screenshot of Official Facebook-related Game
Figure 7: Screenshot of Fan Discussion Boards at theTwilightsaga.com
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