Scholastic unveils marketing campaign for DH
Early this morning, Scholastic announced "There Will Soon Be 7," a multi-million dollar marketing campaign for the seventh and final book. Deathly Hallows will hit shelves on July 21st, with a record-breaking print run of 12 million copies, breaking the previous record set by Half-Blood Prince (10.8m).
"There Will Soon Be 7" launches on April 17th and includes the following:
"There Will Soon Be 7" launches on April 17th and includes the following:
- 7 Questions of Harry Potter campaign - Beginning on April 17 and ending on July 7, 2007, Scholastic will release one question every two weeks. These are the big questions fans debate at great length online, at book clubs and in everyday conversations, and that they hope J.K. Rowling will answer in this final installment. The questions will be posted on scholastic.com and released through advertising and publicity outlets.
- Knight Bus National Tour - On June 2nd, exactly seven weeks prior to publication, a touring Knight Bus based on the unique vehicle in the Harry Potter books will take off from New York City and travel to 40 libraries in 10 major metropolitan areas across the country. In each location where the bus stops, fans will be invited to visit the Knight Bus and share on video their thoughts and feelings about the Harry Potter books. Select video clips from each location will be uploaded for viewing and sharing on www.scholastic.com/harrypotter
- Retail Promotions - Scholastic will send "There Will Soon Be 7" table-top easelbacks and millions of collectible bookmarks to retail accounts and libraries throughout the country. Both the easelbacks and the bookmarks will feature one of the seven questions as each is released. Between June 2nd and July 7th, "There Will Soon Be 7" countdown standees (a five-foot corrugated promotional piece featuring Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows cover art and a countdown to July 21st feature) will land in retail accounts and libraries. And finally, to celebrate the big day, Scholastic will distribute numerous tattoos for giveaways at what is sure to be a record number of Harry Potter midnight parties.
- www.scholastic.com/harrypotter - Scholastic's online marketing campaign launches on April 17th. In addition to a desktop alert, downloadable poster printouts, bookmark printouts, and updated Wizard Challenge questions, the site will include the following:
- Shrieking Shack Poll - This will invite fans to vote for their favorite answer to each of the seven questions of Harry Potter, and lead them to the Discussion Chamber Message Boards where they can converse with other fans.
- 7 Word Review - Fans can review their favorite Harry Potter book in seven words or less, and all can vote for their favorite.
- Knight Bus Tour Tracker - On June 1st, the site will launch the Knight Bus Tour Tracker as well as Knight Bus Blogs and Videos.
- Book Release Party Finder - This online guide will list various retailers' midnight parties nationwide searchable by zip code, city, and state, so fans can find a celebratory party to attend in their community.
- Advertising - Scholastic's national advertising campaign, based on the theme "There Will Soon Be 7," will appear on electronic billboards, online, and in print media nationwide beginning in April.
You can see the full press release here.
Posted by Ben on Mar 14th |
134 Comments
Visitor Comments
Sounds great.
Yipee! Wow this is awesome!
3rd! Sounds awsome
"There Will Soon Be 7" thats the best they can do. lol
I love their slogan "There will soon be 7!" Thats wicked!! I hope UK gets this sort of mad campaign from Bloomsbury!!
nice plan.
sounds cool 7th?
I doubt it will be anything extravagent from Bloomsbury. they didn't do much for HBP, as far as I can remember. They may do though, last book and all that jazz
12 million copies?? wow. WOW! I want to go on the Knight Bus!!!
Sounds so cool! Some book news, finally.
this has really been the only "real" news we've gotten in a while
Free stuff, yeah! Hooray for swag! And the knight bus video series sounds really cool. If they take themselves seriously enough it could een turn into a kind of documentray, like "Ringers: Lord of the Fans", which was pretty good. It'll probably be just a bunch of poorly put together commercial-esque things, though. :/ And I want to read the 7 word reviews! That could get funny.
I could cry! The seventh book! The last one!!! :'-( Well it sounds like it will be fun anyways!
Do we get answers to the questions?
you know, its funny. they put out a huge marketing plan for a book that everybody knows about and anybody who cares about it the least will buy. and the people who haven't bought these books before have had a decade to make their decision so they are not going to but it. i dont think their going to get much out of this except give fans something to do in the mean time until the book actually comes out. which i'm not saying i am against at all. im just wondering why they call it a marketing plan.
that sounds pretty cool!!!! im excited! yet really said at the same time. there will soon be 7, meaning there will soon be none after... 128 days...
That would be nice to look forward to. I wonder if the Knight Bus will be heading my way????
sounds kool... well im off 2 school now =(try not to miss me lol
You forgot to mention the huge party in Times Square, the banner falling across Buckingham Palace saying 'DEATHLY HALLOWS ARE HERE YAYZ LOL!' and the seven doves being released from Notre Dame bell tower.
Sounds like alot of fun! Plus it will help us make it to July 21 without going insane. Can't wait!
Wow, that sounds really cool! The Knight Bus better come to Boston.
Sounds awesome! Can't wait for it!
In keeping with the whole "7" theme there should have been 7 bullet points, don't you think? ;-)
sounds cosmic cubed!!!!!!! i can't wait... but it's gonna end!!
the scholastic people are really going for it . if they hadnt mentioned the 12 million copies i would have thought ( due to all the 7) there are only going to be seven copies of deathly hallows!! LOLZ
I've got to find the list of tour locations for the Knight Bus... Maybe Leaky has it?! I'll go check!
I think it sounds fantastic! I think the title is very dramatic and enticing. I know that not everyone is obsessed with the books, but because this is the final installment, I think that alone will get people, who aren't necessarily in to the books, to buy it and read it. And the 7 questions: I think that is a great plan. Whatever the questions are, it will get the readers even more excited and spur new ideas and theories and really make the entrance of the book far more exciting. Releasing the book alone is not enough - they are a business and need to do what they can to jump sales and excite the customers. Not only that, but I think this ad campaign will help but more excited and pleasure into reading - something that is not as popular as it once was.
Potter_rockz87: If that really was the case, I would have a heart attack!
I think this campaign is a very nice idea, especially the Knight Bus. I can't see what it'll do for people who aren't already fans, but still... But where is Bloomsbury's equivalent? How come the US publishers can decide to do this, but the British ones haven't - yet - cottoned on to the idea that it might be a good idea to make a v. big thing of their ridiculously profitable series coming to an end? They could probably afford to.
I'm so excited!!! This is a great way to build up to the seventh book!
sounds fun!
omg I can hardly control the xcitement, but it does give us a fun next few months,,,,
woaH!!!!!!! thats so awesome!!! ONLY 128 DAYS til DH!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH I CAN"T WAIT> ok so theyll be touring thats cool i just need to see where...
As big a fan as I am, I think I'll avoid the midnight parties because there's bound to be some asshat in a car spoiling it for everyone...
oh i am definitely not avoiding the midnight parties. i'm actually working at one, lol. it sounds like a pretty cool idea, im glad scholastic is putting such an effort forth. yay for deathly hallows!
I agree with MasterMike. I am also avoiding the midnight parties. Spoilers are terrible. I don't really care for those parties either.
this is so exciting!!!!!
ok so now i just need the list of dates and locations that the knight bus is going to be cause i would really enjoy seeing that. i also need to see some cover art for DH already. im getting to anxious now. i hope that the B and N down the street from me are having a mid-night party, they should they did for HBP and OotP, not sure about the others though (i didnt live near them then). ive reserved my book with them the same day of the announcement of DH.
Cool! You really think there's going to be spoilers at the midnight party? :( I wanted to go for the first (and last) time.
sounds exciting to me! :)
Loves it!
that would be so awesome to ride the knight bus. (i still prefer brooms) to bad im in ky. they shouldnt spoil book 7 keep everything secret untill the 21st. then it would be more exciting to buy it. everyone would curiosity. will harry die? (dramatic music plays) 128 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so freaking excited for this thing to start I can hardly wait! it's on Kevinn Stech's birthday! what a birthday present! :)
YEs omg this is so exciting! I can't wait for July, and boy does this help......when July does finally arrive it's going to be utter chaos and planning parties, it's going to be so cool. They better print tons of books lol.
that sounds so awesome!!! this is gonna be one hell of a summer!
omfg that is the COOLEST new Ever!!! I hope they come to Barnes and Nobles In Union Square Nyc... gahhhhhh i can't wait!!! i can't believe this..Summer 2007 is going to be awesome!!! Best month of my life!!! Reading the most awaited book of the century!!! There will be Seven!!! gahhhhh!!! Eme rson! please! Why not a leakymug convention in Barnes and Nobles Union Square? I know we were treated unfairly last august.. but seriously like after the premiere or something... JULY 2007!! dh CAMPAIGN ootp MOVIE nyc premiere midnight movie premiere in Loews Tsquare Midnight book release in Barnes and Nobles Leaky mug??? please!!! enlightenment 2007!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!
oh man, they are milking this for all its worth...this is kind of why i avoided reading harry potter until the 3rd came out, because it is such a miney making scheme....but alas, i am obsessed beyond repair now.... as for the midnight parties, i am most definitely going to a midnight release (i reserved my copy a few months ago), but the second it is in my hands i am going home as fast as my friend can take me (and trust me, with his little turbo vw...its fast) and will be reading until im done, twice.
Wow, that's an amazing marketing scheme! I feel jealous of all you Americans. I wish that they'll come out with something like this in Canada.
they dont even need promotion...couldnt they just lower the price instead of wasting their (and our) money in useless campaigns?
That is far to much hype. Money, money, money.
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