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The Marketing Magic Behind the Wizarding World of Harry Potter


After three years of waiting, fans of Harry Potter will finally be able to experience the magic through Universal’s newest attraction – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The June 18th Grand Opening couldn’t come any sooner as last year attendance at Universal Studios was down roughly 10%. According to a report by AECOM, a theme park attendance estimator, only 4.6 million people visited Universal’s Island of Adventure and 5.5 million passed through the gates at the adjacent Universal Studios. Universal is hoping to capitalize on the 400 million copies of J.K. Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books and six movies that have already pulled in $5.4 billion at the box office (Part 1 of the movie finale is scheduled to hit theaters on November 19th, 2010 and the series will conclude July 15th 2011).

Universal has done an excellent job of marketing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction. First, they leveraged the excitement surrounding the release of the seventh and final Harry Potter book by announcing plans for the theme park on May 31, 2007 – three weeks before “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” hit the shelves. Throughout the construction of the attraction Universal created anticipation by keeping an aura of secrecy and only released bits of information to tease fans. Now only weeks away, Universal is wrapping up a huge marketing campaign that has seen the Wizarding World of Harry Potter featured on everything from the cover of Entertainment Weekly to The Celebrity Apprentice. On June 6th at 7pm EST, NBC will be broadcasting a special 30 minute sneak peek behind the Harry Potter theme park attraction.

With so much hype and fan excitement swirling around the grand opening, the first several weeks will be crucial for the long term success. Say what you will about Harry Potter fans (I am one of them) but they/we are a very loyal group with high expectations. Fans young and old are anticipating that first taste of Butterbeer, the thrill of being chosen by a magic want at Ollivanders and the opportunity to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Fan sites such as www.mugglenet.com and www.the-leaky-cauldron.org are filled with fans waiting to share their experiences with others – will the word of mouth be positive?

It has been unseen whether the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will live up to expectations but I know I will be in line later this summer to experience it firsthand.
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