PublishersLunch
Pottermore ceo Charlie Redmayne closed out
the Publishers Launch Conference with a bang, indicating that "Pottermore
is a digital publishing business" and part his roadmap for the next 12
months is to "work with other brands" from publishing and elsewhere.
"We've started working brands, and indeed with publishers, trying to
identify digital strategies that fulfill the sort of things" they have
done for JK Rowling's work. They are "already working with one other
brand" in particular in a serious way (though Redmayne later told
the Bookseller this first brand partner is a "non-book"
property). "You can do a lot of what we've done for Pottermore--and you
can do a lot of different things. One thing might be advertising," which
JK Rowling did not want on Pottermore, but clearly holds potential given their
vast user statistics. (The site has logged 140 million visits from 36 million
unique users, filled with 18 million fan comments and tabulating 158 million
"spells cast and potions brewed.")
Redmayne also indicated they "have
invested in a great deal of infrastructure" that he believes can be harnessed
for other purposes. Having created a platform that can sell in multiple
currencies, in multiple languages and territories, to a wide variety of
devices, "we'd like to start using what we have built for other brands, to
start pushing other brands forward in the same way."
New Pottermore retailer integrations will
be announced in multiple territories shortly, and they are preparing to launch
an affiliate network as well. Portugese will be the next language for the Harry
Potter ebooks.
That 12-month agenda includes launching
enhanced versions of the Potter ebooks "shortly after Christmas" and
new markets including connected TV and inflight entertainment, as well as a
possible move into an educational platform. Pottermore is developing an extensive
YouTube strategy as well, after finding, as Redmayne underscored, over 1
million unofficial Harry Potter videos and channels--many being monetized by
their creators, none of which pay any money to Warner Bros. or Rowling.
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