MUMBAI: With the imminent release of the new Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as well as the upcoming book release on 21 July of the seventh and final installment in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Nielsen Company released a multi-dimensional overview into the young wizard’s strong impact on the entertainment industry.
Here is a look at the Harry Potter effect:
BOX OFFICE SALES (Nielsen EDI) – Combined, the first four Harry Potter films have grossed more than $3.5 billion worldwide. The first film, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, is the fourth all-time highest grossing film worldwide.
The top three biggest grossers are Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man’s Chest. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone grossed more than $974.7 million worldwide at the box office. In its first week of release the film grossed more than $129.4 million in the US and Canada. The second film, Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets, grossed more than $878.6 million worldwide and $106.1 million for its opening week in the US and Canada.
DVD/VIDEO SALES (Nielsen VideoScan) -All three Harry Potter DVDs/Videos – Sorcerer’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban – debuted at #1 and remained the #1 family film for the first three weeks of each release. Close to $68.5 million was spent on advertising for the Harry Potter DVD/Videos in the US. The first movie release, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, spent the most on advertising, $22.5 million. The budgets for the subsequent DVD/Video releases were reduced, each spending between $14.5 and $15.9 million.
MUSIC SALES (Nielsen SoundScan) – The four Harry Potter soundtracks combined have sold more than 1.1 million copies in the US and almost 100,000 copies in Canada since the initial release back in October 2001. There have been a total of 180,000 downloads of individual songs that tied to the four Harry Potter soundtracks.
MOVIEGOER PROFILE (Nielsen Cinema) – A recent survey of moviegoers shows 51 per cent of persons age 12+ are aware that the new book is coming out next month. Twenty-eight per cent of persons 12+ in the US have read one or more of the previous Harry Potter books, and 15 per cent have read all of the Harry Potter books-to-date.< Page Break >
BOOK SALES (Nielsen BookScan) – Since 1998, when Nielsen began measuring book sales in the UK, the six Harry Potter books have sold more than 22.5 million copies in the UK alone. In the US, the Harry Potter titles published after 2001 have sold more than 27.7 million copies.
ADVERTISING (Nielsen Monitor-Plus) – In the US, ad spend for all Harry Potter branded merchandise (including books, movies, DVDs and other promotional products) totals $269.1 million from 1998 to date. Outside of the US from 2000 to date, $119.3 million was spent on total advertising for all Harry Potter branded merchandise in Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, and the UK.
The Harry Potter brand has partnered with products as diverse as bubble bath to electronic games to cross-promote and sell more merchandise. In total, $54 million was spent promoting Harry Potter products excluding the core businesses of books and movies over the last seven years. EA Games Harry Potter & Goblet of Fire Entertainment Software spent the most reaching more than $4.5 million.
Other notable promotions include: EA Games Entertainment Software Harry Potter Quidditch World Cup ($3.2 million), Mead Harry Potter School Supplies ($3.1 million), EA Entertainment Software Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone ($2.3 million), and Harry Potter and Chamber Of Secrets Playsets Polyjuice Potion Maker ($2.0 million).
INTERNET TRAFFIC (Nielsen//NetRatings) – The Warner Bros. Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix website drew 446,762 unique visitors in May 2007.
INTERNET BUZZ (Nielsen BuzzMetrics) – On blogs, the final book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is generating more “buzz” than the latest movie installment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
TV RATINGS (Nielsen Media Research) – Since 2002, the Harry Potter movies have aired on US television a total of 366 times.
CONSUMER (ACNielsen) – More than $11.8 million has been spent by US consumers on Harry Potter-licensed trademark cookies, candy and gum products since June 2002.
