Going back to school has never been this MAGICAL.
Just mention Harry Potter and the Wizarding World and countless scenes and favorite moments come to mind. However, the Harry Potter series hit theaters in the early and up through late 2000s and many of those Harry Potter diehards are now in college.
Back to Hogwarts—where fans gather together all around the world to celebrate the day that students return to Hogwarts is a global tentpole moment for Warner Brothers. As part of the broader Back to Hogwarts initiative, our college plan was to engage with these students and make going back to college magical. We wanted to make Back to Hogwarts synonymous with Back to College.
There’s a Place for Everyone at Hogwarts…
Knowing that everyone has their own Harry Potter favorite moments, we created the ultimate fan experience at two of the largest Welcome Week events on college campuses – The Ohio State University’s Buck-i-Frenzy and University of Arizona’s Wildcat Welcome.
Students were given ‘Discover Hogwarts’ maps that led them to participate in adventures including a four-room social media photo experience, where each room of the four Hogwarts “houses” was brought to life and ready for students to create the perfect Insta moment.
Other stops along the map included a life-sized Hogsmeade/Hogwarts street sign fabricated entirely of LEGO, a large-scale Harry Potter portrait created from Jelly Belly jelly beans, and a huge Funko toy box where students used Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and house-themed attire to fashion their own personal Funko box featuring themselves.
Residence hall “trunk” events delighted student audiences with the magic of Back to Hogwarts including movie screenings, dorm events, trivia and games, themed food and prizes—all sharing favorite Harry Potter moments.
The robust output of user-generated content across Instagram and other social channels proved that Harry Potter and the Wizarding World are not only loved by this audience but remain a very special part of college students’ formative years.
Several consumer product partner brands joined the program including LEGO, Jelly Belly, Scholastic, Funko, Pottery Barn Teen, Alex and Ani, American Greetings and others.
The Results
890 K
Unique impressions
760 K+
Social impressions
0
Large-scale campus events
8
Residence hall events
