One facet of my role as a marketer is to understand and keep up with trends out there in the marketplace. To some degree, I’m a self-trained consumer anthropologist, conducting ethnographic research at every opportunity. Well, when I heard about the outrageous success of the Twilight Saga (book series) by Stephenie Meyer, I was obligated to immerse myself in the experience so that I could understand what it’s all about (the same curiosity and drive that got me into blogging, by the way). This time consumer anthropology meant coming face-to-face with vampires, werewolves, and yes, teenagers!
I’ve now read all four books and I really enjoyed them. What amazed me most about the books, having read every steamy novel Anne Rice has ever written about vampires and the occult, was how Stephenie Meyer was able to craft the stories in such a way that they told a love story without ever getting explicit. Because of this, a 12-year-old reading the books would experience them differently than a 16-year-old. The things a 16 year old would be interest in were implied rather than overtly depicted, and would be missed by most younger children.
The appeal of these books has reached far beyond the teen demographic. My 79-year-old mother, 55-year-old sister and my daughter have all read the series. In fact, my mother gave me her copies of the books to read. For the most part the books are tame, with relatively small amounts of violence and gore. Stephenie Meyer weaves an interesting tale that kept me reading on flights from RDU to San Diego and back, and then RDU to San Francisco and back. They aren’t scary, just a nice love story that includes a really interesting family/community made up of humans, vampires and werewolves – and of course, lots of teenagers dealing with teenage stuff.
The Twilight Saga has yet to build a brand equivalent to Harry Potter, but it is definitely making a splash. Check it out! And if you’ve got really young kids, read it before they do just to make sure it is appropriate for them. Click here to access the books on Amazon.com.
Post by Dan Dunlop, Brand Expeditions
I too am a marketer and have caught wind of the fandom and am surprised to see how widespread the appeal is across various markets. I agree that it hasn’t reached HP status – yet – but I have a feeling it just might in the future.