Weaving the spell

What happens to Hogwart's wizards who come under the powerful spell of Thai marketing sorcerers? They meet the fellowship of banking, telecommunications and logistics gurus, of course.

With excitement running high at the prospect of the July 21 release of the English version of the seventh Harry Potter book, demand is surging. And as Thai booksellers scramble to woo as many potential readers as possible in the wake of this publishing phenomenon, waves are spreading to the telecommunications and logistics sectors.

Despite the solid fan base of the Potter series in Thailand, the imminent arrival of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" has seen an outburst of sophisticated marketing efforts.

The goal? Maximum convenience and satisfaction for the hoards of young Potter fans who expect to find their copies of this final adventure on their doorsteps within minutes of its official release. As the Harry Potter reservation services newly launched by local bookshops have shown, the booksellers' own magic wands come in the form of logistical, banking and telecommunications technology - marketing tools used to stay ahead of the competition.

Reserving your own copy now has the feel of stylish e-banking. Asia Books' new service that allows customers to reserve and purchase the book just by punching keys on their mobile phones is a welcome option for fans who hate having to play the early bird only to find themselves stuck in a queue at the bookshop. Piyachart Patanaprasartporn, head of True Money, says this gimmick serves the needs of consumers who are wary of giving out their credit-card details to online bookshops.

"And they don't need to carry a large sum of money, either'' he adds.

Besides the phone, Potter fans can now visit the bank to reserve their own copies. Nanmee Books has teamed up with Krungthai Bank to offer a booking service at the KTC Corner of the bank's branches around the country. The bank also offers an online booking service for its credit-card holders and the general public.

Delivering the thousands of reserved Harry Potters to homes on time is a huge logistical challenge, but Anustra Jitmitphap, vice president of Thailand Post, promises that fans who have made advance bookings with Nanmee Books and Krungthai Bank will get their copies not long after 6am on July 21.

The whole logistical, marketing and publishing frenzy is expected to transform Thailand's bookselling and publishing industry. After stunningly high sales of the Thai translations of the six previous Potter adventures, Nanmee Books is launching the Thai version of the book on December 7. The publishers claim that the popularity of previous Thai translations has contributed to a surge in reading among Thai youngsters. Kim Chongsathitwatthana, sales director at Nanmee, says that the impact of the series is far reaching.

"Because of the Harry Potter books, we've seen more young readers at book fairs,'' says Kim, adding that their popularity has led to other Thai publishers expressing interest in purchasing the translation rights to other foreign children's books.

A fan of JK Rowling's series herself, Kim believes that there is magic behind the craze. To her, the Harry Potter phenomenon is history in the making. To prove her point at the presentation for "Deathly Hallows", she reeled off a list of what are likely to become "historic" landmarks:

December 7, 2006, the day Rowling announced the title of the seventh book;

January 11, 2007, the day Rowling finished her manuscript in room 652 of Balmoral Hotel in Scotland;

February 1, 2007, the day British and US publishers announced the book's release date.

Kim's soon-to-be-historic date for the launch of the Thai edition is December 7 this year.

To illustrate the potential success of the seventh book, Kim presented a video that featured celebrity fans like singer Radklao Amaradit and deejay Krisana Warin. All admitted that they wanted to get their hands on the book the very day it comes out.

She also assured her distributors that the Thai edition of the seventh book is certain to be a bestseller.

"The previous translations were big money-spinners, and we used the profits from sales to launch a children's magazine called Go Genius.''

With this Harry Potter book set to be the last in the series, Thai publishers and booksellers are clinging to the belief that once the feast of marketing has passed, the public will be hungrier than ever for the printed word.