sidepost: the popularity of Twilight
Source: http://letterstotwilight.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/2nd-hand-embarassed-its-getting-worse-yall/
On the marketing aspect of Twilight (not just the book – which except for the first book, I think, are all hardcovers – which are more expensive and generally thicker). In looking at why Twilight was so popular, mostly with teens:
Product: creating value
With all the products and the hype in addition to the books and the movie, it’s been made out to be more than just a story. It’s about angst and unconditional love and vampires and cool perfection (even when the protagonist was stated to be supposedly just a normal girl)… (and about many other friends (mostly girls) having read it…)
Price: capturing value
the pricing doesn’t seem to have been anything special
Place: delivering the value proposition
- Chapters, Indigo, and various other bookstores
- HMV
- Off The Wall, the clothing retailer also had a short promotion featuring one of the Twilight movies in their store
- Online: many blogs, websites, articles in addition to Stephanie Meyer’s site and the official movie site
- International: Canada, US, Hong Kong, … (there were translations of the book and subbed movies)
Promotion: communication of the value proposition
- many advocates to pass on word of how great the book is (in the preteens and teenagers population, especially) (“twi-hards”)
- It’s popularity promotes itself: Chapters and various big bookstore chains often had (and some still have) a small display or rack just for Twilight books and products (bestsellers are often placed at the front of the store)
- There’s a short side novel being sold and can be read online for free called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Of every book sold, $1 is donated to the Red Cross. There is also an optional donation for the online version.
- black and relatively sharp looking cover that may appeal to younger readers and could suggest the angsty or vampire-centered nature of the book
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I was looking through some articles on Google News when I came across an article about the third Twilight movie. It was just a brief article with a picture of the actor to appear as one of the characters in the Breaking Dawn movie. It also spurred me on to think about why Twilight gained as much popularity as it did/does (I think the hype has died down quite a bit since, however).
A picture of the actor. From the article “First Look: Introducing Breaking Dawn’s Renesmee” on The Province website.
I don’t quite understand how the books could have driven up so much excitement. I have read the books, and the writing doesn’t appear to be particularly special in any way. The plot is interesting but not as intricate or as well thought out as many other books.
Perhaps the simplicity of the writing appealed to people. That as well as the simple straightforward nature of the plot that really didn’t require too much thinking to digest. It also leaves much room for the reader’s imagination and personal experiences to fill in. Throughout the book, there is really very little specific description about the main characters. We know that Edward Cullen, the main character, is a vampire who like all other vampires sparkles in sunlight, has ‘perfect alabaster skin,’ moves ‘impossibly fast’ with quick reflexes, and drives a Volvo (as well as owns a Harley and later buys the female protagonist some other impossibly expensive and cool car). It’s also written from a female’s point of view which has been highly attractive, I surmise, for preteen and teenager girls as well as (apparently) lots of moms.
There’s also a tinge of Romeo and Juliet once again (Vampire clan vs humans clan in this case). Lots of angst for those seeking perhaps. Fairly black and white as well in terms of there being good vs evil characters and very little gray inbetween. Also, the damsel in distress. The female protagonist is also made to seem quite delicate and fragile in her own way. But the thing is, lots of other books have this as well.
In this article, the author states: “Twilight has inspired a whole new generation of girls who would rather have the thin pale handsome guy rather than the dark and buff kind. Twilight has inspired romance in so many young girls (myself included).” I would say its the other way around. Twilight was well timed in that it used values that were gaining more popularity at the time.
She continues:
The fantastic way the story integrated the existence of vampires and werewolves made the simple love story come alive with creatures and special effects and another world that I for one, would want to escape to.
I suppose she qualifies as an advocate of the Twilight series then (especially given that she shared quite positively about it online).
Twi-hards in Australia, December 2008 (Source: smh.com.au)
Just for fun, though, I did a simple search on Google on ‘why twilight was such a hit’. One of the results was in fact a question and answers thread on Yahoo! Answers that I thought was fun to read with lots of opinions:
Why is Twilight such a hit among teens?
It reminded me that there are in fact lots of humourous takes (not necessarily positive) on the books and movies. For example, there is Nightlight: A Parody, Vampire Sucks (a movie parody), and several online sites such as Cleoland. Despite criticisms and humour at the expense of the Twilight novels and movies, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the readers/audiences of these would have been inspired to read the books or watch the movies as a result (just to see what the actual story is about).
Another link that came up:
Another Theory on the Success of Twilight
This one was very short. Basically suggesting that Stephanie Meyer’s use of the internet aside from the site her publisher gave her prompted even more fan-loving. Personally, I don’t think this was as important a factor. There have been many more authors who have utilized the internet to reach out to their fans and spread word of their books. Some of said authors haven’t reached nearly as much popularity as Meyer’s books have.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, some examples of interesting Twilight merchandise:
