By Greg Hazley
A U.K. PR firm is red-faced after a staffer mistakenly sent a PR strategy memo for the rollout of a “Harry Potter” project to several media outlets.
The Scotland-based firm, StonehillSalt, specializes in publishing, the arts and tourism PR and counts Potter author J.K. Rowland as a client.
The memo, published online by outlets receiving it on Tuesday, including The Independent, detailed a calendar for rolling out the unnamed project, a website called “Pottermore” unveiled today.
The document, dated December 2010, was apparently written by lead PR agency, Colman Getty of London, and lays out a plan for publicizing the Potter project through the end of 2011. London agency Adam & Eve is noted to be handling marketing for the project’s launch.
Rebecca Salt, a partner at Stonehill Salt, said the release was a mistake. “Much as we would like to say this is an elaborate stunt to create excitement, I am afraid it was a simple error,” she told the Independent.
The website was officially rolled out today at a London press event as an online community revolving around the blockbuster book series.
The leak, however, prompted a flurry of speculation about the then-unknown project forcing StonehillSalt to deny rumors that another Potter book was in the works leading up to today’s event. Rowling posted an online video today launching the site and also shot down the innuendo about another book, as well.
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