Accidental Branding Genius of Harry Potter’s Houses.

As a member of the House of Raven-claw is nature to analyze, study, and apply logic to solve the mysteries of existence.

-HPPO

These questions seed in my brain like thorns of the prickle-berry bushes, so small an yet if I just give them a little attention and love they can bloom large enough to bear fruit.

Today’s question is why after 28 years are there still people dedicated to their fictional houses of a wizarding school?

The answer is Carl Jung.

Jung’s most notable and unattributed contribution to clinical psychology was the terming of “Introverts” and “Extroverts” but that’s not the reason why Jung’s work is taught in university.

Carl Jung also categorized the four archetypes of personalities. A personality for each Hogwarts House.

Jung identified them as Thinking, Feeling, Intuitive, and Sensation.

Literary scholars who favor Joseph Campbell will teach a modified version of these for archetypes. They named these four the King, Magician, Warrior, and Lover.

Rowling by coincidence or educational Osmosis calls these types

Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin.

I’d like to show on graphic where the borders of each house sit, but I can’t visually plot a 4 dimensional graph.

It’s not as simple as the Introvert/Extrovert number lined range from 1 to 10.

The Jung types would be coordinates in 4 dimensional space

X = Thinking

Y = Feeling

Z = Sensation

W = Intuitive

Each Hogwarts house would occupy a quarter of this tesseract chart.

***

Why is this branding genius?

There is a Hogwarts house for everyone and as such displaying your house whether you’re a Hufflepuff Queen on Tumblr, a Ravenclaw Redditor, a 4 channing Slytherin, Or a Tik-Toking Gryffindor is an impression for the Brand of Harry Potter.

We live in the attention economy where impressions matter. You can’t buy the amount of brand power that Hogwarts sorting hat has and it can’t be Usurped in market share as a categorization tool.

As long as Harry Potter is “Scholastic”-ly popular the Hogwarts House’s will continue to be the standard of sorting people by their Jungian personality types.

Now while I and you can’t put

Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff

Into our own original works

without violating copy-write.

We can use the colors schemes and patroni pendants as a short cut/ signal flare to Potter-heads or culturally informed readers (even being remotely aware of the House’s gives these nudges).

To prove that branding has power

Pause for a moment

Refresh for mind

and

Fill in the blank…

Have a taste of a nice refreshing (—-1—)

pop a can of (—2—)

put on a pair of (—3—) and just do it.

Head to the (—4—) and pick one up today.

You answered each of these not with a generic object or noun. But with a specific brand name company.

That is the power of branding. It’s in your mind, It’s a shortcut, and It’s a tool.

🙂 (: