Amid the rising popularity of the 'romantasy' genre, with its soaring knights battling dragons, romancing damsels, and swooning Gen Zs, its direct predecessor of pure romance novels are also along for the ride in a sort of renaissance in the literary industry.
According to Circana, a company focused on analyzing sales data across the industry, print sales of romance books have risen to 52% during the 12 months before May 2023.
It added that this was mainly due to the influence of the younger generation, led by a TikTok community called BookTok, which is also the same "wave" of influence that 'romantasy' rode to fame.
Now, Toronto-based romance novel giant Harlequin Enterprises plans to cement its dominance in the genre and the industry by riding the same wave through relevant rebranding.
Why Harlequin Enterprises Decided to Rebrand
Cranking out a whopping 120 titles every month in North America alone, with the number ballooning to 800 titles on a global scale, Harlequin Enterprises is an undisputed titan in the world of romance novels, not to mention its sale of over 131 million books last year.
Despite this success, however, the publishing company does not take anything for granted, as it unveils a massive brand overhaul that will be visible not just through its book covers, but also on its website and overall marketing language.
Of this brand identity reinvigoration, Harlequin VP and Associate Publisher Farah Mullick told ADWEEK that the changes in line with the rebrand marks the company's "75th anniversary" and is great timing to tweak their "publishing strategy, marketing, and communications."
Mullick said that this decision was mainly made in response to the "shift in consumption" that has been present across all literary consumers, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as the catalyst behind the readers' increased cravings for stories "that leave them hopeful and optimistic."
In addition to this, the average age group of Harlequin's primary demographic has also shifted down a few pegs, from having a majority female (82%) audience teetering around the age of 42 to now having a third of its readership younger than 30 years old.
In essence, this is due to TikTok's influence on younger generations like Gen Z. Harlequin sees this as an opportunity and aims to model its rebranding in light of catering more to this online readership, specifically BookTok.
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The Changes to Harlequin Enterprises' Approach
Harlequin's rebrand is foremost going to affect its books' covers and the photography employed on their facades, focusing more on the representation of the plot and less on the "smokiness" of the content.
As per Mullick, this creative decision is built under the notion that people who browse their books already know that it's filled with romance, which is why it's more important to show other elements of the story.
In terms of logo branding, Mullick said that the company is aware of Gen Z's preference when it comes to having discreet and not "heavily branded" books, treating them more than literary content almost like a "fashion accessory."
For its website, on the other hand, Harlequin is opting for a color block-centered design approach to emphasize the books better than when they employed the old "stock-looking" aesthetics of standard product photography.
According to Mullick, they also leaned in on diversity and representation by featuring more of their "fans" as readers because she says they "want to see themselves" in the products they consume.
Harlequin's messaging has also undergone a tonal change, casually but also deliberately shifting into language that is better understood by Gen Z readers.
Mullick described this marketing voice as akin to "confiding in your best friend," mixing in both conversational and informal language, albeit in a healthy dosage.
Finally, Harlequin is also closely monitoring online communities like BookTok to inform its actual product line, essentially listening in on the preferences of the people within said communities and pivoting accordingly.
Some of the tropes that are popular within these groups, as per Mullick, are the classic romance tropes of "enemies to lovers" and the classic "rugged cowboy," alongside new trending themes like "sports romance" and "spicy romance."
