THE DARK KNIGHT RISES 2
This case study attempts to explain how the monumental social media campaign for the film had built such a huge following and what interactive methods Warner Bros . had incorporated to make the campaign unique . There was a definite progression of complexity in the design of the media campaigns for the three films in Nolan ‟ s Batman trilogy . We were also interested in examining the evolution of social media marketing strategies were used by Warner Bros . to make this film bigger than the first two films in the trilogy , Batman Begins in 2005 and The Dark Knight in 2008 . In studying this film , we would have been remiss to not mention the shooting during the midnight release of the film in Aurora , Colorado that made headlines worldwide . This tragic event could be used as evidence to support the claim that success of the film is due to the strength of the social media campaign , as will be examined through uses and gratifications theory . Despite the shooting , the film was still more financially successful than its predecessors , so what about this campaign made this film virtually immune to an opening night massacre ? We focused on hashtags associated with aspects of the campaign ‟ s timeline and marketing releases , including the midnight release shooting , and we extracted themes to try and understand the feelings of the social media community and what led them to continue to support this franchise .
Literature Review
Dan Laughey ‟ s ( 2007 ) Key Themes in Media Theory is used in this case study to provide detailed information about Elihu Katz ‟ s uses and gratifications theory . Katz writes that uses and gratifications theory “ considers how media fulfil the needs and gratifications of their users . The assumption is that audiences use media – not vice versa ” ( Laughey , 2007 , p . 26 ). Uses and gratifications theory does not just focus on effects of media on the public , but also how the public uses media . According to Katz , “ media use is goal-oriented and the audience is always active in seeking out needs gratifications ” ( Laughey , 2007 , p . 27 ). The scavenger hunt rolled out by Warner Bros . for The Dark Knight Rises teased fans to engage in the campaign through ongoing conversations on social media . Constant discussion between fans and the brand helped foster a deep emotional connection for new fans by wordof-mouth on social media and for previous fans , which seems apparent by the film ‟ s overwhelming financial success . This campaign allowed fans to actively engage not only with each other but with the movie itself , and they were able to use this campaign and all of its events to join a community of fans and to build unbridled anticipation for the release of the final chapter in this trilogy as more information about the film was slowly released .
The drip-drip-drip technique used in public relations was crucial to the strategy of The Dark Knight Rises campaign . This type of marketing refers to a “ deliberate , planned , and sequenced system of deploying marketing messages over a period of time ” ( Shenker , 2006 ). Many public relations and marketing experts believe that the slow build of brand information can be as powerful as a “ highly concentrated rush ” of messages ( Shenker , 2006 ). Statistics show that it takes anywhere from three to thirty repetitions of any message for the human consciousness to absorb it , which means that over time the messages of your brand sink in , and a variation of messages can make your marketing push even stronger ( Shenker , 2006 ). Warner Bros . adopted this technique to utilize the growing popularity of social media for The Dark Knight in 2008 . When it came time to develop a marketing strategy for The Dark Knight Rises , the popularity of social networking websites had grown exponentially in only four years and Warner Bros . was smart enough to push this campaign to global heights .
The Dark Knight Rises is an action / crime / thriller film directed by Christopher Nolan ( IMDb , 2013 ) and is based on DC Comics ‟ Batman ( Keyes , 2012 ). In December 2012 , just over 6 months after its release , the film ‟ s gross domestic US profit was measured at $ 448.1 million with a $ 250 million