THE DARK KNIGHT RISES 4
The final film , The Dark Knight Rises , brought in less revenue domestically , but it surpassed the global success of its predecessor ( Box Office Mojo , 2013 ). Warner Brothers used a global strategy through social media to take the franchise to new heights . The marketing campaign began on Monday , April 30 , 2012 with the posting of a “ fictional file for a criminal investigation ” ( The Week Staff , 2012 ). It “ contained a warrant for the arrest of „ John Doe aka The Batman ,‟ who was on the lam after taking the fall for corrupt District Attorney Harvey Dent at the end of The Dark Knight ” ( The Week Staff , 2012 ). The Week Magazine ( 2012 ) wrote an article that gave detailed features of the entire marketing campaign , including locations of clues and the overwhelming response ( The Week Staff ). Mashable blogger Joann Pan ( 2012 ) revealed the actual Twitter hashtag and website codes that fans needed to access the scavenger hunt for graffiti . Batman-related graffiti was found in over 300 cities around the world , which was left as necessary clues for fans to unlock frames of the movie ‟ s trailer on the official scavenger hunt website , www . tdkr07202012 . com ( Pan , 2012 ). Twitter played a central role in the campaign as audio , image , and geographical clues were revealed . To unlock the frames , fans were required to photograph the graffiti and upload them to Twitter with the hashtag # tdkr07202012 or email them to tdkr07202012 @ gothampolicedepartment . com ( Pan , 2012 ). Lalate News ( 2012 ), a celebrity news website , featured articles about every major document release in the campaign and its success ; they claim it was one of the “ largest viral scavenger hunts ever deployed for a feature film ” ( Lalate ).
Uses and gratifications theory , from the perspective of a fan , outlines that The Dark Knight Rises campaign was used to satisfy his / her own desire to decode clues and become a part of the fictional investigation ( Laughey , 2007 , p . 26 ). Information was gradually leaked to fans as the drip-drip-drip marketing technique created suspense and increased awareness about the film ‟ s release date . Batman fans turned to online communities to actively engage with other fans through searches , participation , and responses to the campaign through Twitter and other social media platforms like Facebook . A detailed investigation of the successful campaign tactics used by Warner Brothers to promote The Dark Knight Rises could reveal future trends in other cinematic promotional campaigns .
Research Questions
The research questions were narrowed down in order to make them measurable and achievable . The revised questions are focused on the use of Twitter and its crucial presence in the marketing campaign for The Dark Knight Rises . Throughout the research , we have noticed the significance of Twitter and the use of hashtags ( ie . # tdkr07022012 , # thefirerises , and # aurora ). We have decided to focus on the major themes that were found within hashtag threads . These tweets may reveal how Twitter users felt about the campaign ‟ s sequence of events and how the campaign engaged with the Twitter community to promote the film . For example , pictures of the villain that were released , featured trailers , and the graffiti scavenger hunt . These broader themes within the tweets have allowed us to construct the timeline of the hashtags which allowed us to chart and input chronological events and information into a database .
RQ1 : What was the sequence of events in the campaign from the launch of Operation Early Bird to the release of the film ?
RQ2 : Which themes are common in tweets which used the hashtags # tdkr07022012 , # thefirerises and # aurora ?
RQ3 : What were people ‟ s reactions on Twitter as a result of the Aurora , CO midnight premiere theatre shooting ?