THE DARK KNIGHT RISES 5
Methodology
We altered the case study methodology in order to gather sufficient data for our research questions . After we reviewed our research questions and gathered further information about the topic we decided that one method would yield the most results in the given scope of time . A discourse analysis allowed us to evaluate the success of the social media marketing campaign for The Dark Knight Rises in terms of creating a community and maintaining a high level of awareness about the film . Blogs , Twitter messages ( tweets ) and news articles were analyzed in order to collect chronological data about the campaign , and opinions .
Milestones in the campaign were assessed in order to visually display the drip-drip-drip technique , which was a crucial strategy of this campaign . The campaign used various tactical methods to foster excitement and involvement in the fan community about the film ‟ s release . These events were tracked and recorded throughout the study using a Microsoft Access database and Google Documents spreadsheet .
Over 300 tweets were examined to assess fan activity and relate to Elihu Katz ‟ s uses and gratifications theory . The tweets were sorted by hashtags such as # tdkr07202012 , # thedarkknightrises and # thefirerises . Examining these hashtags allowed us to sort the tweets into themes which revealed interesting information about the mood associated with the movie ‟ s release . These tweets helped reveal whether fans were excited , anticipated the film ‟ s official release date , were involved in the campaign through social media , and their thoughts about the movie or campaign . In addition to analyzing the social media campaign , we also focused upon The Dark Knight Rises midnight premiere tragedy in Aurora , Colorado where several theatre patrons were shot and many injured . The intention was to investigate how this event challenged the strength of the campaign in terms of ticket sales and how people reacted within the Twitter community . Tweets that cross-referenced the hashtags # aurora and # thedarkknightrises were examined to see if there was a possible correlation of data .