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.