7 Social Media Marketing Tactics from ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Campaign

With Variety reporting that The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final Batman movie of the Christopher Nolan-directed trilogy, has already raked in over $30 million from its midnight premiere, the film is set to outpace The Avengers as the reigning box office champ ($207.4 million is the record to beat).

As positive buzz about the film from insiders, bloggers and new tidbits from the recent San Diego Comic-Con trickled onto the internet prior to its release, thousands of fans pre-purchased tickets and lined up early outside of theaters Thursday night. But aside from having an already enthusiastic fanbase, how did The Dark Knight Rises achieve so much success on its opening night?

Much of the film’s instant overnight success can be attributed to a well-planned, integrated social media campaign that included viral marketing, content marketing, mobile, and social networking. Let’s take a look at some of the strategies and tactics that turned Batman into a social media superstar:

#1 - Social Media Front & Center on Official Website

Social media is well-integrated into the official website for The Dark Knight Rises, with social buttons for Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, and Get Glue appearing prominently in the site footer on every page.

#2 - Tumbler Designer App

Also on the official website, Warner Brothers offered an app that lets fans design their own Tumber, which is one of Batman’s vehicles. Fans can colorize, customize and “drive” their creations and, of course, share them via social media channels and rate each other’s designs.

#3 - Video Content Marketing

In addition to the teasers and trailers, Warner Brothers made the bold decision to release a thirteen-minute viral video clip on YouTube that contains over ten minutes of fragmented film footage, free of charge.

#4 - “Augmented Soundtrack Experience” iOS App

Warner Brothers offered a free app for iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) called “The Dark Knight Rises Z+ - The Augmented Soundtrack Experience” which syncs the sonic world of Gotham City with Hans Zimmer’s evocative score. The app itself is free, but there are a number of in-app purchases available.

#5 - Viral Marketing Campaigns

A lot of viral marketing content was released on both viral websites as well as crossover marketing sites for products like Mountain Dew (check out DewGothamCity.com). Much of the content gave fans additional insight and background about the film’s characters, answered questions we were left hanging with from the last film, and piquéd fans’ interest with mysterious bits and pieces of new information. One of our favorites was this fake “Gotham Observer” newspaper:

#6 - The Dark Knight Rises on Facebook

Facebook was a huge driver of traffic for The Dark Knight Rises campaign, as the marketing team shared new content several times each day that included photos, early reviews, previews, cross-promotion of apps and games, and other engaging content. The official The Dark Knight Rises Facebook page, at the time of this writing, has over 1,129,035 “Likes” and 463,678 people talking about it.

#7 - Viral Twitter Campaign to Unlock Trailer

A viral Twitter campaign surrounding the film is presented as a Gotham City police investigation. Batman graffiti has been planted around the world for individuals to find. Fans were instructed to unlock still frames from the third trailer by submitting via Twitter (using hashtag #tdkr07202012) or by email “photographic evidence of graffiti related to any movement in support of the vigilante’s return.”

2 Comments »

1. Just seen this movie. Great ending to the trilogy

     Comment by the dark knight rises toys — July 21, 2012 @ 5:38 pm

2. [...] justement sur ce trop de « chauve-souris »… ) Le site web ad.vantage a ainsi décortiqué les recettes qui ont permis au film de Christopher Nolan de réaliser 30 [...]

     Pingback by 7 tactiques marketing utilisés par le nouveau Batman, "The Dark Knight Rises" — August 1, 2012 @ 9:08 am

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