Did anyone out there realize just how big the ARG (or Alternate Reality Gaming) was in the 6-months leading up to the release of The Dark Knight in theaters? Their campaign, headed by 42 Entertainment, helped generate over $1 billion dollars in sales the first week after opening. This YouTube video helps to illustrate just how well this company did in interacting with all The Dark Knight loyal followers. They incorporated the internet, cell phones, and even real newspapers to help generate buzz to help bring the movie to real life.
What I think makes this such a successful campaign is not only the backing of a loyal fan group, but also the shear size and magnitude of social media and how it was properly used. You also have to take into count the amount of creativity that went into play. This campaign not only delivered the product, but engaged the audience as well reaching groups from all across the globe.
This campaign project also took a spin on the city newspaper distributing a printed 4-page The Gotham Times newspaper to every doorstep in the Chicago, IL area. This brought more than just the average fan into the mix; this brought the whole city’s attention to The Dark Knight and it’s ongoing plot.
Because of this viral outbreak, website, blogs, tv stations, and even radio stations caught onto this and wanted in on the action helping to further the event further.
All I can say is that I wish I had been apart of this!!!!
Check out this awesome video on this entire operation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pd74It-yVo&feature=player_embedded
Very cool use of social media! More and more movies are starting to see the value in creating a viral social media campaign before their movies even come out. Social Media campaigning at its finest!
ReplyDeleteI definitely had no idea that they did this before the release of the film. I love it when movies and games try to create buzz about an upcoming release. This may be totally irrelevant to this post but the best thing I have seen in a long time that was release to hype up fans about a release is the live action trailer for Skyrim. If anyone is interested here is the link:http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/240087/20111030/new-live-action-trailer-skyrim-grabs-internet.htm
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