Legal Research

Off topic: participating in a viral marketing campaign

By Jason

I’m something of a movie buff and I love to learn about what films are going into production, director and casting news, etc. One of my favorite blogs for this kind of news is FirstShowing. net.

Back in December they had a really interesting post about the viral marketing campaign for the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight.

Now, I’m not what you’d call a fanboy, but I know my stuff. And I’ve been looking forward to this movie for awhile. But the description of the viral marketing campaign hooked me.

So when I found out that my help was needed in making Harvey Dent District Attorney of Gotham City, I knew I had to answer the call. And when I found out that the Harvey Dent Dentmobile was in Portland I knew I had to go.
 
So on my lunch break I visited the Dentmobile and took some photos of myself. I posted them to the Harvey Dent website, which required my name and address and some other information. Afterwards I received notification that my photo had been accepted, and posted on the Harvey Dent website.

A few days later, I received a Gotham City Voter registration card in the mail. It included information about where to vote, my Gotham City address and district and other such information.

About a week ago I received two separate packages in the mail. The first package was from the Harvey Dent campaign in Gotham City. It included a copy of The Gotham Times newspaper, and some campaign materials.

In a completely separate, unmarked package, I received a partially destroyed Harvey Dent campaign button. I will not spoil the reason why this may have been sent in such a manner.

The button, seen here, also linked to a website of concerned Gotham citizens who oppose Harvey Dent.

Needless to say that I now eagerly run to the mailbox a little like a kid, every day, to see if there’s something new for me.

Since these events there have been some additional things going on. The Joker character sent fans on a bowling alley treasure hunt, delivering more cell phones, and Alex from first showing had one special delivered. Other websites have cropped up, and yesterday’s press conference was interrupted by a hostage situation (yes I was listening).

I’m not sure whether or not this campaign will be effective. It certainly is generating a tremendous amount of buzz, and that’s never a bad thing. The question is whether or not people will see the movie, who would not have seen it otherwise. I would have seen it anyway, being a big fan of most of the Batman films, and Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale anyway.

I do hope it is successful, I’ve been enjoying my participation and would prefer to see these types of interactive marketing activities as opposed to the more standard marketing fare. Although I suppose it all depends on the movie, the fan base, the context and how it’s pulled off.

Tags: marketing

Full post as published by Jason the Content Librarian on April 14, 2008 (boomark / email).