The best viral marketing campaigns: the dark knight - Marketing - Viral Marketing

One of the best viral marketing campaigns to hit the internet was the viral marketing campaign of the movie "the dark knight". It lasted for almost a year, and created huge buzz and publicity for the movie. It all started by viral websites related to the world of the movie, those websites featured fake news and events and were updated daily, amassing large traffic.

What came next was beyond online viral marketing, as the campaign leaked into real life. An update on one of the sites posted addresses all around the US and a password, the first one to reach one of those addresses and tell the owners of the place the password would get "something special". It turned out that all the places were bakeries, and the gifts were cakes.

It didn't stop there however; inside each cake were among other things a cell phone with instructions to call a certain number. After the call the caller would receive a text massage telling him to wait for a call "eventually". The campaign didn't stop there of course, but you get the point. The dark knight went on to become the highest grossing movie of the year.

The elements of the best marketing campaigns are all there:-NoveltyThe idea of mixing online viral marketing with real life was brilliant. Creating a virtual reality game and making the audience participate was another novel idea. The novelty alone created a huge buzz around the movie, almost a year before it started.

-Subtlety Instead of telling the audience how great the movie is, the campaign made the audience part of the movie, dividing them to groups each supporting a main character in the movie. Turning the debate from "is the movie going to be good" to "which character is the best".

-The feel good factorParticipating in a surprising and interesting ride like the one created by the campaign is a great experience. Almost anybody would like a break from real life and an opportunity to be part of a fictional exciting world.

-Continuity The campaign lasted almost a year, with constant updates and new surprises. Fans were on the edge of their seats wanting for the next big thing to happen and more importantly wanting to be part of it.

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