Audience Engagement Research - The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight and Masks are both action films are targeting a male audience. The Dark Knight is a sequel to Batman Begins created by Christopher Nolan. Masks are focusing on a more specific target age at 15-25, whereas The Dark Knight is aiming for 12-35-year-olds. The reason that I researched this film's target audience is the marketing strategies of the film. During the movie's post-production, Heath Ledger had sadly post away from an overdose of legally prescribed drugs. The film than switched their marketing campaign to his role as the Joker as they posted memorials of the late actor. Some conspiracies link the method actors' role as the Joker to his mental issues that caused him to take the drugs that he overdosed on.

The marketing for this campaign focused on the Joker and Harvey Dent because Nolan's Batman had already been established as a realistic reincarnation of DC's greatest detective. The first form of marketing they established was a website under the domain WhySoSerious.com that was a fictional political campaign for the newest character. The next form was a corrupted version of the website that would show emails in support of Harvey that would end up pixelation into the first depiction of Heath Ledger's Joker. Next, the marketing team for The Dark Knight sent their fans on a scavenger hunt to unlock a new photo of the Joker and a new website that was a mimic of a newspaper, The Gotham Times, that gave some information of the events of Gotham over the time between the films. Other noticeable marketing events are showing the bank robbery scene in the opening of the film, releasing animated tie-ins to connect Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Batman insignias on race cars, a rollercoaster at Six Flags theme parks, and toys produced by Mattel.

The persuasive techniques taken to help sell movie tickets were a mix of Batman's notoriety and the new depiction of the Joker. The Joker was an iconic character that had been portrayed by legendary actors like Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Hamill (voice acting). The marketing team for the film had decided to let the hype around the Joker and the ability to interact at events like Comic-Con. The film used print, TV, billboards, and heavily relied on digital platforms. If I could use one marketing tactic for my group's film, I would use their interactional marketing with websites and scavenger hunts because it could easily allow for a fan base to get involved and excited for the film.