Audience
The character of Batman is an established property that originated in comic books. There is an equally well-established fan base with fans of the comics, the franchise and additional Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale fans. Devoted fans indulge in a culture of fandom which might involve sharing their interest with other fans on forums and message boards. These groups are called communities. These fans are sometimes called 'fanbois' or fan boys. There are also fan girls too. The marketing departments like to get these fanbois talking because their conversations create online word of mouth and an internet buzz which is very useful in creating awareness of a film.
TDK and TDKR targeted the dedicated fans and got them immersed in a 'Batman Universe' through cross-media storytelling (or transmedia storytelling). Fans were encouraged to participate and interact in an unprecedented way. A content marketing campaign drip-fed them teasing material that they shared, discussed and interacted with. Fans were given puzzles or enigmas to problem-solve (often collaboratively) and were rewarded with images, trailers or other new content. A highly immersive campaign by 42 Entertainment created an alternate reality where fans could suspend their disbelief and live the fantasy of Gotham City.
The infinite possibilities of the worldwide web allowed 42 Entertainment to develop a complex narrative that branched off in numerous directions and hooked fans so that they desired to find out more and more, almost like a media addiction. Fans could browse micro sites and read, watch and listen to Batman material that was detailed and coordinated (synergy). Fans could interact with characters, go on scavenge hunts, create their own content (user generated content) and even take collective action (e.g. Dentmobiles).
Viral marketing and social networking combined to spread the word. The campaign created a blurring between the real world and the fantasy world of Gotham City where artefacts (such as The Gotham Times and the Joker Phone) from the fantasy world seemed to find their way into the real world. Some fans even role-played the parts of characters and sent photos or videos of themselves to be uploaded to official sites. Intertextuality between the pre-release campaign and the movie itself, enabled fans to spot connections between the marketing content and related content in the movie.
Technology, marketing and audience
TDK and TDKR used official sites (e.g. thedarkknightrises.com) for the normal film viewer and micro sites (e.g. whysoserious.com and ibelieveinharveydent.com) for the devoted fans. The micro sites did not give traditional movie website information like cast and crew; these sites seemed to be from the alternate reality of Gotham City and therefore tried to disguise themselves as non-fictional websites. Characters like Harvey Dent and The Joker also seemed to become real and even interacted with fans by telephone and email after fans supplied contact details. Fans could align themselves with a particular character and show their support by following instructions and taking action in the real world. More than ten million people from around the globe became participants in the campaign.
The websites did far more than reveal important information about characters and plot. They mirrored our own world with seemingly trivial content like advertisements for Gotham City businesses. Often though, the seemingly trivial detail actually held something of interest for the fan willing to look closely and were intertextual. Games on the sites enabled participants to unlock new material. However, The Joker seemed to be carrying out his own cyber war on the websites, creating alternate sites (e.g. ibelieveinharveydentoo.com) and vandalising ('Jokerizing') other people's.
The marketing campaign was multi-channel (web, print, telephone, text, email, video, audio etc) and multi-platform (PC, smart phone, TV, games console etc). New media technologies allowed fans to engage in 2 way interaction with the alternate reality, increasing immersion. Old media technologies (cinema trailers, TV spots, billboard posters, magazine advertisements etc) still operated and helped to raise awareness among more casual cinema goers. Promotional partners and merchandise tie-ins also helped to target potential viewers who did not fit into the marketing demographic of the fanboi.
Jenkins on transmedia storytelling (cross-media storytelling)
1 Each medium (e.g. print or web) makes its own unique contribution to the storytelling process.
2 Consolidation - Time Warner will try to spread its Batman franchise across as many media platforms (e.g. movie, comic, TV show) as possible.
3 It is a process of world building.
4 The movie story can be extended.
5 New audience segments can be targeted.
6 Ideally, each new part of the story should be accessible on its own (this isn't the case with TDK).
7 Coordination or synergy is desirable to ensure the different parts of the story match up.
8 Our modern social structures where we converse, share and collaborate freely are ideal for transmedia storytelling.
9 We can physically involve ourselves in the story - e.g. role play.
10 We can 'fill in the gaps' ourselves - e.g fan fiction.
Jenkins on types of convergence
Technological - the digitisation of media content allows it to be found in one place; on the web. This content can be accessed using a variety of different platforms (devices).
Economic - the horizontal integration of Time Warner means that it has media interests in film, television, print, games, internet and so on. This allows the corporation to use transmedia storytelling and synergy.
Social - the devices that we use that can access media content have increased (e.g. PC, smart phone, tablet, games console etc.) allowing consumers to multi-task. This means that a Batman fan could be accessing several different parts of the TDK campaign at once, either on the same device (e.g. multiple pages open on Windows) or on several devices. As producers become more skilled at transmedia storytelling they will use the most effective media channel to communicate each strand of the narrative.
Cultural - modern devices are tools that allow consumers to be creative (e.g. you can film on a smartphone and upload the video to youtube). This meant that Batman fans could interact with the campaigns and upload their own material to 42 Entertainment's website, thus becoming part of the transmedia story.
Global - Time Warner is an international company and can adapt its marketing material for a variety of international markets at very low additional cost (e.g. changing the text on a trailer into different languages or over dubbing the actors' voices). The themes of the Batman films are universal and appeal to a wide global audience.
Ownership
For an ownership question you can always consider how 42 Entertainment marketed the films. Warner Bros funded (TDK budget $185m, TDKR budget $230m) and distributed the films - how does being a major film studio make film funding easier than in the UK? How does a major distributor market a film compared to an independent UK distributor?
The co-producers of the films were Legendary Pictures (USA), DC Entertainment (USA) and director Christopher Nolan's own company, Syncopy (UK). Don't forget that these films can be classified as a US/UK co-productions and that Christopher Nolan is English as is Michael Caine. Christian Bale is Welsh. Other cast and crew are also from the UK. Why are co-productions beneficial for the US and UK film industries? http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/how-does-film-qualify-as-british.html
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