| One of the best viral marketing campaigns to hit the | | | | -Novelty |
| internet was the viral marketing campaign of the movie | | | | The idea of mixing online viral marketing with real life |
| "the dark knight". It lasted for almost a year, and | | | | was brilliant. Creating a virtual reality game and making |
| created huge buzz and publicity for the movie. It all | | | | the audience participate was another novel idea. The |
| started by viral websites related to the world of the | | | | novelty alone created a huge buzz around the movie, |
| movie, those websites featured fake news and | | | | almost a year before it started. |
| events and were updated daily, amassing large traffic. | | | | -Subtlety |
| What came next was beyond online viral marketing, | | | | Instead of telling the audience how great the movie is, |
| as the campaign leaked into real life. An update on one | | | | the campaign made the audience part of the movie, |
| of the sites posted addresses all around the US and a | | | | dividing them to groups each supporting a main |
| password, the first one to reach one of those | | | | character in the movie. Turning the debate from "is the |
| addresses and tell the owners of the place the | | | | movie going to be good" to "which character is the |
| password would get "something special". It turned out | | | | best". |
| that all the places were bakeries, and the gifts were | | | | -The feel good factor |
| cakes. | | | | Participating in a surprising and interesting ride like the |
| It didn't stop there however; inside each cake were | | | | one created by the campaign is a great experience. |
| among other things a cell phone with instructions to call | | | | Almost anybody would like a break from real life and |
| a certain number. After the call the caller would | | | | an opportunity to be part of a fictional exciting world. |
| receive a text massage telling him to wait for a call | | | | -Continuity |
| "eventually". The campaign didn't stop there of course, | | | | The campaign lasted almost a year, with constant |
| but you get the point. The dark knight went on to | | | | updates and new surprises. Fans were on the edge of |
| become the highest grossing movie of the year. | | | | their seats wanting for the next big thing to happen |
| The elements of the best marketing campaigns are all | | | | and more importantly wanting to be part of it. |
| there: | | | | |