A transmedia experience with over 10 million participants in over 75 countries that played across hundreds of web pages, interactive games, mobile phones, print, email, real world events, video and unique collectibles.

 What is the ‘narrative’ of the campaign?
The narrative of the campaign unfolds with the simple tale of good vs evil. Harvey Dent vs The Joker was the main focus, with the actual protagonist of the story (Batman) not playing a major role in the marketing campaign. The slogan “I believe in Harvey Dent” was the main tagline for the campaign, while “Why so serious?” is The Joker’s moniker that is used in opposition.

 What role does the audience play?
The audience interacts with the clues and fake news stories to unravel more of the new content and plotline references from the upcoming movie. The audience —in particular the fans who are willing to immerse themselves in the world of the narrative and play the ARG laid out for them— are the ones who actually create content which adds to the Transmedia narrative, i.e. large groups of people getting together with slogans and banners to promote Harvey Dent.

 How was the idea of the ‘remix’ and the ‘database’ employed here?
The characters employed are from the database of Batman universe characters, with the remix being a unique spin on the narrative that involves a election campaign for the fictional character of Harvey Dent, with the antagonist (The Joker) making himself known to try and derail the whole thing.

 Make a list of as many artefacts/objects/’bits’ of the campaign as you can.
Posters, websites, video footage, t-shirts, flyers, badges, projections, news stories.

 What role does each ‘bit’ play in the overall narrative?
Each part of the campaign is used to engage the audience and intrigue them to delve into the world of the narrative and find out more about it. Some are more directed than others in specifically asking the audience to do or think about a certain aspect of the narrative.

 How do you think the team went about planning this? Think logistics.
The planning of a large-scale campaign like this would have to be well orchestrated. The two main focuses in Harvey Dent and The Joker would have to be separately developed, then linked together. The marketing has to generate enough interest to fuel the release of the subsequent content, so the initial objective was to plaster posters in major cities with a very clear slogan, with a website directing the interested audience to discover more about the narrative.

 How does this campaign fit into the narrative of the film?
This campaign fits right into the narrative of the film, with the actual election campaign occurring in the film, and The Joker’s opposition of Harvey Dent prevalent as well.