Warner BROS. and Kmart have teamed up for a cross-brand partnership to promote the release of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight.
Kmart, as the official Dark Knight headquarters, is offering a boutique full of licensed products from the movie, including toys, kids’ apparel, costumes, men’s apparel and bedding and accessories at the front of its stores.
The retailer has also teamed up with out-of-home media network Reactrix for an in-mall marketing effort.
“[Kmart] wanted to find a way to drive people into its store, so what better time than when people are out shopping,” said Mike Ribero, CEO of Reactrix.
The Reactrix interactive marketing platform, StepScape, is an in-mall billboard that projects imagery onto a 6- by 8-foot display that is
located on the floor. When a consumer enters the area of the display, he or she can interact with any content on it. The images appear to float on the floor, and mall visitors can make them move around by kicking them.
Kmart’s Dark Knight campaign features imagery from the film, as well as the film’s branded products, which are on sale at Kmart. This includes Joker playing cards floating alongside Batman on a motorcycle that consumers can interact with. There are also tie-ins to other Batman-branded products including Hershey’s candy, Mattel toys and General Mills cereals.
The promotion is running in 157 malls and movie theaters across the US. While Kmart stores are not usually in malls, they are generally in the same vicinity.
Dark Knight e-gift cards are also available at www.kmart.com/batman. The site also includes free downloadable wallpaper, a movie trailer and a link to www.thedarkknight.com.
“The call to action for Kmart is to get people to go into Kmart. For Warner Brothers, it is to get people to buy more products around the film and to get people excited to go and see the film,” Ribero explained.
Kmart also promoted the program with Dark Knight-wrapped circulars, starting on July 13, and co-branded shopping bags. The Kmart promotion ran from July 6 through July 19, in conjunction with the film’s opening on July 18. The retailer handed out free tickets for the film in its stores on July 18.
