In a blog post about movie marketing, Craig makes a point about audience understanding this is critical to all communications -- don't waste money doing "cool marketing" if you are going to end up talking to the same folks who were going to buy the product anyway. As he notes:
Do you really think that anyone in the mainstream media is watching this? Is there going to be a single person who buys a ticket to see The Dark Knight this summer, that wouldn't have done so if it weren't for this campaign? Furthermore, this is freakin' Batman! Is there a single person covering this stuff among online movie sites that wasn't going to see this movie anyway? Shouldn't this effort go towards a franchise or property that doesn't have the name recognition that Batman already has?
All too often marketers reach for the new tools (viral, social media, etc) not because they are most effective at reaching the target audience or moving the sales needle, but because they are seen as new and cool, while other sets of tools (say, direct mail or *gasp* use of traditional media) are seen as old.
Smart communicators start with a solid understanding of the audience and go from there. Tools are tools, use the ones that work, not the ones other communicators think are trendy.
But say....that movie does look pretty good... ;)