Will Skyfall inspire a new era of movie marketing?

Pop star Adele has just given birth to a son, although she has yet to confirm the news. If it’s true, she’s no doubt tucked away enjoying her first fortnight of motherhood.

Meanwhile, her new track, ’Skyfall’, is spearheading a truly formidable – and very public – marketing campaign.

The new James Bond movie, also titled Skyfall, is the pivot around which several brand campaigns rotate. There’s a new Sony Xperia smartphone centre-stage in the film, cross-promoted with a TV ad running during ITV’s X Factor. Various Sony devices appear alongside clever product placement for Heineken, Proctor & Gamble, OPI, Facebook, Coke and other big brands, many of them familiar to Bond fans from the 2008 Bond instalment, Quantum of Solace. Bond’s gun is, as ever, a Walther.

This time around, many of the marketing teams propping up the movie have reportedly ploughed tens of millions of pounds into the production fund. Even the British tourism industry has its eye on a prize.

Not everyone involved with Skyfall is comfortable with the situation. Bond star Daniel Craig was quoted as saying that the budgets involved in having Heineken involved are “unfortunate”, despite the fact that Heineken have been involved with Bond movies for many years. It’s also fairly ironic, given that the first ever Bond Film featured a prominent placement for Red Stripe and Smirnoff. But times have changed. This year, Daniel Craig will appear in Heineken’s Open Your World campaign, a remarkable coup for the company, especially seeing as Bond never appeared in their ads in the past. Producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli admit that Heineken’s involvement in Skyfall is “unprecedented”.

Skyfall could be a watershed moment. There’s an obvious shift away from promoting the glamor of the silver screen, and the presence of the director and cast, to relying on corporate endorsement. In the 2006 Bond film Casino Royale, Bond even refers to the brand of his watch, putting the Omega brand in the script as well as on the screen.

Skyfall’s position may be exceptional now, but it could be the first in a string of movies to capitalise on brand interest in established, popular characters. Charles Grant, Heat magazine’s film editor, predicted that Skyfall will beat even Casino Royale’s box-office takings. That would make it the biggest Bond film to date.

Meanwhile, Adele’s Bond theme is selling in bucket loads, but it’s still fallen short of hitting the illusive number one chart position. No Bond theme has ever topped the charts, so that’s at least one target Sony can aim for next time around.

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Claire

Images from: Free Digital Photo Net

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