Casino Royale – Jackpot for Product Placement

Over the years there have been many heroes who have saved the world from the evil forces. But only one has a reserved place in the hearts of generations of movie goers. Bond, James Bond – the top secret agent who is always there to save the day. Now he is back and so are many of the brands that have been featured in previous James Bond movies, some going as far as Bond’s debut in “Dr. No” in 1962.

Bond is one of the first franchises that began integrating brands in the movie’s plotline long before this became a dominant trend in Hollywood. And its producers, EON Productions, have often been criticized for that. Critics accused EON for partnering with too many brands on Bond fare so this time the studio has made the “conscious decision” to have fewer bigger partners, according to Keith Snelgrove, senior VP global business strategy of EON Prods. Only six brands make an appearance in the movie this time – Ford, Heineken, Smirnoff Vodka, Sony Electronics, Sony Ericsson, and Omega. According to Snelgrove EON accepts "very, very little straight cash" for integrating brands into Bond films. In his words, what they are looking for is not money to finance the shooting of the movie but cross promotional advertising dollars to ensure a huge opening weekend. Industry specialists say that the six brands featured in the movie spent a total of more than $100 million on media and other promotional support for the movie, which made its debut in cinemas around the globe last Friday. This is nearly as much as the ten tie-in partners on “Die Another Day” spent in 2002.

Besides cross promotional dollars, brands like Ford and Sony are also providing a tremendous cost savings to the filmmakers by supplying the production with high-ticket items at no cost. Ford supplied the production with about 125 vehicles, including Bond's pricey Aston Martin DBS, while transporting cars to the Bahamas, the Czech Republic, Italy and England.

Heineken, which is back as Bond's beer of choice for the fourth consecutive film since first appearing in 1997's "Tomorrow Never Dies," is the first promotional partner ever on a Bond film to shoot its commercial on the set of the movie and is the only partner on "Casino Royale" to feature a lead actor in its ad campaign. French actress Eva Green appears in character as Vesper Lynd in the Heineken spot, which also features the original Bond theme song.
Ford, whose vehicles first appeared in "Goldfinger" in 1964 and in 17 other Bond films since, is back with Bond behind the wheel of the new Aston Martin DBS, which makes its debut in "Royale." The automaker's new 2007 Ford Mondeo, the first car Bond is seen driving in "Royale," also makes its first appearance in the movie. Ford built several of the new DBS and Mondeo models especially for the film since they were not yet even in production.
"We want to have cool stuff in our film that's not readily available," Snelgrove said. "Bond needs to be driving the greatest and the newest cars." Ford's promotion is limited to Europe, where the Mondeo will be sold.

Smirnoff Vodka, which debuted as Bond's vodka of choice in "Dr. No" and appeared in every Bond flick except "Die Another Day," is back with a full scale global promotion. Omega, which has gilded Bond's wrist since "GoldenEye" in 1995, is selling two new Seamaster 007 limited edition watches as part of its promotion.

Sony Electronics, whose products first appeared in "Die Another Day," is offering Bond fans a collection featuring 007 branded models of VAIO TX and UX series ultra-portable PCs, Cyber-shot digital cameras and Micro-Vault media storage devices as part of its promotion. Sony Ericsson, whose Bond debut dates back to "Tomorrow Never Dies" in 1997, is selling special versions of the K800 and K790 Cyber-shot camera phones.

It is the first time the Sony companies, whose association with Bond predates Sony Pictures' first-time involvement with the franchise, are selling licensed product based on an entertainment property.