James Bond: a marketing success

Today, many brands want to appear on James Bond’s movies because it is a way to promote a product. What is the reason? What are the advantages for brands and for producers? Which brands can appear? 
 

 James Bond’s movies have been seen by around 3 billion of people around the world and the benefits  are around 3.3 billion of dollars after 20 years of activity, and every two years, a new film is released on screen. Each movie is also a real success and even if the series is becoming old, James Bond is still a young character.

                                                                              

After 20 years of activity, it is official, James Bond is a real success. At the beginning, the story comes from the books of Ian Fleming. The concept is simple and original: each new film has to be better than the old one and less better than the future one.  At the end of each film, you can the same sentence : “James Bond will return…” which means that there will be an other story.

• What are James Bond’s Secrets?

First of all, James Bond began with a real potential with a real soul. Since the beginning, the saga has been acted like a brand and we can see that the atmosphere around the different stories, about the characters is really special and we can see that only with James Bond. Finally, we can say that all the films are quite all the same, with their differences.

But, some things are always true:

1) James Bond is alive at the end

2) There is a fight between James Bond and the bad guy

3) James Bond meet a James Bond girl.

With James Bond, spectators want to be surprised but the surprise is in the story and not at the end!!!

•  The James Bond Brand:

Yes, James Bond is a real brand. It is important for a brand to be seen and to be recognized: it is the case of James Bond.

James Bond= the suit, the vodka-martini, the car (often Aston Martin)… This brand is famous!!!

First of all, the name is striking and the way to say it is in everybody’s minds: it is simple, direct, virile and smart. Moreover, James Bond is almost the inventor of modern action movies. So, films are unique and nobodies can do the same project!!

As a brand, James Bond has a contract with his clients (in this case, the spectators). James Bond has to introduce surprises in the film but has to stay alive, has to fight with the chief of the bad team.Moreover, the character is quite complex. You can have two effects with him: you love him or you hate him. James Bond is a character than men want to imitate and women are fascinated by him and his mission is simple: he has to save the world.

So, James Bond is a brand really successfull which is still competitive. It success is based on nostalgia  and the fact that it has invented a new cinematographic kind.

• The marketing today:

 Marketing is everywhere on the film. The original band should be a success and sing by a personnality: Madonna, Tina Turner… Furthermore, many brands appear in movies. Now, James Bond permits to other brands to promote theirs products and brands permits to the movies to find money to produce it.

But, some brands are luckier than others and have not the same chance. We can say that there are thee groups:

- in the first one, we can find the “sponsors” such as BMW, Aston Martin, Dunhill… These brands don’t need to pay cash to the producer. They just have to promote the movie. For example, in France, BMW has spent 370 000 euros for the promotion campaign Bond. 

- in the second group, we find the “the promotion partners” and the list is important. In France, there is Club Med, Galeries Lafayette… In this group, brands have to do the promotion of James Bond but before, they have to pay a part cash. 

- finally, in the last group, brands have paid a licence to exploit and to launch Bond products. For example, Bic has launch James Bond lighters. 

As we can see, James Bond is successfull brand but we can imagine that the spectator’s waitings will change in the future and James Bond will find another source of inspiration.  

Harry Potter: the marketing of a success

JK Rowling took her time to wrote the history of Harry Potter because she started to write it when she was an English Teacher in Portugal in the 90′s. Later, she decided to come back and she moved in Edinburgh. In 1996, Bloomsbury accept to publish her story. The first three books were a great success and at the fourth, it was a phenomenon all around the world. Her book has been translated in 60 languages.

The 21st of July, the last book is going to be sold in shop, and it is an important events for a lot of fans.

Because these books are a real success, many directors have decided to make films. Some rumors had said that JK Rowling had played a large role in the choice of the actors. She wanted that the film was a “British one” with British actors.

Is there a risk to produce this kind of movies? The main risk is that fans are really disappointed by the film because it doesn’t respect the story of the book. For Harry Potter, Chris Columbus worked with JK Rowling; this risk was mainly treated. Moreover, the problem could be the targer. In fact, Harry Potter should seduce a large part of children but many teenagers and young adults love the story. The announcement of the film had to do the same.  

Here is the trailer of the first film:

In my opinion, this film and the book are mainly for children. This film is introducing the childhood of Harry Potter and what can happen if Lord Voldemort become alive. It is not really a dramatic one.

The 4th one is more dramatic because there is a death and it is introducing the return Lord Voldemort. The story is targeting teenagers and young adults. Moreover, this is the same actor so we can see the evolution, the maturity.

.

These films are a real success. People want to see them. But there are a lot of others products. For children, there is the set of magical articles . There are also many video games (for Play Station, the XBox…:

 

Moreover, for the fans, it is possible to decorate the rooms with Harry Potter: you can buy wallpapers, bedclothes …

Finally, JK Rowling wants to keep a private life and give few interviews. But, at the launch of the 6th book, she created a magical evenment because she organised, at minight, a private meeting with some fans at the Edinburgh Castle. All the magic is still there…