Marketing Communications

358 CHAPTER 11 SPONSORSHIP

The champions of brand placement are the Bond movies. In Die Another Day , 20 brands were promoted by

means of brand placement. The total value of these contracts is estimated to be $45 million. James Bond (Pierce

Brosnan in this movie) is civilised, appeals to both men and women, likes luxury and technology, and is popular

around the world. Halle Berry, who features as the Bond girl Jinx, appeals to youngsters. Companies try to associate

their image with the attractive features of the movie characters. Bond shaves with a Philishave Sensotec, drinks

Finlandia vodka, wears an Omega Seamaster watch, and again drives an Aston Martin, after a couple of BMW-

dominated Bond movies. Jinx drives a Ford Thunderbird in the same colour as her bikini (a special Thunderbird 007

series is also being made), uses the new Revlon lipsticks Mission Mauve and Hot Pursuit Pink, and wears a Swatch.

Other product placers are Samsonite, Sony and British Airways.^60 In the Bond movie Quantum of Solace , Bond is no

longer ‘double O seven’, but ‘zero zero seven’, thanks to Coca-Cola, and drives his Aston Martin again, looking at

his Omega watch and checking e-mails with his Sony laptop. In Moonraker , a cable cabin crashes into a wall with a

gigantic 7UP billboard on it, and in GoldenEye , a tank crashes into a Perrier truck. Over the years, the champagne

label Dom Pérignon featured in seven different Bond movies; in other movies James drinks Bollinger.^61

In many cases, making movies would be impossible without brand placement contracts between companies and

movie producers.

Of all sponsorship types, broadcast sponsorship is closest to advertising and, for that rea-

son, is capable of achieving similar objectives of awareness and image-building. Furthermore,

famous TV actors featuring in the sponsored programmes can be used as celebrity endorsers

in subsequent advertising campaigns, thus leveraging the sponsorship eff ort. Nevertheless,

broadcast sponsorship is perceived more positively by the public. Sponsors are closely tied

to the programme itself. In fact, they are physically part of it, to the extent that viewers even

believe that sponsors actively participate in making the programme. Furthermore, sometimes

the endorsing brand has a better image than the programme itself. Th erefore, if the sponsor

fi ts the programme well, this can lead to very positive carry-over eff ects between the two.

Programme sponsorship also works in a diff erent way. Th e long-term association between

a likeable programme and a sponsor may lead to a very strong and positive brand image.

Finally, broadcast sponsorship, as opposed to advertising, is perceived to benefi t everyone.

Th is has a major positive impact on viewers’ acceptance of such sponsorships.^62 Belgian

research reveals that these positive eff ects can only be expected if there is a long-term link

between an exclusive sponsor and a programme. Short-term broadcast sponsorships are

usually as ineff ective as ordinary advertising or sports sponsorship campaigns.^63

At the time when Ford made a brand placement contract with the producers of Desperate Housewives , the Ford group

owned eight car makes. To reach its customers, the company increasingly relies upon product placement of its cars

in movies and TV shows instead of traditional advertising, the effectiveness of which is increasingly challenged. The

Ford Explorer 4×4 played a prominent role in Jurassic Park , and a Range Rover was prominently present in Ocean’s

Twelve , not to mention James Bond’s Aston Martin. Fans of popular shows like Desperate Housewives now watch

their favourite actresses drive car models of the Ford group: Susan drives a Volvo, and Lynette’s husband goes to

work in a Jaguar. Film- and programme-makers used to have to talk to each Ford brand separately, but now Ford

has established ‘Global Brand Entertainment’, a company that supports the product placement of all Ford brands, from

the Mazda Miata to the Aston Martin Vanquish.^64

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Desperate Housewives drive Ford

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