We hear that product placement is gaining ground as a marketing and sales technique and we’re all for this. But even we were surprised to learn about one of the latest such 007 product placements.

 

Apparently, the value of product placement deals in the new James Bond film, Skyfall, is $45m. And because of one of these deals, 007 will be swapping his trademark Martini (shaken, not stirred) for a Heineken.

 

What would Bond author, Ian Fleming, think we wonder? After all, he wasn’t described as much of a lager drinker and neither is his suave spy. Will Miss Moneypenny be counting her share or fainting in shock? Will Q be issuing a special beer glass that doubles as weapon of some kind..?

 

“James Bond is a perfect fit for us,” Lesya Lysyj, chief marketing officer for Heineken USA, told Advertising Age. “He is the epitome of the man of the world.”

 

Product placement and celebrity endorsement can double or triple sales; hence the massive price-tag for this 007 assignment. For many businesses such promotions are way outside the available budget. The good news is there are many other ways to improve the results from marketing and sales efforts. Results from the roll out of a global marketing distance learning programme for one of our clients produced a doubling of business in a number of the subsidiaries 

 

If you have the ambition to significantly increase the results from your marketing and sales efforts – without the 007 budget please get in touch