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What you’ve just watched is a short scene from the James Bond film - Casino Royale.

This is much more than just a clip from a film though.

This is a multi-million-pound ad.

This is the art of product placement - performed perfectly.

Company Overview

Market Cap: $1B million (Source)

2020 Revenue: £146 (Source)

Cars Sold: 4,150 vehicles in 2020 (Source)

Wikipedia described Aston Martin as a British independent manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers.

To me it’s a car brand for the classy, it’s a car company for an MI5 agent

A car brand that, to me, always will be “The James Bond car”.

Breaking Down the Strategy

When it comes to building a brand, public perception isn’t just huge - it’s everything.

So, what is Aston Martin known for?

Of course, you now know my opinion, but do the world really all just class Aston Martin as “The James Bond” car?

I searched it to find out…

The top result out of 254 million, is one that ties the company directly to James Bond. A billion-dollar company, virtually exclusively being known for being the 007 agent’s ride.

I took it a step further and searched what it meant to be an owner of an Aston Martin.

Same thing again.

Essentially the whole brand image of Aston Martin is fully tied to the James Bond franchise and more importantly the character.

Why does everyone associate Aston Martin with James Bond?

Well, that’s because Aston Martin wants them to.

For decades now Aston Martin has been paying to have their cars placed within the James Bond films.

It’s ‘product placement’ (also known as embedded marketing).

Which is defined as…

Essentially it’s an ad disguised within some other form of media.

Let’s take a look at the first James Bond scene again…

Now look at it for what it is - an ad:

1. Initial pan of the car as Bond walks up to it - looks like every TV car ad ever.

2. Bond happens to open letter whilst in the car, which ensures a good view of the interior of the car. Notice Bond leaves the door open to make sure we get a good view of the doors detailing too.

3. The camera does not follow James as he gets in and out of the car, instead, it focuses on the snazzy DBS logo embossed on the seat.

It’s an effectively thought out advert, just subtly embedded in a place where Aston Martins’ target audience will be. Aston Martin has these little 30-45 second ads throughout the James Bond films.

Think every car chase, every time Bond gets into his car, every time he parks, they are all mini ads that have been embedded by Aston Martin.

So, we now understand that Aston Martin is advertising through the James Bond films…

But why did they choose James Bond?

• Perfect target audience - Aston Martin isn’t targeting young teens for their first car. Their target audience is the 30-60 year old man who wants a car that signifies class. According to a study done by Smirnoff, it was found that the James Bond viewer demographic is men aged 25 to 45 - the exact people Aston Martin want to target.

• Makes it more than a car - Being able to tie a product to an emotion or feeling is a task very few brands truly accomplish. James Bond gives Aston Martin just that. When people drive an Aston Martin they feel like James Bond: cool, classy, collected. That’s the golden perception Aston Martin want people to have when they think about the brand and that perception has been ingrained in people through watching the James Bond films.

• Persuasion - Advertising (especially TV) has become harder and harder for companies over the years. People are much more conscious they’re being sold to and often turn to their smartphones during ad breaks. Through implanting their ads in films it allows Aston Martin to still get that screen time with their audience, but instead when they are fully engaged. They think they’re watching a car chase, but what they are actually watching is an Aston Martin commercial.

This is not a new form of marketing though.

In fact, films make A LOT of money from product placement.

The 25th instalment of the Bond franchise - No Time To Die - made a total of £75 million from various brands paying for placements.

It’s not just Aston Martin getting in on the 007 action, however.

Here are a few other companies doing the exact same:

• French champagne label Maison Bollinger has specifically paid a whopping £10 million to continue their partnership with the franchise that has been ongoing for 40 years.

• Heineken paid £28 million to be in Skyfall and they’ve decided to commit another yet-to-be-disclosed amount to Bond 25.

James Bond isn’t the only franchise using product placement - all of them are.

I’ve compiled a list of some of the best product placements in some HUGE blockbuster movies.

You are going to smack herself for not realising some of them.

They are so in your face when you see them back!

• Pepsi - World War Z

• Wilson - Castaway

• Chevrolet - Transformers

• Converse - I, Robot

Product placement is the perfect way to get your product in front of your audience without having to sell it to them.

It’s subtle, it’s discrete and it works wonders.

There is a reason Aston Martin makes sure they’re in every single James Bond film…

It works!

How To Implement It

The chances of you getting your products into the next James Bond are probably very slim.

That doesn’t mean product placement can’t be one of your marketing strategies.

A great alternative would be product placement within a YouTube video or a TikTok video.

A perfect example of this would be seen below.

Pictured is famous TikToker Addison Rae seemingly filming a normal video. However, the case she is holding is a “Puffer Case”. She didn’t advertise the brand or mention its name, however, people instantly picked up which case she was using and began commenting and tagging the company name.

Just because the company didn’t pay her to advertise the case, doesn’t mean they didn’t pay her to put it on her phone for a few videos.

It’s the perfect way to get in front of your audience in a super authentic way.

This has been a breakdown of Aston Martin’s marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy into your business!

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I’ll see you next Sunday!