‘No Time To Die’: MGM & Eon Line Up $150M Promo Brand Campaign That Shakes & Stirs
One thing is clear after we’ve endured a 19-month pandemic: The world now, more than ever, needs James Bond.
And not just movie theaters, and concession industries, but an assortment of brands from Madison Avenue which have seen sales curtailed during lockdown, in particular the auto industry which continues to see production slowed due to a chip shortage with car dealers’ new auto lots seeing inventories at 30% less their pre-pandemic numbers.
In what is one of the year’s most prolific motion picture cross-promotional campaigns valued at $150 million from over 14 brand partners is that of MGM/United Artist Releasing/Eon’s No Time to Die. While it’s not a record promo campaign for a 007 movie (that belongs to 2012’s Skyfall which repped the franchise’s 50th anniversary), it’s definitely up there and well ahead of the $120M promo brand push for 2002’s Die Another Day, the last Bond film to be strictly distributed by MGM before Sony took over the last four Daniel Craig movies. Next to some Disney/Marvel promo brand campaigns, No Time to Die is on par with Avengers: Infinity War, and ahead of Spider-Man: Homecoming ($140M) and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 ($80M), but behind Avengers: Endgame‘s pre-pandemic $200M partner cross promotion.
No Time to Die struts what is a traditional Bond line-up of uber-luxurious products including Aston Martin cars, Omega watches, Smirnoff vodka, Chopard jewelry, and Michael Kors, which jibe with the spy’s haute sensibility. Bond’s taste for the finest goes all the way back to Ian Fleming’s original 14 novels and short stories which referenced real world products and brands like Gordon’s Gin, Smirnoff Vodka, Bentley motorcars, Taittinger champagne and Rolex watches name-checked throughout the pages. These brands fleshed out the world Fleming was creating, so that it was more believable to his readers. When Fleming was accused of including brand names for the purpose of receiving compensation, he retorted, as quoted in Andrew Lycett’s biography of the author: “My books are spattered with branded products of one sort of another as I think it is stupid to invent names for products which are household words”. The only time any company sent anything to Fleming in response to being included in his books was Floris, who sent him some soap.
However, this promo campaign for Bond is quite special, standing the test of time throughout the pandemic, as No Time to Die endured four release-date changes. It speaks to Eon and MGM’s finesse in keeping their partnerships intact, and the advertisers’ patience and class in waiting for the 25th Bond. That’s a testament to the 007 franchise’s power, not to mention its ability to yield sales for fellow advertisers.
“It’s been great that these brands have really stuck with us through all these multiple movies,” MGM Chief Marketing Officer Stephen Bruno tells Deadline.
Below Michael Kors’ spot: