By Madeline Miller
Hollywood is a business and films are both artistic and commercial enterprises. This might seem like an unpalatable proposition to many emerging filmmakers, but it’s true. The Hollywood machine has long held that artistic merit and financial profit are not mutually exclusive—and entertainment brand partnerships reflect this thinking.
The high watermark of entertainment properties and brand partnerships is undoubtedly the James Bond films. For over 50 years and 21 films, these relationships have been a mainstay of the franchise. The brands featured in the Bond stories serve as an extension of the film’s own marketing and promotion. Certain brands such as Aston Martin and Omega have become synonymous with the character himself, and the filmmakers and studio have become increasingly savvy and ambitious with the product partnerships in each new instalment.
The upcoming Bond film, No Time To Die features new partnerships with global brands such as Nokia, Smirnoff Vodka and DHL. Aston Martin and Omega are returning, along with longstanding staples Bollinger, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Heineken. Newcomers such as Triumph Motorcycles, Chopard Jewelry, Michael Kors, and SWATCH will also be introduced. For each partner, there will be an accompanying ad campaign, some of which will feature talent from the film.
It’s an extraordinary coup for an up-and-coming actor (and not too shabby for a well established one!) to partner with one of these brands. Given the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19, not every partner has officially launched its campaign or released all of its assets yet. But when they do, there will be an enormously diverse and creative range of cross-promotional pieces leading up to and during the film’s eventual release in 2021. These marketing campaigns will encompass and appear across all forms of media, including the now mandatory push on social and digital platforms, in ways that did not exist at the time the last film launched. These brand partnerships and associated marketing have become an essential part of the film’s production, release and marketing strategy, and also demonstrate the creativity that can be found in the crossover between entertainment and advertising.
As Production Attorney for No Time to Die, I am enthusiastic and excited about the creative reach of these partnerships and the benefit they bring to the film and the franchise. I don’t hold such a firm (pure) line between film as entertainment and advertising as entertainment. The commercial intent of both is to sell something to an audience, and also entertain them. The blurring of these lines with the new world of constant online engagement need not terrify or dismay feature filmmakers if it’s done with intelligence and integrity.
The traditional role of advertising is changing due to contemporary technological developments and the younger consumer eyeballs this brings to brands. I see a lot of crossover between entertainment and brands via celebrities, musicians, influencers and “culture makers” that is unique to this last decade. In my opinion, these crossovers will continue to evolve so that the distinction between entertainment and advertising is less clear, and the two industries will have less independent influence in “culture making” and will rely more heavily on each other.
While many people bemoan that this will be the downfall of the distinction between art and commerce, I believe there are positive benefits to this evolution. Generation Z, the newest generation of consumers—and the biggest market for new content—have abandoned traditional advertising sources such as print, TV, and outdoor, and therefore the well worn principles of “selling” are less effective. For a variety of reasons (mentality, diversity, instability, technology, cynicism), Gen Z are rejecting the traditional foundations upon which brands rely to sell their products, and are instead asking for more transparency, more relevance and more authenticity from brands.
Smart brands are therefore aligning themselves with issues that Gen Z care about to build loyalty and significance with this generation of consumers. Examples are Adidas, Nike and TopShop in relation to mental health; Mastercard, Absolut and Disney in relation to LGBTQ+ issues; and Burger King, Carlsberg, L’Oreal and L’Occitane in relation to sustainability.
The Black Lives Matter movement has shown that consumers are prepared to demand more political accountability and abandon brands who don’t show up. Whether this continues in a longstanding and impactful way for all these pressing social issues remains to be seen, but there can be no doubt that brands are no longer simply shaping culture, they are being asked to reflect it back. There is therefore enormous potential for film and content makers to partner with brands to develop or integrate content that speaks to this generation of consumers and viewers in a variety of creative ways and to enhance their own filmic narrative.
How might an Australian or non-Hollywood filmmaker benefit from these developments? There are no hard and fast rules about how to incorporate brands into a production. But there is a need to let go of the belief that product placement is somehow anathema to the artistic merit of a screen production, and that product integration diminishes the purity of a story or that advertising is always a lesser form of entertainment.
Not every film is going to suit or benefit from brand partnerships. But there are a variety of innovative ways local productions can seek creative collaborations to boost their budget, increase their marketing reach, or just generally expand their exposure to audiences.
A good starting point is to think of the particular audience for the project and then identify any themes, locations, or story points that might resonate with a particular brand or have a socio-cultural significance that could be attractive to a partner, then match up the two. The form of partnership can vary greatly, from a placement fee, to a one-off ad, or a cross-platform marketing campaign—and everything in between. Certain brands rely on ambassadors and interactive activations that might incorporate talent from a production or be built around a particular element of a film. A natural fit for these types of campaign elements would be location-based productions and tourism agencies, but alcohol brands, technology, sporting, and apparel, which naturally skew young, also rely heavily on digital and experiential marketing to reach their audience, so it is worth getting creative with your thinking. In some instances, merchandise might be an option or a brand might sponsor an event that can be tied back to the production. The options are endless.
Ultimately, it’s all about imagination and intelligence in all kinds of storytelling; about believing in your creative product and being open and curious to alternative forms of financing and marketing. It’s often been said that Australian filmmakers need to think harder about the audiences they’re creating for, and this is one way to start that process.
