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When one talks about movies that proved to be the biggest successes in cinema, one cannot forget James Bond. The first edition of James Bond was released in 1962 and since then sequels to the movie have been produced quite constantly. James Bond, the character, is famous for his intelligence, cars and girls and the automobile industry could not resist the temptation of advertising a car in a James Bond Movie.
In the year 1995, the 7th part of James Bond, GoldenEye, was released. The German car manufacturer, BMW, took this movie as the opportunity to showcase their Z3 Roadster. BMW had to pay 3 million dollars (Grey, 2013) in order to feature the car in the movie and judging by the huge sales that the car made, the investment was surely worth it.
The car used was Atlanta Blue Metallic in color and Beige Napa Leather was used for the interior of the car.
The car was used twice by James Bond but the role that it had to play in both the scenes was limited.
James Bond twice uses the car in a dusty setting of a Jungle to travel with the female lead in the movie but none of the special features of the car were used in the movie.
The car had multiple features like being bullet proof and having a self-destruct system but the features were not used by James Bond. The characters did not mention the car brand specifically but as part of the deal, James Bond posed along with the car for billboards and posters. There were other cars used in the movie as well but their makers did not have to pay the producers of James Bond to place their car specifically.
Aston Martin DB 5 and Ferrari 355 (Geisler, n.d.) are the other cars used in the movie by Bond.
James Bond is a movie that caters to people of all age because of the drama that it has. Action, romance, thrill and cars are the well-known features of a James Bond movie and the audience that the movie caters to is a large one. It should also be noted that women are also a big part of the audience because of the charisma of Bond which in this move was played by Pierce Brosnan. Audience of this movie does look for lavishness and expensive cars are for sure a part of the attention of the audience.
The product is represented in a favorable way because James Bond only uses the best and finest of cars and any car that Bond uses is rated highly by the viewers. The 240 million dollars that BMW made in advance sales is an evidence of the popularity of the car.
The Z3 Roadster is an all action car which offers protection, high technology and features which are built to combat any lethal attacks on the driver. Featuring this car in a James Bond movie was a marketing masterstroke as the features of the car perfectly meet the requirements of the character and the plot.
The market for cars like Z3 Roadster is niche. There is a very small proportion of people in this world who can afford such cars but the people who can afford do want to have a product which is famous and unique.
James Bond does make every product famous and the fact that the car is valued by James Bond also adds to the ego of the people who can afford such cars. Thus, the German car manufacturers did very well to target the niche that they know would be interested in buying their product as the movie is famous, well known and does market very high end products.
The usage of the car in the movie is quite limited and Bond does not utilize all the special features of the car which would have disappointed the car manufacturers. It would have been better for the advertisement of the car if Bond had made used of some of the special features of the car.
High end products like the Z3 Roadster have huge budgets for marketing and the movie is just a part of the entire campaign. The movie is used by BMW to add more to the popularity of the car and it is not their primary source of marketing for the Roadster.
Also, with Bond’s love for cars, the presence of the Z3 in the movie looks natural as Bond is supposed to use expensive and exquisite cars. Bond driving a car is a huge sign of approval for any car and the fact that he drove the car did wonders for the Z3 model. Cars are a part of the aura that differentiates James Bond from the common man. The class and elegance of Bond is complimented by the cars that he uses and for sure would grab the attention of most of the people who went to watch the movie.
The placement of an exquisite and high end car in a James Bond is the perfect way to advertise the car.
The character of James Bond has been a trend setter in Hollywood for a long time and the suits that he wears, the watches that he carries and the cars that he drives are things which are noticed by people.
A certain type of fashion statement my James Bond would bring about a change in the fashion sense of many. The only issue being that it is expensive to afford just like the BMW Z3 Roadster. Hence, James Bond driving the BMW car is the perfect scenario for the car manufacturers to make a statement about the quality of their product.
James Bond could have added more to the popularity of the car by using the car in an action scene so that all features of the car could have been exhibited but just the presence of Bond in a BMW seems to have done wonders to the car manufacturers.
References
Grey, Judith. 'The 15 Most Shameless Movie Product Placements Of All Time'. Business Insider. N. p., 2013. Web. 22 Jun. 2014.
Hall-Geisler, Kristen. '12 Cars Featured In James Bond Movies'. About.com Exotic Cars. N. p., 2014. Web. 22 Jun. 2014.
