And in the best product category, the winner is…

Ad alert

Marie Haguenauer - For several years now, fine watch companies have been lining up for a role on box-office superstars’ wrists. Ever since Rolex and Omega won the favours of Agent 007, more brands have been drawn to the cinema’s bright lights. So is product placement the new eldorado?

Daniel Craig and the Omega Seamaster James Bond © Omega

Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore T3 © Audemars Piguet

For several years now, fine watch companies have been lining up for a role on box-office superstars’ wrists. Ever since Rolex and Omega won the favours of Agent 007, more brands have been drawn to the cinema’s bright lights. So is product placement the new eldorado?

Marie Haguenauer

They fill the pages of magazines and sponsor glamorous parties; they lend their names to prestigious film festivals and bask in the image of the world’s sexiest spokesmodels. We see them on red carpets, at fundraising events and, for the past fifteen years or so, giant-size on the silver screen. Because the cinema hasn’t escaped their attention: by surfing on the product placement trend, fine watch companies have latched on to a great opportunity to position their brands quickly and clearly for less cost. Ever since James Bond sported an Omega in "Golden Eye" in 1995, watch companies have been surrounding their products with the magic of cinema.

Can any woman honestly say she has never dreamed of looking like Angelina Jolie, who shared the billing for "Mr & Mrs Smith" with Brad Pitt… and her T-Touch by Tissot? Which man has never envied Arnold Schwarzenegger his perfect plastic in "Terminator 3"… and his titanium Royal Oak Offshore T3 by Audemars Piguet? A watch, an actor, an emotion: seemingly innocent images that work their way into our unconscious and stay there, allowing brands to build an identity outside of traditional communication channels. A potential that hasn’t been lost on Jaeger-LeCoultre or Vacheron Constantin, both of whom recently played a starring role on famous actors’ wrists. Jaeger-LeCoultre pulled off quite a coup with the latest David Cronenberg movie, "Eastern Promises." The character played by Viggo Mortensen wears a steel Master Control watch. Armin Mueller-Stahl sports a classic Reverso Grande Réserve and Vincent Cassel the latest model in the Reverso Squadra collection, the World Chronograph in titanium. In a similar vein, Vacheron Constantin was part of the cast of last year’s "Miami Vice" movie: Sonny Crockett, played by Colin Farell, wore a Malte Perpetual Calendar Chronograph in platinum while his partner Ricardo Tubbs, in real life actor Jamie Foxx, switched between an IWC Portugaise Automatic Chrono and an IWC Aquatimer Split Minute Chronograph for day and night scenes.

It’s all about emotion

Now that there are so many other ways of knowing the time than a watch, watchmakers have understood the need to move communication onto a different terrain than practicality. Rather than expounding a watch’s functionality, product placement is all about dreams and emotions. "Product placement goes hand-in-hand with the trend among watch companies to link their name to that of stars," observes Ruben Igielko-Herrlich, founding partner of Propaganda, a Geneva-based company specialising in product placement since 1991. "This is an industry that revolves around emotional appeal. By associating their image with the world of entertainment, music, television, celebrities or film, watch brands clearly position themselves in line with values that are part of a desirable universe. We live in a normative society in which actors are icons. They help mould an identity. Using them is a way for watch companies to build an instant and personal brand image."

A huge impact for less cost

Fine watchmaking is known to respond quickly to new trends, meaning numerous brands have taken the plunge. Understandably so, given that product placement is, say the experts, far more cost-advantageous than media buying. "There’s no price schedule in product placement," explains Ruben Igielko-Herrlich, "but I can assure you that financially speaking, it’s extremely advantageous for the brands. The one thing to know is that placing a product isn’t just a question of money but rather a potpourri of factors." Hard then to say just how much money changes hands between brands and film production companies, although everyone seems happy with the outcome. The production company offloads a large part of its communication budget onto the brand, which will take advantage of the film’s release to launch its product in a flurry of advertising and elaborate events.

For watch brands, product placement is an investment that clearly pays off. Not only will the featured product be given huge exposure in cinemas, it will also run over into television, DVDs and even the Internet. Even from a purely commercial standpoint, product placement has proven ruthlessly effective. "After "Thelma and Louise" was released, sales of bandanas went through the roof," says Ruben Igielko-Herrlich by means of example. "Similarly, the white Hermès scarf that Sharon Stone wore in "Basic Instinct" was flying off the shelves!" The same holds true for watch companies after a successful product placement, one of the most patent examples being "Golden Eye." Within a year of the Omega Seamaster appearing on James Bond’s wrist, sales had multiplied by twenty! And because, when it comes to sales, it’s the numbers that count, there’s a bright future ahead for product placement… unless, that is, cinema-goers grow tired of seeing what could be considered advertising in disguise taking up too much of the screen. ■

Print
Ad a comment
Send to a friend

Articles from this issue

Hot off the press...

Advertising