The Concept of Luxury Brand Placement And Relevant Case Studies

What comes to your mind when you think of Audrey Hepburn? Is it not an image of the beautiful icon in a gorgeous black dress staring into the window of a Tiffany’s store? Or who can say they don’t picture James Bond riding away like an absolute symbol of perfection in his Aston Martin?

This is perhaps the most accurate description of brand placement. It sticks with the audience, it connects with them and it sways them.

Brands use product placement as a marketing tool aiding them in connecting with and establishing an enduring link with their customers. To ingrain and cement the label as an image, a personality and a value this style provides a promising path. Persuasive communication is the sole intent of luxury brand placement strategies. The brands wish to represent desirable identity characteristics through the brand/character pairing. This is an extremely powerful tool used by luxury brands to enhance the recall of and recognition with their products and their name.

In the words of Schultz and Kitchen, ‘the marketing and communication manager of the 21st century must recognize that there are multiple markets, multiple marketplaces, multiple customers, multiple channels, and multiple media’. So, orthodox techniques no longer have the desired impact and staying capacity and marketers are looking to other alternatives. Films and television offer a consequential platform for brand placement, influencing the perceptions of consumers. The reach that even a moderately successful movie will have will be greater than any other advertising attempt. Cinemagoers are a captive audience, sitting there with the intention of being entertained. Thus, the advertiser has an increased chance of gaining the audience’s attention.

There exist three kinds of product placement in films and the visual media. The first is visual placement where the product, service or logo simply appears for a few moments. Another is spoken placement where there is an explicit mention of the product or service during the course of the film. The last is plot or usage placement where an actor interacts with or handles the product itself. This often involves both a visual and spoken element. Cinemagoers are a captive audience, sitting there with the intention of being entertained. Thus the advertiser has an increased chance of gaining the audience’s attention.

Luxury Brand Placement In Films: Case Studies

Brand placement in films is almost as old as film itself. Howard Hugh’s 1927 epic Wings was one of cinema’s first blockbusters and it included a glory shot of a Hershey’s candy bar. Since then, iconic brands, iconic actors and iconic movies have left an indelible impression on the world.

Aston Martin in James Bond

Sophistication, style, charisma and class, in other words, James Bond has been iconic since the birth of the franchise. A character that has stayed significant and relevant for audiences over decades is also a boon for brands. 007 is associated with prestige and so when a brand like the revered Aston Martin associates itself with the film, it translates into a radical opportunity for the marque, displaying it a desirable luxury car. It is a winning partnership that has spanned decades.

The alliance began when Ian Fleming had Bond driving an Aston in the book of Goldfinger. For the film franchise, Aston initially lent the producers a well-used DB5 prototype and a shinier production car for close-ups. This brand placement has aided a fairly small British sports car company into a global icon, and the consistent comeback of Aston Martin in the films keeps the company and its cars in the public eye.

Celebrated author Andrew Noakes said, “Bond is the ideal character to be associated with Aston Martin, because he is the kind of person Aston owners want to be – suave, smart, a man of action but also a connoisseur of fine things. The publicity is worth millions to Aston, but Aston Martins are now such an integral part of the Bond legend that the films need the cars too.”

Givenchy and Tiffany & Co. in Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Both timeless classics, Tiffany & Co. and the Audrey Hepburn starrer Breakfast at Tiffany’s make a precious pair. For Audrey’s Holly Golightly, Tiffany's symbolizes everything that is right and wonderful in the world. That is exactly what Tiffany’s partnership with the movie made the world believe. To this day, the little blue box is believed to hold magic and happiness. Hepburn even donned the world-famous 128.54 carat yellow Tiffany Diamond for the publicity pictures. The iconic beginning to the film, where Audrey Hepburn stands in a gorgeous black dress is a favorite across the globe. The sartorial elegance of that particular piece of fashion was a courtesy of Hubert de Givenchy. A shorter version of the dress was worn by Audrey in subsequent scenes but the original one has everyone’s heart. Natalie Portman covered Harper's Bazaar in the same timeless dress in 2006 and the very same year, the original dress was auctioned at Christie's for a whopping $900,000.

Yves Saint Laurent in Belle de Jour

For Luis Buñuel’s 1967 film Belle de Jour, Yves Saint Laurent created a wardrobe representing fragility and seduction for Catherine Deneuve’s character Séverine Serizy, a young bourgeoise who finds meaning in her extramarital encounters in a brothel. The most noteworthy ensembles were of course the legendary black vinyl trench coat with knit sleeves and the austere black dress with ivory satin cuffs and collar. Legend has it that the character of Séverine was reminiscent of the young Saint Laurent.

The masterpieces in the film found admiration in the real world, too. The shoes worn by Catherine Deneuve, gained cult status and were eventually named after the film.

Jaeger-LeCoultre in Doctor Strange

When Benedict Cumberbatch comes on screen, everyone takes notice. Who better to for a brand to be associated with than someone who the audience holds in the highest regard. With time being the overarching theme of the film, the watch is obviously of tremendous importance. The particular watch featured in the movie is a Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Perpetual.  It is of special significance for the character with a dedication engraved on the back: “Time will tell you how much I love you, Christine.” Just for the movie, it was uniquely outfitted with a solid case back which is quite different from the original watch which has a transparent sapphire crystal on the case back. Jaeger-LeCoultre made a special effort for this film to get high retention product placement.

It sticks with the audience a great deal that a superhero who can alter time chooses this luxurious chef-d'oeuvre.

Salvatore Ferragamo in The Tourist

Truly one of the most fashionable icons in one of the most fashionable movies, Salvatore Ferragamo stands as the master behind Angelina Jolie’s ensembles in ‘The Tourist.’ As quoted in Vogue, “Who is Elise? Aside from being the name of Angelina Jolie’s character in the new thriller, The Tourist, set in Venice and hitting theaters today, she’s also a ravishing Salvatore Ferragamo stiletto worn by Jolie throughout the film and now available to be worn by you.”

A perfect mix of vintage and novel, the dresses were fittingly described by the designer when he said, “The idea is to create a world of discreet elegance which reflects in the simplicity of the lines and the colors." The same goes for the accessories, in particular the shoes that took the world by storm. The film and the brand represent a magical collaboration that brought the Florentine fashion house to create 60 pairs of shoes for the scene: sexy metal stiletto-heeled pump shoes in various shades of fine suede. The bag that hangs on the arms of the arms of the actress throughout the movie is once again a very noticeable and adored fashion piece created by Ferragamo.

Tag Heuer in Le Mans

The ideal story of product placement, the Heuer Monaco associated itself with the legend himself, Steve McQueen, in movie Le Mans. As is often recognized, all that McQueen touched acquired his star status and such is what happened with the emblematic watch. This product placement idea for combining the world’s most grueling and famous car race with the equally legendary Heuer brand was a stroke of genius. Precision was what both the watch and motorsports had in common, so much so that athletes of the sport used the brand in actuality.

McQueen had watches from 5 valued brands in front of him, he picked the square cased chronograph with a blue dial, the Heuer Monaco and the rest is history. When McQueen sported the Monaco and jumped into his Porsche, a scene that would forever be etched in the minds of the audience was created. With it, the reverence for the brand, and in particular, the watch, was born.

Manolo Blahnik in Sex and the City

Don’t we all want a Mr. Big to propose to us with a pair of Manolo Blahnik signatures?  Sex and the city is as synonymous with fashion and in particular with Blahnik heels as it is with love and friendship. When Carrie Bradshaw says, “Oh my God! Do you know what these are? Manolo Blahnik Mary Janses! I thought these were an urban shoe myth!” she very aptly captures the prestige of Blahnik. Clinging onto them even while she was held at gunpoint goes to show just how precious they are, for her and for the world.

A classic example of just how well accurate brand placement can work is the fact that by 2000, 30,000 Manolos were being sold a year… at Neiman Marcus alone!

As Carrie says, “when one door closes, a shoe box opens!”

Cartier in The Great Gatsby and Ocean’s 8

The Great Gatsby truly reigned supreme with luxury brands, most predominantly with iconic jewelry brand Cartier. “Gatsby’s characters are young people with lots and lots of money from wealthy families being very ridiculous,” says longtime Cartier designer Alfred Durante. “Daisy is very out of touch with reality. They wanted to express that visually. Mia wore lots of white. The sets around her were nearly always smoky or misty-looking. And I did it with the designs.” Cartier created a woman of mystery with it’s pieces and earned a place in the hearts of all. The leading ladies of the movie can be seen donning several of Cartier’s art deco jewels. Establishing the privileged life of Daisy and Jordan Baker, layers of Cartier jewels are noticed on them even while sitting around the house in the afternoons.

Perhaps the most pronounced brand placement by Cartier is in the all-women starrer Ocean’s 8. Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett plot a heist to lift $150m worth of rocks from the Met Gala in New York. At the core of the heist is the Cartier Jeanne Troussiant necklace, worn by Anne Hathaway. The magnificent, grand two-strand diamond sparkler is based on an original 1931 Cartier design, created for the Maharaja of Nawanagar by Jacques Cartier. It is also believed to be in honor of Cartier’s former creative director after whose death the necklace disappeared. Whispers are that it had been broken up and reset into untraceable designs, but was recreated especially for the film. A cameo in the movie turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Zayn Malik, all of whom received, though on loan, but nonetheless, timeless diamond pieces from Cartier.

These brands present us with the best examples of luxury brand placement. They have fashioned stories and they have created legacies that will live on forever.