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Destination

Ford wanted to surprise consumers, shifting its perception as ‘reliable, boring and lacking excitement' to a more stylish and likeable brand. By enhancing Ford's image, we aimed to drive footfall into dealerships and increase sales.

Platform

The placement of the new Mondeo in the latest Bond film release, Casino Royale, enabled Ford to achieve its objective by using Bond's attributes of excitement, dynamism, style and glamour. Putting James Bond in a Mondeo is definitely surprising. The association simultaneously drove awareness of the movie and of the release date.

Design and delivery

The new Ford Mondeo features in the film for a total of 44 seconds as Bond drives along the exotic Bahamas coastline from the airport to his hotel. MindShare Performance drove the relationship between Ford and Sony/Eon, handling all contract negotiations. MindShare Interaction had a consulting role working closely with Wunderman to find innovative solutions in digital media.

We then used the Bond imagery and classic Bond theme music to invite consumers to interact with a microsite where they could ‘Enter the secret world of Bond'. This campaign ran for 6-8 weeks around the launch of the movie. MindShare Worldwide produced creative toolkits for the local Ford teams to implement in their markets, including:

• A 30-second TV and cinema spot featuring movie clips of Bond driving the Mondeo
• Online banners driving consumers to the microsite where they could see clips from the film and exclusive ‘behind the scenes' footage, and play online games
• Print and radio executions used the Bond imagery on more offer-led messages, including retail promotions and low interest rates

Evaluation

Casino Royale was extremely successful, billing $590 million and the campaign created a credible and engaging association which feels natural within the story and stood out extremely well against other brands.

• 40% of consumers agreed that 'the involvement of Ford with Casino Royale gives me a better impression of the brand'
• Research proved that the placement of the Mondeo was the main factor in increasing awareness of the association between Ford and Casino Royale. Those who were aware of the association also had a better perception of the Ford brand
• Local markets reported an increase in sales. France had a 12% increase in October against 2005. In the Netherlands the campaign was such a success that it was extended to January 2007