"Vodka martini, please. Shaken, not stirred." To a certain generation, that is the most famous cocktail in the world. And there's no mistaking who placed the order. Bond, James Bond. Perhaps you know the fictional British super spy by his code name, 007. And his brand of vodka? Smirnoff. The relationship between Bond and the brand goes back to the spy's first movie, "Dr. No," in 1962, reports USA Today. The relationship cooled for a while, but now the two are reunited in the newest 007 flick, "Casino Royale," scheduled for a November release. Smirnoff will be on a smaller …

When Walt Disney announced several years ago that it was making a movie called "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," potential marketing partners scoffed at the idea of a film based on an amusement park ride. But after the movie opened in the summer of 2003 and went on to gross $653 million worldwide, they changed their tune. This year, companies lined up to get a piece of the movie's sequel, Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which hit theaters earlier this month. A long list of marketing tie-ins--including Volvo, Kodak, Kellogg's, Visa, MySpace …

Hewlett-Packard has included viral marketing as part of an edgy, new global campaign designed to create a hipper image for the computer company. The viral portion of the effort consisted of an unusual Web site that debuted during the World Cup soccer tournament called FingerSkilz.tv. The site showed close-up videos of a man's hand on a desktop, using two fingers to perform soccer tricks with a wadded-up paper "ball." It attracted more than 180,000 unique visitors, prompted widespread discussion on blogs, and moved imitators to create their own "fingerball" videos and post them on the Web. Rumors swirled that the …

It's summertime, and like everyone else, marketers are hitting the beach. Not for vacation, mind you, but to promote their brands. Beachgoers this season will see sun bunnies lounging on Smirnoff towels or seeking shade under Verizon umbrellas. Many promotions are new, but some of the items sporting brand names and logos have been around for a long time. That's one of the advantages of such promotional materials--they have a long shelf life. While it is difficult to measure the success of such campaigns, consumers are seen as more receptive to ads at the beach than they might be elsewhere. …

Jeep wants younger consumers to buy its vehicles and is counting on bobbleheads to deliver its commercial message in a new, multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign. That's right, bobbleheads. Four 30-second TV spots for the Compass, Jeep's first entry into the compact SUV segment, feature over a dozen bobblehead characters, including a blues musician and a dog. Brandweek says the campaign will target a younger buyer, 22-30, who is single, urban, and college-educated, with an average income of around $40,000. The campaign's goal is to bring the Jeep brand to younger buyers than its current 45-to-55 consumer. It also wants to …

Telephone-services marketer T-Mobile has found a new way to use sponsorship marketing in the U.K. to reach young consumers. Instead of sponsoring large-scale events like rock festivals, the company is inviting small groups--as few as 300 people--to shows by top bands in small venues such as basement clubs or lighthouses. The advertiser's presence at such events is subtle, yet unmistakable. For example, their corporate logos are nowhere to be seen, but the stage is lit in the unmistakable color pink of the T-Mobile logo. "We're trying to put bands you wouldn't expect in really surprising venues," says Karen Harrison, brand …

Marketers know the value of a venerable brand name. All would love to own a name that resonates through the years and plants a solid, unmistakable image in the minds of consumers. Think Coke, Nike, or McDonald's. Another one is AT&T. Although it has been slightly tarnished of late, the brand still strikes a strong chord with consumers. That's why its owners are betting heavily on a brand resurgence as they expand the company through acquisition, says The New York Times. When SBC Communications bought AT&T last year, SBC promptly took the AT&T name. And if its pending purchase of …

Marketers' demand for metrics that prove the effectiveness of their advertising has spread to the world of gaming, an ad outlet steadily growing in popularity. A new research company, Interpret LLC, has announced that it is launching a service dubbed Gameasure that will provide third-party measurement for in-game advertising, reports Mediaweek. Gameasure will track a variety of metrics for video games across multiple gaming platforms, such as user demographics, reach and frequency and duration of play, according to Interpret. At launch, the product will pull survey-based data from a panel of gamers, but plans are in the works to …

Procter & Gamble wants women to share its secrets, and the company is willing to pay $1 for them, says Promo magazine. The money will go to a good cause, and the secrets are meant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of P&G's Secret deodorant brand. "We are celebrating 50 years of strong women," says P&G spokeswoman Michelle Vaeth. "It takes a strong woman to share a secret." The promotion calls for participants to visit a special Web site and write a story that contains a secret. They are supposed to use only their first names, and for each one received …

Toyota has cut a deal with the NBC television network that requires NBC to demonstrate viewer "engagement," the new marketing buzzword, with its programming. Under terms of the deal, NBC and the carmaker will use data from IAG Research--a firm that measures viewers' response to TV programs, ads, and product placements--to prove that viewers have paid attention to programming and can recall details about a TV show, such as its story line. NBC is making the commitment in addition to giving Toyota a standard minimum-audience guarantee that relies on Nielsen Media Research TV ratings, reports The Wall Street Journal. The …