Theresa Howard tells us the newest James Bond on the silver and digital screen, Daniel Craig, has attracted marketers of younger, hipper products to a franchise that has long been known for its
placements and tie-ins. Among those cited for "Quantum of Solace," which opens Nov. 14 in the U.S., are Coke Zero, Swatch and Avon's Bond Girl 007 Fragrance.
We'll take at face value
the words of Georg Leon, Sony's executive vp, consumer marketing, who says: "What we are finding now is that he not only crosses demographics, men and women, young and old, he has helped extend and
broaden Bond so that it's become a culture event."
Given another sentence, I've no doubt he'd be dubbed iconic, too.
Writing in
Ad Age , Rich Thomaselli says that another James -- Lebron -- probably needs to win a championship ring if he's going to achieve his
goal of becoming a global icon along the likes of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods or Muhammed Ali.
There's also some discussion in the article about whether James' approach to iconic
status might be a little too deliberate. "The marketing strategy doesn't quite match the effortless grace of one of [Lebron's] three-point shots," says Don Hinchey, vice president of Denver-based
sports-marketing firm the Bonham Group.
But cry not for the not-yet-iconic Lebron, for I have buried the lede: As it stands, he's the highest-paid endorser in the National Basketball
Association, earning an estimated $25 million a year from a cornucopia of top marketers including Nike, MSN, Upper Deck and Coca-Cola
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