How Sponsors of the 100th Grey Cup are the Real Winners

            The celebration of the 100^th Grey Cup starts in Toronto, and as the players take the field around 6:30 Sunday night to battle for Grey Cup supremacy, you can bet that sponsors and local businesses will be battling as well. As fans are glued to the action on the field, major corporations and businesses are going to be keeping an eye on their wallets and the impact they are making with fans.

         The battle began a little earlier for corporations and local businesses this year, as sponsors of the Grey Cup Festival tried to find ways to stand out from the ordinary. From a 40-metre high Toronto Sun zip-line, Nissan Family Fun Zone, the Telus Street/Tailgate Festival, MBNA Adrenaline Zone, to the Scotiabank 100^th Grey Cup Gala - which featured the biggest names in the CFL; there is a little something for everyone. Local businesses geared up as well, offering giveaways of CFL merchandise and tickets, drink and food specials, local advertising on the radio and newspapers in an attempt to attract CFL fans. Even musicians are aware of how big the 100^th Grey Cup is to Canadians, with some of the biggest names in Canadian music performing during the halftime show, such as Justin Bieber, Gordon Lightfoot, Carley Rae Jepsen, and Sam Roberts.

Corporate Canada sees the importance that the CFL has on Canadians and our history. Canadians are loyal to their teams, like they are loyal to their brands. The game has been sold out for weeks and downtown Toronto is an event marketer’s dream waiting to happen. Sponsors have a chance to be part of the history that is the 100^th Grey Cup and be part of history with consumers by their side. While we all await the results, we can be sure that Canadians will be impacted by what they see in this historic night. Go Argos GO.

Branding Bond

                I had the misfortune of being sick off and on for the past two weeks. That meant a lot of time in bed, and a great deal of time watching movies. With the new release of the James Bond film happening this weekend, networks were trying to take advantage of the excitement of the movie release by playing the preview over and over. I have always been a huge fan of James Bond films, and being excited for the new film I really couldn’t stop myself from watching.  I had the pleasure to go see Skyfall and am happy to report that Bond hasn’t change too much, still defying all odds, wearing his customary the black tuxedo  and product placement in the movie was once again front and center.

Product placement has been a staple in Hollywood films for a long time now, ever since E.T ate his first Reese’s Pieces getting lured into Elliot’s home, or Tom Cruise wearing Ray Bans in Risky Business.  Product placement has come along since then, but the goal hasn’t changed; companies trying to obtain maximum exposure for their brand. Product placement and James Bond go hand and hand, starting in the original films with the Aston Martin (Sean Connery as Bond); of course that has shifted throughout the years of Bond films from the BMW Z3 (Pierce Brosnan), to the Audi A6 (Daniel Craig) and now, the new Jaguar XJ-L. What I was most shocked to see watching Skyfall was James Bond shifting from his classic martini to Heineken beer; which reportedly cost Heineken a whopping 45 million dollars. Heineken has also added a commercial 007 campaign in correlation with the release of the movie. But the company credited for making the new Bond, Sony, I think has made biggest splash. First, by having singer/songwriter Adele pen and sing the movie’s theme song (which is incredible by the way), and simultaneously releasing the new Xperia T Sony smartphone; which coincidentally has commercials running before the movie and offers exclusive Bond content when purchasing the phone.

Now that DVRs are in almost every household, TV viewers are fast forwarding through commercials, which means companies rely on product placement in movies and television shows to showcase their products. With the new release of any big motion picture, especially with franchise movies such as 007, you can expect big corporations to be all over the big screen. Movie-goers have grown accustomed to seeing the latest that companies have to offer, and I for one enjoy the product placement. I enjoy seeing creative ways marketers have slipped in an advertisement - successfully. Marketers work collectively with agencies, writers, producers and directors to incorporate product placement through various outlets, and with Skyfall grossing 90 million dollars worldwide on opening weekend alone, you can expect it to continue.