In blogosphere, there?s a sense of disbelief that the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, is releasing in India on November 7, a full week ahead of the US where it?s hitting screens on November 14. Some have blamed it on the financial meltdown; others are plain angry, but fact is, Bond is a much bigger property worldwide than in the US ? and India is playing more than a part.
So, does cool and cruel ? that?s what the promos make him look ? Daniel Craig?s Bond have the licence to thrill a second time? Are the locales as spectacular as ever, the women as intriguing, the weapons as other-worldly? While the UK premiere got mixed reviews, India is readying to roll out the red carpet for Bond, James Bond (the catchphrase is missing in this film ? see box). Consider this: the last Bond film, Casino Royale, grossed $594 million globally and collected Rs 42 crore at the Indian box-office, easily matching a topline Bollywood film?s earnings. ?This time we expect to do better,?says Kercy Daruwala, MD, Sony Pictures India, which is releasing 600-625 prints and dubbing it in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
?Every Bond episode has shown growth; James Bond has a huge equity in this country. We released 428 prints for Casino Royale. This time we are releasing more prints and expect to earn Rs 55 crore or thereabouts at the box-office,? he adds.
Says Pritish Nandy of PNC: ?Bond is an English hero. While it could collect about $150 million in the US, it would usually do four times that worldwide. In India it could collect anything between Rs 50-70 crore gross.?
Harish Bijoor, brand expert & CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, says the Bond brand is very big in India, inestimably big even. ?James Bond, in many ways, is the ultimate Bollywood masala dish-out that happened much before Bollywood itself discovered its masala fare. Therefore, James Bond clicks big in India,? he adds.
Worldwide, James Bond?s retail networth is high too. Even this time, though Craig?s Bond has ditched many of 007?s gadgets, big brands are riding on Quantum of Solace like Omega, Sony, Ford, Avon, Smirnoff and so forth. For instance, apart from the favoured Aston Martin that Bond rides, Ford is using Quantum to showcase its new Ka series cars; Omega has launched the watch Craig?s wearing in the film, an Omega 2201.50 Seamaster Planet Ocean; Sony has launched Z series Vaio laptops; and Avon a Bond Girl 007 perfume. Most of them have a presence in India and yet the launches have been ?limited? and low-key.
?The retail networth of the James Bond brand is the collective awareness score that the brand creates among millions of viewers world-wide,? says Bijoor. ?The retail networth of the Bond brand does not, however, get translated into sales value in India,? he adds. ?There?s a disconnect here. The viewers of Bond films are the masses. The buyers of these premium brands are niches. There is a mismatch. The retail networth does not get monetised in India.?
And yet, according to insiders, the brands associated with Bond will spend anywhere between Rs 16-18 crore to promote the film in India, the Sony electronic promotionals alone amounting to Rs 7-8 crore. While Sony Pictures is not going overboard to promote the film apart from releasing a large number of prints, it?s getting huge support from promotional partners under the Sony umbrella.
So, Sony Ericsson has launched a limited edition Titanium silver C902 Cyber-shot TM phone as used by Bond in the film. The phone, with a price tag of Rs 20,995, is available for a limited period and includes a memory card loaded with a host of 007 content. Sony Ericsson has been associated with two other Bond films ? it had launched the limited edition James Bond Casino Royale silver K800i Cyber-shot TM camera phone and in November 2002 the Sony Ericsson P800 and T68i mobile phones were used by several of the cast in the 20th James Bond film, Die Another Day. For the first time in India, Sony India will hold a lucky draw post November 2 to hand out 50 Sony Z series Quantum of Solace Vaio laptops. Sony BMG has launched the original sound track across 200+ big retail stores. Says Arjun Sankalia, associate director, international repertoire, Sony BMG India: ?James Bond is a unique property in India and has tremendous cache across languages and pop strata. We are aiming to achieve ?gold? status on this OST.?
Omega has launched limited editions of James Bond watches that Craig is wearing in the film: an Omega Seamaster James Bond Limited Edition (10,007 pieces), with a price tag of Rs 1,36,800, and the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Limited Edition (5,007 pieces), costing Rs 1,40,600. Ask PH Narayanan, Brand Manager, Omega India, about the feedback and he says, ?the response to the James Bond collection has always been outstanding. With the increasing popularity of this character in India, it just keeps getting better.?
To celebrate its association with arguably the year?s most stylish movie, Smirnoff Black has unveiled a special Smirnoff Black ? Bond Limited Edition collector?s pack that features the Smirnoff Black bottle and Bond shakers and is available only in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore at Rs 1,200 a pack and at duty free shops for $17. Says Asif Adil, MD, Diageo India: ?From the moment Smirnoff graced James Bond?s lips for the first time in Dr No, the first Bond movie in 1962, it was a match made in heaven. The alliance between the two iconic brands was very well received in 2006 too when Casino Royale was released.?
Ask Adil if Bond is a big brand in India and he quips: ?Yes, and the key to the success of the brand is that it has ensured a consistent image across time. Most global brands love to have this kind of a consistency in interpretation, but the truth is that it?s not an easy thing to attain. While remaining consistent is desirable, retaining relevance is an even bigger challenge and it is here that the brand has done extremely well in India.?
Now, only if there was a quantum of profit in retail sales too, but no one is complaining as long as the collections keep rising.