Skyfall: billion dollar brand revitalisation

I posted on Skyfall last year, here, saying it was a good example of brand revitalisation. Well, as things have turned out, "good" was a little bit of an under statement.

Skyfall's global box office has broken the billion dollar mark, making it the most succesful Bond movie since the franchise was launched 50 years ago. And this is an impressive 70% increase on the first two Daniel Craig Bond movies (Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace).

Watching the movie again last night on DVD with my family reminded me about what a great job the producers did to make the 24th Bond the most successful ever.

1. Invest in upgrading the core product

The heart of Skyfall's success is simply that it was a bloody good movie. The producers really invested time and effort in upgrading the core product. First, there was a stellar cast of great actors. There was Dainel Craig and Judi Dench, of course. But we also had Javier Bardem as surely one of the best ever baddies. Ralph Fiennes was excellent as Gareth Mallory, and M in waiting. But my personal favourite, Albert Finney as Kincade (on the left), the keeper of Bond's childhood home, Skyfall.

The script was also a cracker, with some fantastic one-liners and dialogue. Then there was the coup of getting Oscar winning director Sam Mendes to direct.

2. Distinctive brand properties

Skyfall is a really catchy and memorable movie name, especially compared to the mouthful that was Quantum of Solace. This helps make the movie distinctive and memorable.

The latest Bond also has one of the all-time classic Bond theme songs, Adele's Oscar-winning Skyfall. This song was a brilliant brand property that helped promote the movie. A simple but important feature of the song is that it has the same title as the movie. This sounds obvious, but can anyone remember the theme songs from Casino Royale or Quantum of Solace?

Here are the theme songs, along with the YouTube views of said songs:

Casino Royale: "You Know My Name", by Chris Cornell (who?) – 0.6 million views

Quantum of Solace: "Another Way To Die", by Alicia Keys and Jack White – 1.6 million views

Skyfall: Skyfall, by Adele – 88 million views

3. Remember and refresh what made you famous

It was great to see some of the iconic Bond brand properties being polished off and used in Skyfall. We had the glorious Aston Martin DB5, including ejector seat button in the gear stick. We had the return of a new Miss Moneypenny. And M will be back to being a man, with the arrival of Gareth Mallory.

On the other hand, it was refreshing and surprising to see James Bond's weaknesses and failings. Indeed, for some people this was a weakness in the movie, making our hero un-Bond like. But, love or hate this twist, it got people talking.

In conclusion, Skyfall is a billion dollar example of brand revitalisation, showing the benefits of investing in upgrading the core product and making it distinctive.