See a brand or product in a movie and describe it the movie is (italian job) the movie made in 2003 - Essay Example

[Coarse Italian Job The movie was aimed to target mainly the age group of 15-24, who are usually fond of action and cars. People of this particular age group are seemed to be more extroverts, adventurous and fearless. The main idea of the movie was to attract the targeted audience, and so far movie became successful in it.
One of the main attractions of the movie was the car Mini Cooper that was used in the movie. The product got the concentration of all the audience regardless any particular age group. According to the film critic Stephanie Zacharek’s, it is stated as; “the real stars of the movie were Mini Coopers not a person”. Mini Cooper was the leading element during a thriller chase sequence in the movie. The use of Mini Cooper was incorporated in the story in a perfect manner (Ebert). The use of this product was ideal, in a way, that it was a very compact, transportable and perfect for the movie like The Italian Job. The Product placement has apparently proved itself to be very successful. It was a large branding effort by Mini Cooper Company and BMW. Three Mini Coopers were specially designed and built for the movie that included two electric powered Mini Coopers and one technically designed Mini Cooper as gasoline power-driven vehicles are prohibited in L.A subway system, so BMW kept all the considerations as priority. Throughout the making of the movie all the cars were provided by BMW to meet the requirements of the production whereas BMW did not pay for the placement of these cars.
I particularly noticed the product as the most influential element of the movie that attracted me. First appearance of the car in the movie was just after Norton’s character goes rogue and killed Charlie. One of the Red Mini Cooper was driven by Stella (one of the main character of the movie) in the opening of the movie. After that Mini Coopers can be seen at the scene when rob, Charlie and Stella in Mini Coopers rushed into the subway when Napster signals them and then they jumped into the subway tunnel however Mini coopers can eminently seen all through the movie during all the action, robbery and chase through the streets of L.A. According to my point of view there is no possible potential risk to the product regarding this movie.
The most effective aspect of the placement was the drastic change in sales that were noticed after the release if the movie. It was reported in the Business Week 2004, that the sales of Mini Coopers in 2003 had considerably increased by 22 percent as compared to the last year; it was due to the release of movie ‘The Italian Job’. This product placement certainly helped out the company by increasing their sales effectively. The Mini Coopers can be visualized in most of the scenes of the movie as the predominant feature. BMW chose this movie to place their product that acted as full length advertisement of Mini Cooper to show the efficiency of this car whereas they also paid homage to the version of this car.
The idea behind this product placement was that the car was selected as the star vehicle of the film. This placement was intended to bring maximum impact on the audience that actually resulted in the increased sale of a particular product. In the movie stars were seen giving preference to Mini cooper and making its appeal to the viewer. Through this movie marketer made mini Coopers as a charm for the audience so that they imagine themselves racing through the streets of their own town or city in Mini Cooper that particularly boosted up the sales of Mini Cooper. It is the influence of the movie that none can ignore the credibility of the car used in the movie that particularly signifies the reliability of the product placement and marketing strategy behind it.
All together, The Italian Job made as a perfect advertisement for the Mini Coopers and enabled the marketers to reshape the position of the car in the mind of the customers as primarily this car was known for its girly and refined appearance. But after this movie Mini Cooper made its appeal just like another sports car.
The movie has a strong impact on my perception regarding Mini Coopers because my perception about this car was bit different as it seemed so feminized and dainty to me but after watching the movie my perception has become changed. According to me the changes would be like as moderation of the cars, I would make them multi-tasking and more enhanced.
By considering all the facts throughout the movie and the sales of Mini coopers after the release of The Italian Job it can be stated that it was the right move for the both the makers of the movie and the maker of the car as well that resulted as a successful product placement.
Works Cited
Ebert, Roger. Roger Eberts Movie Yearbook 2006. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2006. Print Read More