Positioning James Bond, even he has to work hard at it

With Skyfall, the positioning of James Bond is sharpened once again. He doesn’t drink a ‘Shaken – Not stirred’ Martini, but a Dutch beer, and as we saw in ‘Casino Royale’, poker is now his favorite game instead of baccarat. But are these aspects of the same 007, or have we as an audience forced the filmmaker to reposition the world’s most famous secret agent? Perhaps the most important question is what we ourselves can learn from this change!

In the 23rd Bond film, Bond’s loyalty to his equally iconic boss M is put to the test, and it seems to be the most successful [read: highest grossing] in the series. It is Daniel Craig’s third film as Bond, and in an interview, he said it almost didn’t happen. After the success of Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace was a big disappointment; production fell right in the middle of the major writers’ strike. It was only after reading the Skyfall script that Craig decided to participate. The producers could also continue with the new positioning, which caused great dissatisfaction among old-school Bond fans. About Skyfall, Craig says: “I feel old, depressed, and alcoholic in Skyfall—in short: a very different 007.”

When the first Bond came out, the world was tense due to the Cold War. It was a world of intrigue, spy networks, and secretly built weapons installations. Bond was therefore a product of his time; tough, cynical, and a real man’s man. But as the world changed, Bond had to keep up with the times; the villains always symbolized which part of the world was gaining more power. Yet Bond always remained the distant English gentleman. With Daniel Craig, the producers took a drastically different path; Bond suddenly showed emotions, fight scenes became rougher, and the sexist womanizer was gone.

And successfully so! Where Bond seemed to be overshadowed by competition like the Bourne trilogy, he has come back stronger than ever. He even seems to be setting records!

From the successful positioning of James Bond over the years, we can at least conclude that positioning does not represent a static situation. Positioning reflects how your organization deals with the challenges of the market, and it must be continuously refined. A second point is that positioning should not be relevant from your perspective, but from your target audience’s! Just like with James Bond, your target audience must be convinced that your organization is the one that can help them overcome the dangers threatening their world.

Want to learn more about positioning and how you can get started yourself? Read our page positioning and find there, besides in-depth articles, dozens of examples and models for every possible positioning challenge.