Yes, I have done my share of James Bond -related marketing gimmicks in my past as those who worked with me at Nokia or Elisa will recall. But even I would not have had the guts to suggest something like this. Today's The Business here in the UK tells the 007 spy novel level of industrial espionage "misdirection" ploys that Tesco's the largest British supermarket chain has done.
Tesco's felt it should consider an expansion (invasion if you will) into the US market, which is dominated by Wal-Mart. Tesco's decided to explore a market entry prospect, specific to the West Coast / California market. But how they did it? They posed as movie producers ! With the concept of making a movie around the grocery supermarkets business. They rented an airline hanger, where they constructed their Tesco store, supposedly as a "movie set" where they could then do their various market research activities. To make sure they weren't caught, they even did not use their Tesco's credit cards for any of the purchases...
1 - the eternal James Bond fan in your HatRat/Tomi Ahonen totally loves this idea ! Wow, this is market misdirection on a "hollywood scale" ha-ha.
2 - This shows guts by Tesco. Not only to consider entering Wal-Mart's home market, but then to do the lavish deception to get real market research data on that launch option. Brilliant
3 - Expect more of this kind of stealth marketing ! Too many CEO's have read Bond books and seen the movies, and think "wait, I could do a Jamesbondish thing with this" especially now that this Tesco's caper is revealed.
4- if the James Bond producers of official film number 21, Casino Royale, are still casting out for an actor, remember this Ahonen has the age and looks to do the film - my contact info is here, I will be happy to do the screen test, my Finnish accent will have similar R's as Sean Connery, so why not, ha-ha... Shaken, not stirred.
Seriously - Congratulations Tesco, this is a significant first in "marketing warfare" - quite excellently executed case of misdirection. The youth of marketing students will be reading this case study when they prepare for marketing in the second decade of this century.
Bad news for folks who've been holding out for a white iPhone 4: Apple has delayed the white version of its popular smartphone until later this year. The white iPhone 4 was first delayed until late July, and then promised for the end of the month by Apple chief executive Steve Jobs just a week ago, but now there's no ship date in sight.
Posted by: Henry Peise | December 24, 2010 at 08:54 AM