James Bond as a brand – the collaborations that shaped the longest film franchise

By: Anders Frejdh

Published:
2026-05-07

James Bond is one of the most enduring and commercially exploited brands in popular culture. Since the early 1960s, the franchise has been shaped by both cinematic storytelling and commercial collaborations. Numerous product placements, brand collaborations, and other partnerships have become part of the business model for Bond films. With Daniel Craig in a new DENZA campaign and IO Interactive’s new video game 007 First Light just around the corner, the business logic behind it is particularly relevant.

The watches, cars and clothes that created Bond’s identity

The Aston Martin DB5 was given the role of Bond’s car in Goldfinger (1964) and has since been called “The most famous car in the world”. Of the four Goldfinger DB5s, two were intended for filming and two for marketing. It was special effects expert John Stears who modified the prototype and persuaded Aston Martin to make the DB5 available for the film. The car model has since reappeared in several Bond productions, from Thunderball (1965) to No Time To Die (2021).

Ever since the 1995 film GoldenEye, Bond has worn an OMEGA on his wrist through a collaboration that moved the film character from the Rolex connection of the novels to OMEGA.

OMEGA, GoldenEye, Pierce Brosnan, 1995

OMEGA advertisement with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in GoldenEye. Copyright © 1995 Danjaq LLC. & United Artists Pictures. All rights reserved.

On the costume side, it was the Italian brand Brioni who dressed Bond during the Pierce Brosnan era, before American brand Tom Ford took over the tailoring responsibilities starting with Quantum of Solace (2008) and then Craig for the remainder of his era.

Local consumption shapes and challenges the Bond formula

The Bond formula has always been built on its own rituals: the vodka martini, the gaming table, the suit, and the watch. When such a ritual is replaced, the reaction can be strong. Heineken beer instead of Martini in Skyfall (2012) became a clear point of friction. Fans of the film series reacted strongly because Bond has long been associated with Vodka Martini. (In the original James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, Bond sometimes drank beer while Martinis were less common.)

The same feelings and phenomena can easily be connected to one’s own everyday life, not least here in Sweden. Here, snus (snuff) has its own product logic and is divided into different categories - portion snus, white snus, slime and loose snus. These are formats that are established in Swedish consumer culture, without carrying any Bond codes. A Swedish prilla may be obvious in our own everyday life, but it does not automatically fit in next to the martini, the watch and the DB5.

The Heineken deal and the business logic behind Bond

The Heineken deal in Skyfall became one of the clearest markers of the development. The deal was estimated to be worth 45 million US dollars. This was much more than Daniel Craig’s fee for No Time to Die nine years later.

Heineken was clearly visible in Skyfall, which broke with Bond’s accustomed vodka martini. But the brewery’s Bond partnership actually stretched all the way back to Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and at that time included six films, from the Brosnan era through Daniel Craig's first films.

Commercials and ongoing product placements

Heineken has also made its own commercials linked to the franchise. Ahead of Spectre (2015), the brewery produced a TV commercial starring Daniel Craig as Bond, where Spectre photographers and stuntmen were hired to give the action scenes an authentic feel. At the time, Heineken described itself as the only Spectre partner to produce such a commercial with Craig in the Bond role.

Heineken’s Spectre ad starring Daniel Craig as James Bond

Daniel Craig himself has explained that Skyfall would not have been produced without the partnership agreements. It is a statement that serves as a good example of how strongly sponsorship revenue can weigh in on the financing of high-budget films. Through the companies’ strategy to reach consumers through Bond, billions of dollars have been drawn in from alcohol, watches and razors, among other things.

The cars have a function beyond the pure promotional agreements. The Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger has long been part of the character’s imagery, while the DENZA collaboration rather borrows Craig’s recognition for a new launch. The OMEGA collaboration, in turn, has been a stable part of the films since GoldenEye (1995).

Collaborations in the 2020s Bond

In the 2020s, the same pattern is also visible outside the films themselves. In the spring of 2026, Daniel Craig was presented as the frontman of a new global campaign for DENZA, BYD’s premium car brand. It was ahead of the launch of the flagship model Z9GT, a shooting brake, at the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris. The campaign is linked to DENZA's expansion into Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. It combines Craig's Bond image with a car brand that wants to strengthen its international presence.

Daniel Craig, DENZA Z9GT, Byd, 2026

Daniel Craig in a publicity photo for DENZA Z9GT. Copyright © 2026 BYD. Alla rättigheter förbehållna.

On the gaming side, IO Interactive, the Danish-Swedish studio behind the Hitman series, will release 007 First Light on 27th May 2026 for PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S. The game is an original story where Bond is presented as a young recruit in the MI6 training program. The game mechanics are based on the same stealth, planning and improvisation focus that the studio developed in the Hitman series.

DENZA is using Craig's recognition for an international launch, while IO Interactive is making Bond playable as a young agent. Yet it's still the DB5, the suit, the OMEGA watch and the martini glass that most clearly signal Bond.

The boundary between campaign and Bond identity

Despite the outward broadening, several of the most recognizable markers have remained stable. Aston Martin and the British-coded tailoring style form an identity line from Goldfinger to No Time to Die.

Ahead of Casino Royale (2006), costume designer Lindy Hemming turned to a British tailoring company, namely Sunspel, and ordered a remade version of their Riviera polo shirt for Daniel Craig. When Craig then left the role, the company released a series of three Riviera variants based on polo shirts from Casino Royale, Skyfall and Spectre.

The DB5 and the OMEGA watch carry memories from the scenes. Heineken and DENZA are more part of the agreements around the character. Some product categories therefore work better as contrasts than as natural parts of the Bond image.

Article by Anders Frejdh. Copyright © 2026 From Sweden with Love. All rights reserved.

Photo on top:
Sean Connery as James Bond with an Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger. Copyright © 1964 Danjaq S.A. & United Artists Corporation. All rights reserved.

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