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COVER STORY Li On-premise patrons will have a chance to win movie tickets, among many other activations. T he imminent release of a new James Bond movie always elicits worldwide attention. This November, when Skyfall, the 23rd fi lm in the Bond series, hits the big screen, another iconic international brand will once again be part of the action: Heineken. Skyfall represents Heineken' sixth consecutive global partnership with the Bond franchise, a 15-year-long win-win deal that began in 1997 with Tomorrow Never Dies and continued with The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002), Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008). Through global partnerships of the sort represented by the Bond pact, Heineken aims to be part of its consumers' conversations in unique and surprising ways and to re-emphasize its premium positioning. With Skyfall's release, Heineken will be creating new levels of consumer excitement—and that translates to sales, both on- and off-premise. A Perfect Partnership The Bond franchise has long been open to product partnerships that are deemed worthy of the Bond image: cool international sophistica- tion and worldly savvy mixed with an underly- ing hint of intrigue. The producers have worked with international luxury brands such as Swiss watch company Omega, champagne house Bollinger, Bavarian automobile manufacturer BMW and, of course, British supercar builder Aston-Martin. With the new fi lm, Heineken is one of the limited number of exclusive global partners for the now 50-year-old motion picture franchise—the second most successful in his- august 2012 / the tasting panel / 49 T