The Screen Addict | Branded Integration

BMW’s short-film collection The Hire is one of the finest examples of branded integration I’ve ever seen. Produced by Ridley and Tony Scott’s RSA Films and helmed by the world’s greatest directors, The Hire follows Clive Owen as “The Driver” steering a different model BMW in each episode.

This tactic of combining art and advertising goes a step beyond branded content or product placement – with branded integration, the entire show revolves around a particular product.

Famous examples of branded integration in film are of course Transformers, G.I. Joe and Barbie, but there are also less conspicuous efforts, such as The Social Network and Robert Zemeckis’ Cast Away.

I know it sounds a bit far-fetched – perhaps even inappropriate – to call the Tom Hanks classic an example of branded integration, but if you really think about it, FedEx, its products and employees are a huge part of the narrative in Cast Away.

Obviously, the film isn’t an outright commercial for the company – for one thing, the story involves one of their cargo planes quite graphically crashing into the ocean – but one can see how the FedEx brass saw the PR potential and chose to participate anyway.

After all – one of the loveliest story-details in the film is that Hanks eventually personally delivers all the parcels that washed up on the island with him. I can think of no better and more effective plot for a thirty-second ad than that.

Branded integration has always fascinated me, and I refuse to dismiss it as a distasteful element of film and television production. In fact – I believe that if done right, it is not only a great tool for brand awareness and a way to fix financing-issues, it can greatly enhance story-engagement as well.

Cast Away and The Hire are phenomenal examples of this unique type of synergy, and I’ve included the episode Guy Ritchie directed for BMW to illustrate my point.

One of LogLine Entertainment’s pillars is the development of branded-integration pitches for likeminded companies. I have taken the liberty to write several spec-scripts featuring both established and evolving brands, and would love to take it to the next level with the right people.

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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict