Thierry Albert Falls For Bond's Woman of the World

Martinis shaken not stirred are Bond's preferred drink, as we all know. But W+K's Thierry Albert (above right), who wrote Heineken's latest ad - starring the man himself - reveals that actually beer is his most practical choice. And Heineken beer in particular.

The cutting edge spot also features Heineken's first female protagonist (above left) and Albert shares just what sort of character he believes her to be. Although if you spot one, be sure to introduce her to him...

What was the brief you received from the client for the campaign?

Heineken has a long-term relationship with the James Bond franchise and every time a film comes out, it’s an amazing opportunity to launch a global campaign with the most legendary character ever. It’s as simple as that.

What was the inspiration behind your idea?

Well, my partner and I have been working on the Heineken brand for three years, and done more than a few campaigns with the Man of the World as a hero, so we thought this James Bond brief was the perfect opportunity to introduce his female alter ego, the Woman of the World. Especially as our client at the time, Sandrine Huijgen Le Goff was pretty much the best inspiration to follow among the mainly male Heineken crowd.

It’s the first time that there has been a female protagonist in a Heineken spot. Tell me a bit more about her and what this means for the Heineken brand.

I like to picture her as a French photographer who travels the world for her job and never misses a chance to jump on a wakeboard in an exotic location. She would always speak her mind (in English with no accent) and have a son called Jules back home in London. And when the opportunity to help Bond arises, she doesn’t let go of the rope and gives everything to help him out of trouble. I wish I knew someone like that. I would marry her in a heartbeat.

But I digress… I think it’s quite courageous for a big international beer brand like Heineken to have a woman as the main protagonist of the ad. Especially, when she’s the one saving the day. But then, we always felt Alexis Nasard, who was the big boss at Heineken till March this year, was a very forward thinking and courageous man. We had a blast working with him during those three years.

What were the challenges involved with creating the campaign?

First, you have to respect James Bond’s character and merge him successfully into the Heineken campaign. Not that easy. But to be fair, our main challenge was to write a (good) story that would work with the fact that we only had Daniel Craig for six hours on the shoot. No more, no less.

But once we cracked it, the rest was a walk in the park. Especially with Tom Kuntz who we knew very well from having worked with him on Heineken Odyssey, the previous campaign we shot together. He’s such a sweet caring dude.

And the rewards?

The reward was definitely to get to shoot for eight days in the most epic location in Croatia, driving gorgeous Riva boats with all the crew and stuntmen from the Bond production. And to present the result to Barbara Brocolli herself (below). What a woman again… It doesn’t get any bigger than that nowadays, does it?

Bond is known for drinking martinis. How important was his authenticity for the client and target audience and do you think the ad succeeds in getting that across?

Well, if I’m being honest, I don’t think you can tempt two baddies in suits chasing Bond on a (very) hot day on Lake Como with… a Martini. Shaken or stirred. It has to be a crispy fresh Heineken, don’t you think?

James Bond is an internationally recognised character. How did you adjust your writing style to suit his reputation?

I grew up with Bond and I’ve always been a massive fan so it’s not that hard to get into his shoes. More like a dream come true. We wrote a lot of scripts knowing we had to keep some of Bond’s features, such as the action-packed adventure, the exotic location, and the dry humour - but blended with the Heineken world. We were the guardians. All of it is about high-end production value, legendary behaviours and wit. What an interesting challenge to have!