Proof – if further proof is needed – that business comes down to timing can be found in the success of the latest Bond film, Skyfall. True, it is not on general release until Friday, but we are still confident in predicting that it will be a success. The word of mouth is excellent and what must surely be the most intensive product tie-in campaign in history is providing a lot of the heavy lifting in marketing the film. It seems like every other advert on British television references Bond in one way or another.

It was not always thus...

Only two years ago, it looked unlikely that the film – or any other in the current Bond series – would ever be made, and more probable that one of cinema’s longest-running and most lucrative franchises had run its course. The MGM bankruptcy put production on hold, but there was already an air of pessimism about the project. Although its predecessor, Quantum of Solace, grossed very respectably in cash terms, it was not a great return on a very large investment after adjusting for marketing. Reviews were lacklustre, prompting speculation that Bond was coming to the end of his product life cycle. The BCG Matrix might accomplish what SMERSH and SPECTRE had always failed to do.

However, America’s excellent bankruptcy laws gave MGM time to regroup and the delay in production proved a blessing in disguise. The revised release date enabled the film to capitalise on the 50^th Anniversary of the first Bond film, Dr No, in 1962. More importantly, it follows a series of events over the summer – the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Olympic Games, and the Paralympics – that made Britain the focus of international attention. Bond star Daniel Craig was able to exploit that by appearing as 007 in the most-viewed segment of the Olympic Opening Ceremony with no less a co-star than Her Majesty – the greatest product tie-in of them all, three mega-brands coming together.

Bond has been a signature brand for the UK since his first appearance in Ian Fleming’s novel Casino Royale, as well as a useful marketing tool for other British brands – Aston Martin, Scotch*, Savile Row suits, and the like. Bond is the corporate image of itself that Britain likes to project to the rest of the world. Every British male – even wimpy “politically correct” types – would, more or less secretly, like to be Bond. Although the economic statistics remain discouraging, the success of the three big events of the summer helps the return of this symbol of British self-confidence accord more with the public mood than it would have done last year. A successful re-launch of the franchise might in turn boost other British business. Perception has a way of becoming reality.

Mr Bond, we’ve been expecting you.

* James Bond's desire for a Scotch and soda was lost in the production of the movies but it is the mixed drink he has most often in the books (a total of 21 times). Source: 10 cocktails from the James Bond films

Boots are the UK’s leading pharmacist. Like most pharmacists, probably all around the world, they have expanded into selling other products. Unlike most, they have expanded on a huge scale into a bewildering array of non-medical products from which they derive most of their income. The larger branches of the retailing chain are “one stop shops” almost on the level of department stores.

On a recent visit, your contributor noted a tiny detail which sums up the secret of Boots’ success.

The real reason for the visit was the need for a little oil for a very old electric razor. As turned out, Boots had none – the modern fashion is, of course, to replace electrical goods rather than to maintain them – but the genius of Boots is that, whatever the reason for the initial visit, it is hard to leave the shop without buying something else.

In particular, it may just have been an oversight, but is more likely the mark of a brilliant sales manager, that there was, in the middle of the shaver supplies stand, a display of cheap black retractable umbrellas.

Retractable umbrellas? What possible link can there be between shaver supplies and retractable umbrellas?

This and only this: who buys them? Most electrical shaver products are bought by men – and men also buy most black retractable umbrellas.

At least they do in rain swept Britain. What is more, the rate of attrition for retractable umbrellas – between absent-mindedly leaving them behind at every other meeting and having them blown apart by the unpredictable British wind – is very high. Rare is the man who goes shopping with the deliberate intention of buying a retractable umbrella. Rarer still is the man who, seeing one immediately in front of his eyes at a cheap price when he is spending money anyway, could not do with a new one.

Significantly, the umbrella display in the razor stand was half empty.

The secret of marketing success is very simple. Find out who your customers are and whatever it might be that they will buy – then put it right in front of them at the very moment they are already spending money.

The early Christians knew a thing or two about marketing.

The Gospels do not give the actual date of Jesus’ birth. However, anyone living in an economy dominated by pastoral agriculture would take Luke’s mention of shepherds watching their flocks by night as a definite reference to spring or summer, when sheep were out in the pasture. Most of the astronomical theories about the Star of Bethlehem point in the same direction.

However, the primitive Church used the absence of a specific date as a pretext to rebrand pagan mid-winter festivals as Jesus’ “official birthday”, so that converts would not have to give up a popular holiday.

So complaints about the “commercialisation” of Christmas rather miss the point.

Those who seek a purely Christian festival have usually valued Easter and Pentecost more than Christmas, which has always been more about conspicuous consumption to cheer everyone up during the very darkest days of winter. This was followed soon enough by a period of fasting – Lent making a virtue of necessity as winter food stocks ran out.

The modern equivalent is the splurge on the credit card in December followed by belt-tightening in the New Year. Scientists have shown how a decrease in sunlight causes depression, but consumption releases chemicals that can counter that depression – so Christmas may be part of our biology.

The precise pattern may be changing. Many in the UK are worried that the devastation of the retail sector by snow in the week before Christmas may have a disproportionate effect on national economic growth for the whole year. This effect may be magnified by a rise in sales tax, called Value Added Tax in Britain, coming into force just in time to negate the usual post-Christmas discount sales.

These worries are probably overstated. While overall economic conditions mean this year is unlikely to be outstanding, the probability is that Christmas has been postponed rather than cancelled. That biological cycle is still at work, and a little snow and a small tax rise are unlikely to make that much difference.

So it will probably be a Merry Christmas after all – eventually.

The meerkat is a small mammal. Its large eyes and its habit of standing on its hind legs make it extremely telegenic.

It is native to southern Africa. It is not found in Russia, nor could it survive there in the wild – at least not for long.

So the very notion of a Russian meerkat is absurd – so absurd that it is both amusing and memorable. That is the rationale behind the success of Aleksandr Orlov, an anthropomorphic meerkat with a thick Russian accent who fronts the advertising for a British insurance company. Aleksandr professes outrage that the company’s website, “Compare the Market”, is often confused with his own, “Compare the Meerkat”.

This joke has become very elaborate. Anyone who actually looks for the “Compare the Meerkat” website will find that it exists – subtly directing customers on to the insurance site.

The biggest joke of all is that Aleksandr has proved very profitable. The insurance company has prospered even in recession, and Aleksander has become a secondary income stream in his own right.

The idea of taking two wholly unrelated concepts – in this case an African mammal and the tropes of classic Russian literature – can be applied to more than advertising. It has also led to breakthrough moments in product development, technical innovation, and even business strategy.

However, it can be overdone. Vinnie, an anthropomorphic panda with a New York accent and more than a hint of organised crime about him, is selling Fox’s biscuits. A New York Panda is as good as a Moscow meerkat, but where the insurance company’s name links in to the parody very nicely, the name of the biscuit company adds confusion. A Mafiosi fox might have been better: the connection of two disconnected elements can be witty and original, but to try to connect three may be too ambitious.

Lateral thinking can be very effective, but only so long as it is not overcomplicated – or, as our favourite meerkat would say, keep it “simples”.

See our selection of other Aleksandr Orlov videos:

Timing is crucial in politics, and last week would have been the perfect moment for anyone wishing to become Dictator of the UK to seize power and tear up whatever is left of the British constitution.

No one would have noticed them doing it. The British media are obsessed with the X Factor and half the population are talking of nothing else – the other half are losing the will to live.

Far from despising it, those of us in business ought to study the X Factor because it is a masterclass in marketing. In particular, it shows how to use “free” publicity to magnify the effects of direct promotion, and how, in the modern world, style trumps substance every time.

The X Factor is no more than an old-style talent competition like The Gong Show, Opportunity Knocks, or New Faces. It was a format considered defunct as show business became slicker and more professional, but which has been revived by the ironically-named Idol and ...Got Talent franchises. The X Factor has become a cultural phenomenon in Britain. An American version is on its way, as is a new Australian version with Natalie Imbruglia as a judge.

However, the original British version shows signs of getting tired. Every year it gets harder to find genuine undiscovered talent. This season, several contestants are rejects from previous years.

Only one act generated much excitement in the first selection round, a heart-breakingly pretty singer from Zimbabwe, Gamu Nhengu. Ratings were dropping. They improved in the third round, a “sudden death” show in which over half the remaining contestants were to be dropped.

The judges’ decisions were bizarre. Nearly all the interesting acts, including Gamu, were dropped. There was outrage on the internet and threats of a boycott. The media picked up on the story – dubbed, inevitably, “Gamu-gate”.

As if the producers saw the backlash coming, it was announced immediately that there would be a “twist” in the next show. The rumour was spread that some of the axed contestants, including Gamu, might be brought back after all.

This had a positive effect on ratings. Millions tuned in to see several contestants brought back – but Gamu was not among them. Once again, the chat-rooms are filled with threats of boycotts – but to threaten a boycott at least shows interest, and interest means ratings. The fact that even blogs like this have noticed the story says it all.

Is all this due to marketing genius or a panic reaction to a bad decision?