Car firms shifting focus

According to an online survey at major Chinese portal Sina.com, the Chevrolet Camaro in the Transformers series was the most successful instance of movie marketing, drawing 61.9 percent of the responses, followed by the BMW Mini Cooper S's appearance in The Italian Job and the Aston Martin DBS that was driven by James Bond in Casino Royale 007, with votes of 17.5 percent and 16.8 percent, respectively.

Just 3.8 percent of the participants mentioned the Skoda Octavia that appeared in the Chinese popular drama Silver Medalist.

Almost 60 percent agreed that seeing a vehicle in a film helps promote a brand's image, and 33.2 percent said it makes people more likely to purchase such a car. Only 7 percent thought that product placement would mean higher prices.

That would explain why in recent years, more vehicle producers have turned to the big screen to market their cars.

Seeing the success of its super sports car R8's appearance in the Iron Man series in China (and other Audi vehicles' success in local TV series), luxury vehicle brand Audi held the 2013 Audi Film Season in April, the first such themed movie festival organized by a vehicle producer in the world's largest automobile market.

The German brand helped promote six films where its cars made an appearance, either on the silver screen or at online video portals, in the second quarter. Those films included Hollywood's Iron Man 3 as well as Chinese movies American Dreams in China, Switch, Love Speaks, as well two micro movies: Drift, in Name of Love and A Tale of Two Cities.

"Audi China has tried many forms of artistic cooperation to get our brand message across. Sponsoring international and domestic movies, directors and performers is one of the focal points of our marketing," said Ge Shuwen, executive deputy general manager of the Audi sales division in China.

"We hope that through the fascination of film, movie audiences may take Audi to their hearts," said Ge. "The Audi Film Season is an innovative crossover marketing initiative."