Becks : why he still has the world at his feet
He may be out of the World Cup, but that won't stop us buying into football's most recognisable brand
Saturday March 20 2010
His face sells everything from razors to Japanese chocolates. So when David Beckham's tendon went twang last Sunday night, there were a lot more than fans fretting over his long road to recovery. But with his World Cup dreams undoubtedly over, the question is will this injury prove to be the Achilles heel for brand Beckham?
He is a good footballer, but not a great footballer. Before brand-management companies began to manipulate and twist his image, he was just one of several naturally gifted players, such as Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes -- who, like Beckham, emerged from the club's youth team -- in a gifted Manchester United squad.
But his celebrity status quickly blurred his achievements on the pitch and rocketed him towards superstardom.
Now, while his Manchester United contemporaries still play key roles in a side on the cusp of winning yet more trophies, Beckham is no longer a tour de force on the football pitch. But this matters little. The aura surrounding Beckham has always been immense.
So much so, that he was twice runner-up in the Fifa World Player of the Year awards -- a highly questionable accolade when his talents purely as a footballer are taken into account.
While Beckham the footballer has at times been exceptional (mainly when it comes to crosses and free-kicks), Beckham the brand and merchandising machine has become iconic.
"There's little doubt that his days as a world-class footballer are numbered," says public-relations and brand expert Paul Allen of Paul Allen & Associates.
"But that is unlikely to mean his status as a brand is finished. As the world's most famous football personality, he is still a massive icon both on and off the pitch and companies will still want to exploit that."
Already, the England squad is hoping to benefit from the Beckham circus, without having to suffer his fading football skills. Within hours of the star being ruled out of the World Cup, a 'special' role was fashioned which will see him travel to South Africa and act as a mentor while lobbying for England's 2018 World Cup bid. "I think his future off the pitch still looks pretty secure for the time being," says Allen.
"But as his days on the football pitch begin to become a distant memory, this will limit brand Beckham's appeal."
Indeed, as Beckham's star begins to fade and sponsors come to terms with the fall-out from Tiger Wood's spectacular and highly public fall from grace, the days of sports stars becoming such all-conquering brands could soon be over.
"A lot of brands are going to be very nervous of any endorsement deal, irrespective of who the character is and how squeaky clean they appear," says John Trainor of Onside Sponsorship.
Indeed, the fallout from the Tiger Woods affair is already likely to have affected the earning power of all sporting stars, including the likes of Padraig Harrington and Brian O'Driscoll.
"It's going to reflect itself in contracts, in that they will be much tighter and much more robust in terms of how they protect themselves against risk," he says.
"Sponsorship can be a risk, but at the same time, there is an upside."
Sponsorship deals have become an important ingredient in developing how people think and feel about a company or product.
Because it is difficult for inanimate products to develop 'brand personality', companies build associations between their products and the personalities they pay to endorse products.
So even during Tiger Woods's darkest hours, Nike, his main sponsor, never flinched. Now, as Woods returns to golf at the Masters, the sponsors who stuck by the star are set to get a boost from their ad spend, lifting the value of their TV spots by 43pc, according to estimates by media analysts.
Indeed, if Tiger can claw his way to a victory, clad in apparel with Nike's swoosh logo, it could give the sportswear giant media exposure worth as much as $36m (€26.5m).
So sponsors will still be willing to milk the fame of the relatively squeaky-clean brand Beckham for some time.
But as Beck's six-pack slowly starts to fade and his ability to front underwear billboard campaigns diminishes, one direction he has indicated he's interested in is purchasing a Major League Soccer franchise in America.
Becks has already made big bucks in the US. He cashed in to the tune of $16.5m (€12m) in personal sponsorship deals during his first full season with the Los Angeles Galaxy, on top of his $5.5m (€4m) salary.
He also enjoys a share of club merchandising, has sponsorship deals with Adidas, Motorola and Armani, and a range of fragrances with his former Spice Girls wife, Victoria.
"Beckham has such enduring cross-over appeal, he could possibly succeed at anything," says Allen.
"He's made some mistakes along the way but has shown that he has the personal strength and brand strength to bounce back."
So while the glory days of multi billion-dollar sponsorship deals may be coming to an end, don't expect Beckham's Goldenballs to lose their bounce just yet.
Irish Independent
