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Introduction
Branding is difficult and important for modern companies, businesses and personal brands. It’s a process where business makes strategies to reach the public and differentiates itself from competitors. For many brands, it is difficult to reach and connect with the public as there is a big competition and brand loyalty. Especially, it is especially difficult for new brands to take a foothold in the market. Take for an example the market of sports brands which is ruled by multinational brands like Adidas, Nike & Puma. One can enter the market, but it is too hard for the newcomers to compete and sustain in the market, it is difficult to get the public’s attention towards your brand as the ruling brands have already made up the minds of the public that their brand is the best.
This article is not about branding but about a person whose journey led him, from a football star, to become one of the greatest brand icons and that person is none other than David Beckham.
Yesterday on May 2nd, the former football star turned 50 years old which he celebrated with a big party in Cipriani, an Italian restaurant in Miami. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and all the players of football club Inter Miami, along with many prominent personalities from the world of Sports and Entertainment, were part of the 100 plus guest list for the party. Beckham has a lot of connections all over the world including top tier Hollywood film stars and brands. Even at the age of 50, Beckham is still considered as one of the best brand icons in the world and that is maybe one of his biggest achievements.
But how did Beckham become such a big star and a Personal brand ?
Many people know Beckham due to his football career; he is one of top tier players by far who was of course mentored and coached towards greatness by none other than Sir Alex Ferguson, during his stint in the Manchester United FC. Beckham was a wonder kid, when one looks at Beckham’s performance the person can only describe his elegance and his passion. Beckham did not limit his career to playing in English football clubs. Rather he played with other European and American football clubs like Real Madrid, AC Milan, LA Galaxy & PSG. This also helped to boost his popularity across the world.
Rise of the brand Beckham
During his year in Manchester United, Beckham started getting brand deals which was rare for footballers, as very few did it but none like Beckham. Another important milestone in his life that added to his super star status was when he started dating Victoria Beckham, who was a popular singer in the famous music pop girl band Spice Girls. They got married in 1999. Beckham continued to be a football brilliance after the marriage. Pele once described Beckham as “more of a pop star than a footballer.” Well, who wouldn’t call him a star; he was handsome, popular among everyone, getting brands like no other footballer and his wife is a pop star.
The Star in MLS
But Beckham really became a brand when he joined MLS team LA Galaxy after Real Madrid. This was a major shock to the world of football as the American league was neither very competitive nor popular. It was a huge risk he took but he was rewarded by turning his $6.5 million annual salary into more than $500 million. Beckham became the face and the personal brand of MLS which resulted in huge success as MLS got a huge number of attendance in matches, TV rights, Sponsorships and increase in valuation.
Beckham – a branding genius
Beckham owns brands like Haig Club, Inter Miami CF, Salford City F.C, Tudor Watches. Beckhams improves his personal brand by attending matches of various sports like Tennis, Cricket, Formula 1, Football, NBA, etc. His best marketing and branding genius was when he convinced Lionel Messi, who is considered as the greatest footballer ever to play the sport, to join Inter Miami CF.
The GOAT in Miami with Beckham
No one expected Messi to go to MLS after his tenure in PSG. Due to this signing there was a lot of increase in Inter Miami business and valuation. Up until now, not many knew about Inter Miami CF but now it has become a big soccer brand in the USA, where their jerseys can be seen all over the world not just America and Messi’s 10 number jersey of Inter Miami gets the credit for it. Beckham also signed Messi’s former club teammates like Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba & Sergio Busquets to bring more popularity to the club. Inter Miami has now the highest ticket prices in MLS around almost $3000. Inter Miami has skyrocketed in every aspect as a football club due to Lionel Messi and David Beckham.
Beckham has 88 million followers on social media this shows how iconic he is a star and an icon. But many of his followers may not be football fans or even the fans of Victoria. Beckham is completely different and is elegant in many ways. He is also an ambassador of UNICEF and runs various campaigns with them. Even the post of Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson who has 395 million followers on social media of him dressing as Beckham in Manchester United Jersey on Halloween shows how much Beckham is known and loved by people. His podcasts help in understanding his nature and work ethics.
Netflix documentary Beckham was a success in which it tells the whole story of the icon from his time being a wonder kid at Manchester to being one of the Galactico in Madrid, from being the face of MLS to Milans Magician and from being hero of PSG to Inter Miami’s President. It’s a wonderfully filmed documentary loved by many as it talks about Beckham’s journey in detail. This also led in Beckhams popularity again. The Brand icons documentary crossed 30 million views and 145 million hours of viewing time during the first three weeks. It is not shocking as Beckham has won a total of 19 trophies for the club in his career which led him towards the success in football and branding led him to much greater heights.
Beckham isn’t just any other footballer; Beckham is a top tier footballer who is also considered as one of the best in the game. He is also the Earths best brand icon to ever exist one would say. From football magician to branding genius Beckham is a man of elegance and passion as well as family man. Beckham once said that “the only time one runs out of chances is when you stop taking them”. This quote explains a lot about what kind of person he is and what he thinks about difficult times when a person is going through it. This is what Beckham is – a star football player, an icon, a legend ….
Glimpse of David Beckham’s Documentary:
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Written by – Ishaan Dighe
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