DAVID BECKHAM

The 'David Beckham' Brand

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Table of Contents

Introduction:2

Discussion:2

Question 1:2

Question 2:4

Question 3 - Part A:6

Question 3 - Part B:9

Conclusion10

References12

The 'David Beckham' Brand

Introduction

This report looks into David Beckham as a brand. It sheds light on how he gained the popularity which lead to him being one of the greatest brand endorsers of all time. It also looks into his transfers to various clubs under the lights of marketing. This report is divided into different parts, firstly it describes a brief summary of David Beckham's life from a marketing perspective, and it discusses how he has been aggressively used by various companies to reach out to a new segment, or develop stronger bonds with the existing customer segments. Secondly, it looks into the importance of celebrity endorsement and how this phenomenon grew rapidly over the years. Also, it talks about how the celebrity transfers the meaning developed around them to the product or brand which they associate themselves with.

Discussion

Question 1

David Robert Joseph Beckham had the privilege to be one of the greatest brand endorsers in the late 90's and early twenty first century. Though, like any other player, he had his high and lows; but somehow he never managed to give away his position as the people's choice and the face of the media (Vincent, et. al., 2009). The brand equity of Beckham, as described by Aaker (1996) the value of the brand to the owner, just seemed to grow exponentially as the years passed on. There were vast arrays of reasons behind this success. One of the major reasons why he was the first preference of any brand endorsing was his personality. The fact that while being a football player, he managed to live up to the standards of a pop star life, played an integral role in standing out him from the rest of the popular football stars.

One of the major aspects which made this image building possible was his marriage to Victoria Adams, the star face of the Spice Girls. This news caught up attention in the media and gave David Beckham the exposure that made him one of the most discussed personalities. However, David Beckham's marriage, coupled with his thrilling looks, glamorous & ever changing hair styles and an escalating career in the field of soccer helped him gain the marketers attention. According to a research conducted by Nutrition & Food Sciences (2011), fifty per cent men voted for David Beckham, when asked which male celebrity's body would they like to have.

David Beckham had a good patch starting from the 1999/2000 season at Manchester, after which he went on to captain England and held the prestigious honor of being the highest paid player at the club. As the runner up of the BBC Sports Personality award, Beckham made his fan fanaticism apparent - an aspect which went on to make him the brand endorser king. After this Adidas, Marks and Spencer, Pepsi and other multibillion ...