The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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David Beckham

By The Drum, Administrator

April 23, 2004 | 3 min read

David Beckham is widely acknowledged as one of the best footballers of this generation – although often grudgingly by many fans north of the border. However, it is not just his skills on the park that have contributed to his worldwide fame and fortune. With his dashing good looks, keen eye for a new fashion trend and the odd few brave attempts at starting a few fashion “statement” of his own – no more said than sarong and Mohican – the twinkle-toed Galactico might even be better at marketing than he is at football – just ask Real Madrid’s massive and sudden following of young Japanese females.

During his meteoric rise through the ranks Mr Beckham has lent his name to a number of high-profile brands over the years. And there are many brands that would have moved heaven and earth to sign him to their team.

Beckham has starred on pitch and off. He has scored many important goals for Man U, England and, more recently, Madrid. But now, unfortunately for him, it is his suggested ability to score off the field that everyone is talking about.

Unless you have been living at the very depths of the cavernous expanse that is Mr Beckham’s bottomless wallet, you will have read, listened to and seen the allegations thrown at him by Rebecca Loos and an ever-increasing list of (money-grabbing? – you decide) beauties.

Although you wouldn’t wish such allegations on your worst enemy, such high levels of coverage could be a marketer’s wet dream – as The Drum will show, it is certainly a creative’s.

So just how could the brands that are associated with Mr Beckham capitalise on the ever-increasing media circus that surrounds Goldenballs, his alleged mistresses and his newfound image?

How many times have we seen pictures of David on his mobile over the last couple of weeks, text-messaging in the well-known Vodafone adverts? Well, actually, over the last couple of weeks the pictures have not been seen so much in adverts but more in the newspapers to sell stories of England’s captain and figurehead.

So, with David Beckham hitting the headlines – for all the wrong reasons – is it, perhaps, the right time for Vodafone to launch a tongue-in-cheek poster campaign? We certainly thought so.

What with all the “alleged phone sex” Goldenballs has been having with his former aide, we thought Vodafone would want to capitalise on the exposure.

With that in mind, The Drum asked a number of creative teams to suggest a host of campaigns that could be used to add brand prominence in the wake of the allegations.

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