madcomments

Brand Beckham gives Brand McClaren a new lease of credibility

Posted in General, Marketing May 29th, 2007 by gabay

McClaren’s re-appointment of Beckham to the England squad is a win-win situation. With semi-retirement on the horizon and a lucrative deal with Los Angeles Galaxy, it makes sound commercial sense for Beckham to take his bow-out as a professional still in his prime, playing for the England team, whilst getting the opportunity to dance his way to even greater brand eminence on the hallowed Wembley turf.
 
Beckham’s endorsement of brands beyond the goal posts continues to cast its spell. As recently reported in mad.co.uk, the ‘Beckham factor’ has raised Adidas’ Brand Buzz rating (the YouGov pollster scale which measures whether people have heard good or bad things about a brand) from 6.3, when the company launched its Beckham endorsement campaign in March, to a high of 8.7 on 12 April and now slightly back to 7.6. This rating is greater than any achieved by Adidas since last summer -11.0 on the back of the World Cup.
 
A U-turn for the better?

The brand Beckham move is also good for Steve McClaren. The nation is expecting great things from the England Manager. If Beckham scores or helps deliver a magic moment to the back of the net, the manager’s decision will be vindicated. If not, McClaren is still in the clear, as attention will be temporarily cast away from his personal brand persona and onto Beckham’s.

That makes for a shrewd ploy, after all who at team England would relish the prospect of the terraces jeering at the new manager before the latest round of fixtures have even heard the final whistle?

Nah, nah - I told you so…

At the start of his appointment, McClaren recruited the services of PR mastermind, Max Clifford. Ironically the relationship with Clifford was quickly curtailed when Clifford commented: “Steve would not be too proud to bring David Beckham back”. Doubtlessly Clifford will be raising a wry smile this morning as he reads the news of McClaren’s U-turn.