Brand Delivery
Last month, my colleague Ben Valenta blogged about the arrival of David Beckham in the US. Apart from a few minutes of exhibition play vs. Chelsea, Becks has remained on the sidelines since his arrival, nursing an ankle injury. Last night, he made his proper debut playing for the LA Galaxy against DC United. His performance, including a stunning free kick goal, couldn’t have been scripted more perfectly. If the Galaxy or the MLS were anxious about their brand icon living up to expectation, they needn’t have worried. This is what they paid all that money for. As Dan Loney said on his blog: “That shot looked like it was put in by CGI for the final scene of “The David Beckham Story.”
It raises a couple of key thoughts. Successful brands deliver consistently. It’s their entire purpose to remove any doubt in the consumer’s mind about performance. Great brands over-deliver against expection, thus distancing themselves from their competition. It remains to be seen whether Beckham can be both consistent and continue to exceed expectations, but for now at least some of the hype seems justified.
August 17th, 2007 at 8:40 am
That’s soccer, right?
August 17th, 2007 at 9:47 am
The world’s game - check this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y88bokAdLso
August 17th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
That was awesome. Consider me silenced and humbled!
August 20th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Toph silenced? hmm…
Took the kids to see him at Giants stadium. Like all great brands what sets him apart is not really JUST that he can deliver, but his amazing vision. He sees opportunity where others simply cannot.
Love your blog, topher!
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Nice one Loren - totally agree. I saw him live at a premiership game when he was playing at Man Utd and he showed great vision to win that game for them. Hope you’re doing well
August 29th, 2007 at 8:28 am
I wonder if his ‘brand’ will be a flash in the pan or not. He consistently doesn’t not show up for games, rarely plays and is a ‘bad’ example of a professional athelete. On the other hand which pro short of el tigre, is really delivering their brand promise?