We blogged about David Beckham’s arrival at the LA Galaxy a couple of years ago as an example of how the MLS brand  was really getting a huge boost.  I liken it now to a brand manager acquiring a great brand to add to his portfolio.

Since the end of the MLS season, Beckham has been playing his football in Italy for AC Milan.  As he’s under contract to the Galaxy, they have agreed a loan period with Milan, which is due to end next month when the MLS season re-starts.  Now, however, Beckham wants to stay in Italy.  He’s playing amazingly well, Milan are a huge team and he’s playing on a much bigger stage and at a higher standard.  Now his lawyers are trying to reach a deal with the LA Galaxy to sell him to Milan on a permanent basis.  If that happens, the MLS brand gets a double shot in the guts - first the league loses its prize brand asset and second the image of the league as  second (or third) tier standard gets reinforced.  Let’s return to that brand manager.  Suddenly the brand that’s been driving all the interest in your company and spurring a load of growth is about to be acquired by a rival.  If I was the LA Galaxy (and the MLS too) - I wouldn’t be letting him go under any circumstance.

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.

David Beckham was introduced by the Los Angeles Galaxy on Friday, initiating an intensive PR campaign that will culminate this weekend when he makes his Galaxy debut against Premiership side Chelsea. While Beckham’s arrival has brought the mainstream media attention that the MLS so desperately desires, it remains to be seen whether Beckham’s advent will improve the on-field product and inspire long-term financial stability.

Certainly, adding a bankable star such as Beckham (arguably the world’s biggest) is a great start for the budding league. But, let it be known that long-term success cannot be placed squarely on Beckham’s shoulders (just ask Pele!). As anyone with a sound business mind will tell you, one cannot survive on marketing alone, and it’s a confluence of emerging factors that will determine the league’s success. First, the league owners have begun building soccer-specific stadiums. There are currently six in operation this season, with a further three to be opened by 2008. Not only do these stadiums give the respective clubs the financial boost that they need to survive, but they vastly improve the in-game atmosphere by taking the matches out of the cavernous NFL stadiums and placing them in much cozier environs.The other key is consumer understanding. As the U.S. Hispanic population continues to grow, so too does soccer’s popularity. In fact, the Gold Cup final between the U.S. and

Mexico drew 41% more television households than the final game of the NHL’s Stanley Cup. The MLS understands that the Hispanic segment is the key to its success, as evidenced by the 2004 founding of Chivas USA (sister club to

Mexico’s famous Chivas) and the recent signing of Mexican international Cuauhtemoc Blanco.The Beckham PR machine could not have been better timed. He enters the league at a time of exciting growth, where sound strategic thinking has made it so his presence is not the single factor that will determine success. Unfortunately for Pele, that was not the case for the doomed North American Soccer League. Pele packed stadiums around the country, but when he retired, so did professional American soccer.The lesson in all of this for today’s marketers is that there’s more to innovation than flash design and celebrity promotion. One needs sound strategic thinking on all business fronts to launch successful new brands, and to guard against potential snags when launching new products within existing brands (I mean, wouldn’t it be a pity if Beckham were immediately injured after all this hoopla?). Most significantly, the plight of the league reminds us exactly how important a keen understanding of one’s consumer is, especially as the excitement of Beckham’s arrival calms and the league’s strategic focus is again directed to the ever-increasing U.S. Hispanic population. As an obsessive (and American) world soccer fan, I do hope that Beckham adds some spice to the league, much as he has done for the Premiership and La Liga… I’m also hoping for some fantastic free-kicks like this classic one for England against

Greece.