Inspirational figures:

As one of the biggest and most influential figures within todays society, David Beckham has established himself both inside and outside of the footballing world. Beckham has branded products ranging from colognes to sporting gear and footwear. Advertising his products comes relatively easy for a figure like Beckham. Being such an influential, national hero products with his name alone are viewed as special by the public. Beckham's target audience covers almost all possibilities, boys and men interested in football value Beckham's ability highly, young and up and coming footballers aspire to become such a figure and even women aspire to have their boyfriends remotely resemble the beauty that is David Beckham. 

In almost all of the advertisements for his products, Beckham will include himself. Its a tactical ploy that causes his products to stand out. What gives Beckham's aftershave the edge to compete in the cologne market amongst products that have been doing it for years? Your answer, the fact that its him. The products often include his name and the adverts are almost an advertisement of himself. The cologne advert below highlights this; David's face is the prominent image in the piece, with the cologne bottle subtly placed in the bottom right corner. The advert doesn't really sell the scent or lavishness of the cologne, instead it sells a ideal of bringing the public closer to Beckham. I wouldn't buy the product because its the nicest smell, I would buy the product because its David Beckham and he uses this within his adverts.

David Beckham's latest product is his launch of a new range of underwear with Swedish fashion retail giants H&M . Beckham was previously the face of Italian fashion behemoths Armani for four years, with the company seeing their turnover double in the time he was contracted to them, and the partnership with H&M is a huge coop for the Swedes, with the 36 year-old still hugely marketable despite his football career slowly winding down. He is an ambassador, national hero and style icon so despite his football career Beckham's reign will continue to grow.

Explaining the reasons for why he'd chosen to go into underwear design - the new range is called 'Bodywear' - the sportsman and husband of Victoria Beckham explained he felt there was a gap in the market, stating "Everyone needs underwear - most of the time. I think there's obviously some good underwear brands out there but there are not great ones - in my eyes - and that's why I wanted to do it myself. I know what feels good and looks good and I wanted to do something a bit different." 

Such has been the success of most of the products that he's put his name to, you wouldn't bet against this latest venture being at least as equally successful. 

The choice to release his product within H&M a rather low market, high street store rather than within a global under brand brand doesn't come as a surprise to me. As I have said, Beckham's target audience is almost endless, he attracts both sexes and all classes, so why not make the most of this? By releasing his products within a high street store the price of his products are reasonable and accessible for many. For low working class families its a treat to have David Beckham underwear, for middle and upper class its the joy of having quality products for a respectable price. All in all a piece of tactical genius during this economic crisis and once again, the unique selling point of the advert isn't the product, its David himself. If the underwear is good enough for Beckham, its good enough for me.