David Beckham has officially become a brand ambassador for the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. This news comes as the company’s online retail service, AliExpress, signed on as a sponsor of the upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 tournament in March.
The 49-year-old footballer-turned-entrepreneur will be the face of AliExpress’ Euro’s campaign and an advertisement featuring the former midfielder will run in conjunction with the sports tournament.
In previous years, David Beckham would have been on the pitch with the England football team as he did so 115 times during his career. He made his debut in the sport at just 17 years old when he played for Manchester United. He later joined Real Madrid and then became a player for LA Galaxy and AC Milan before retiring in May 2013.
Now, he’s the co-owner of Inter Miami FC and Greater Manchester-based Salford City FC. He saw another resurgence of popularity last year as well when his Netflix documentary called ‘Beckham’ launched.
The partnership was completed on Monday (May 27) and while the full details aren’t publicly known, a hefty fee for Beckham can be presumed.
The UEFA Euro 2024 tournament begins on June 14 and runs through July 14, with 24 teams taking part to become the champion.
During this time, the marketplace brand will be running promotions that offer time-limited prizes for every goal that is scored.
In a news release from the Alibaba Group, the European Commercial Director of AliExpress, Gary Tropp, has said: “Whether you’re a football fan or not, I can think of no one better to show how easy it is to win with AliExpress during UEFA 2024.”
The former footballer was quoted in the press release saying: “AliExpress is helping fans get even closer to UEFA Euro 2024 this summer, by offering them great prizes as the action takes place on the pitch.”
Beckham isn’t the only one the company has had their eyes on though, as German football forward Oliver Bierhoff will also be part of the campaign.
Rivalry in China is heating up
With a huge focus placed on increasing revenue and brand awareness over the next couple of months, the move comes as AliExpress looks to rival the expanding presence of Temu and the online fashion startup Shein.
Both of AliExpress’ rivals have seen huge success in the international markets over the last year and all three are vying for the top spot.
While Alibaba has recently reported strong earnings, with its international division seeing revenues rise 45% year-on-year during the most recent January to March quarter, it’s had a slower response to the global market in comparison to Shein and Temu.
Temu focused on running adverts during the last two Super Bowl competitions and Shein has leveraged major partnerships with influencers that have a Gen Z target audience.
As Alibaba becomes more aggressive in the global market, the competition between all three will likely heat up and go a step further as rivalry has already been tough amongst the Chinese-based platforms.
Featured Image: Via Wikimedia Commons
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