From Arsenal to the Ball God

”Leon Maerl?”

Before long, Maerl’s name appeared on the trending lists of almost every country’s mainstream media, with some variations in rank due to different situations in each country that day.

The European Cup was already capturing global attention during this period, fueling wave after wave of football enthusiasm.

At this time, a superstar who already had a certain level of international influence, and a stellar performance in the European Cup achieved a significant career success, taking a big step forward, naturally causing a sensation.

However, this time the magnitude and extent of the sensation are noticeably higher than before!

Maerl’s name has crossed over before; during his latter days at Arsenal, he frequently crossed into wider culture with his celebratory gestures and landmark achievements, where even many who didn’t follow football had heard of his name.

But climbing onto the hot lists of nearly every country as he did this time had never happened before.

It should be noted that in many countries, football is not the national sport. Although there are many who are passionate about it, they represent a small percentage of the population.

In these countries, football news lacks competitiveness compared to other sports and entertainment news, let alone a uniformity in heating up news about a football star.

”He looks really handsome, no matter through any aesthetic culture, he seems flawless!”

”Exactly! Love at first sight, and he’s so amazing!”

”Just found out he’s the second male spokesperson for Olay, a brand I really like! I think I saw his picture before but thought he was a model, didn’t realize he was a football star!”

”Ahhh...! Can’t handle it, young, rich, and handsome, just matches my perfect fantasy of a partner.”

”18 years old, worth £100.5 million! That’s insane.”

”I see many new fans in the comment section are unaware that his worth is not his wealth, so let me explain.”

”True enough, but given a player’s money-making potential, I guess he could earn £100 million in 2-3 years.”

”I wish I could date him, want him to pat my back.”

”He already has a girlfriend! She’s the daughter of a British real estate tycoon, and she’s pretty too! Truly a match made in heaven!”

”Swooning over it!”

”.....”

That night, the comment sections on news about Maerl visibly saw many new fans, particularly young girls.

They were drawn in by the ’18 years old, worth £100 million’ headlines in related reports, astonished by Maerl’s looks, and finally, frantically searching for more information about him, deepening their understanding.

Soon, they discovered just how outstanding and charismatic he was in his field.

Such a person fits any expectation of an ideal boyfriend, an ideal life, and would naturally become the idol for these individuals.

Additionally, it can be predicted that the new Maerl fans outside the usual circles on this day were not just these young girls.

They, compared to much younger children or much older individuals, are more inclined to leave comments online, appearing to be the first-tier group of new fans.

Those who fall in love with Maerl without leaving comments certainly are the majority.

Consequently, many more people formed a good image of Maerl in their hearts, started paying attention to his news, and unknowingly learned about the brands he endorses, the collaborative sneakers currently on sale, etc.

Perhaps they won’t rush to buy these because of him right away, but the good impression they have of Maerl translates to positive feelings towards these brands as well.

In the future, when they decide to purchase sneakers or jeans, or skincare products, they might prefer to buy those from these brands.

Because he’s trustworthy, so are the things he endorses!

This is the basic logic of celebrity endorsements. As a person gains more fans, with stronger loyalty, more people trust him and hold a good image of him... thus his commercial value naturally rises!

Many industry insiders began calculating today what astronomical level Maerl’s endorsement fees might reach in the future.

...

United States, Procter & Gamble Company headquarters.

David Taylor, in charge of handling celebrity endorsements in the marketing department, was huddled in front of the computer, browsing the trend lines driven by Maerl across major social media platforms tonight.

He observed not only in the United States but also in other countries where the company’s sales were highest on social media.

He was watching very attentively, and before long used their big data software to highlight news related to Maerl and Procter & Gamble Company.

As someone highly sensitive to data and information, he believed he could gauge the potential sales hike Olay might enjoy because of the response.

After a while, David Taylor took off his glasses and murmured with a look of amazement: ”It must be astounding, I’m sure.”

This amazement shortly turned into joy and satisfaction.

Procter & Gamble Company, ranking in the top ten by market value and top twenty by profits worldwide, is beloved by female users worldwide and has invited countless image spokespeople.

However, due to the brand’s characteristics, they rarely use male spokespeople, especially for female-centric products like Olay.

Last year, they invited a Chinese star named Xiaoming Huang for an experiment, seeking breakthroughs, hoping to tap into the purchasing power of female fans of male celebrities.

But this attempt was clearly a failure, as it didn’t cause even a ripple.