- Barry Janoff, Brandweek

NEW YORK The global brand that is David Beckham will add another marketing brick to its wall this week when the international soccer star is featured in a campaign for Emporio Armani, New York.

The effort, handled in-house, supports the Emporio Armani underwear autumn/winter 2009 collection, which will hit retail later this year. The first push will be a billboard to be unveiled on June 18 in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, London, Milan, Rome, Paris and Tokyo. Creative shows Beckham at a beach in Malibu, Calif., modeling the collection.

Emporio Armani said that Beckham would make a personal appearance in San Francisco to unveil the billboard,

Print will debut in the August edition of Vanity Fair, and then will appear in various sport, fashion and lifestyle magazines. Creative also will be featured at Emporioarmani.com.

Spend for the effort was not disclosed. Emporio Armani spent $5 million on media in 2007 and $2 million in the first quarter of this year, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Beckham is in his second season with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. His other endorsements include Adidas, Motorola, Sharpie and Disney. He will earn about $50 million this year in salary and endorsements, according to Forbes. That magazine this month named Beckham as the No. 5 "most powerful celebrity in the world" behind Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Angelina Jolie and Beyonce Knowles.