One Direction's debut album, Up All Night became the must-have release for both X-Factor fans and tweens, and for good reason, since it was a top-quality, mass-market-ready debut. In September 2011, the band had an unstoppable number one single, 'What Makes You Beautiful,' an effervescent and fresh tween love song that created a true fan base for the group, composed of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. Like JLS, the Spice Girls, and many before them, the band had their own calendars, Christmas cards, beach towels, and much, much more. By Christmas 2011, One Direction had branded, well, everything, with their trademark.
Nothing was more evident of this than the fact that their mentor, Simon Cowell, offered the five-some a £2million recording deal, double what they would have received had they won. With 2010 X-Factor winner Matt Cardle's career self-imploding before it began due to his publicly declared negative perceptions of the show, and runner-up Rebecca Ferguson's career taking a softer, more critically acclaimed route, it was third-place band One Direction who became the true winners of the 2010 series of the show, commercially speaking.
