Sponsoring Barcelona

For the first time in their 107 year history, Barcelona will be having a shirt sponsor.

Not just any old sponsor though. The partner is UNICEF, who not only will be featured on the front of the famous shirt (which will surely catapult the charity’s awareness), will also receive €1.5m per annum from the Catalan club.

This is a real coup for both parties: FC Barcelona are one of the biggest brands in world football, probably only exceeded in stature by a handful of other clubs, & this philanthropic gesture is sure to generate huge amounts of goodwill for the club. (Especially in a time where for many, the only motivation of major football clubs seems to be financial gain).

Barcelona are using the phrase “more than a club” as their ‘brand positioning’, and this gesture (which I’m sure many will still view with a large dose of cynicism) is a great articulation of that.

This is the second time this week that branding & football have made the news: whilst less worthy than the above story, I did enjoy the fact that Grey/Manchester City have been shortlisted for an IPA Effectiveness Award.

Nice work. Saying that, I’d still rather we won promotion this season 🙂