The Challenges of Going Global

Hans Gamper, a Swiss national relocated to Barcelona, founded FC Barcelona (FCB) in

1899 together with a few local football players. FC Barcelona is also known as Barça or
Blaugranas and their fans go under the name of Culés. Nowadays, the club has teams in
a number of sports such as basketball, hockey, handball, futsal, baseball, volleyball and
athletics etc. Commented [SK1]: Isn’t it the biggest club in the world? I have
read that somewhere…

After the Spanish Civil War, Catalan institutions where forbidden by the Fascist regime
which resulted in the FCB becoming a symbol of freedom, Catalan identity, and
democracy. Accordingly, the slogan of FCB, “More than just a club”, was coined due to
the symbolism that the club represents to its followers. Today, FCB is pursuing a
strategy of becoming a global known team. However, in order to internationalize the Commented [SK2]: Bcominghknown globally?

FCB brand, they are facing a number of challenges. We believe the most crucial are:

 The need to deliver a global brand image and message, conveying its values and
commitment to social responsibility in the world. In other words, the need to
convey the meaning of “More than just a club” in a way that can be related to in
the same way that Spanish people do. Commented [SK3]: ???

 Decide on how to go global - which markets to enter, which strategies to use,

whether short-or long term results should be prioritized.
 The negotiation with foreign broadcast media – i.e. to be able to broadcast the
matches in real time.
 The issues of merchandising - where to open new stores, what kind of stores and
how to avoid copycats.

Leveraging the UNICEF Brand

The sponsoring of UNICEF will, first of all, enable FCB to deliver a brand message that is
understood and applicable on a global scale. Social commitment has been one of the
main pillars of FC Barcelona’s values since the establishment of the club. However, the
relevance of this value and its application is connected to Spanish modern history and,
as such, more recognized within Spain. During Franco’s dictatorship, the club gained a
high popularity due to its commitment to democracy and freedom. Individuals found
refuge within the club and were able to freely develop their ideas. FCB defined itself as
being ‘more than just a club’. Nevertheless, this image has no real meaning to fans
Commented [SK4]: I think there should be a transition to this
topic, so that the reader knows about UNICEF, what they are doing
with FCB and so on…
VB: Change title and add introductory sentence about using CSR as
corporate global strategy
Commented [SK5]: Maybe “as stated before”

abroad who don’t identify themselves with Spanish history or are not familiar with it.
Through the partnership with UNICEF, FCB can convey its brand message of being
‘more than just a club’ and have stronger and more international significance. By
partnering with UNICEF, the club communicates its value for solidarity, showing its
support for the long-term development of children and communities as well as the
promotion of youth sports through projects worldwide. The underlying rationale is that
UNICEF’s work is internationally well- known, resulting in fans being able to relate to
the club’s values.
Furthermore, working together with UNICEF could also increase FCB’s credibility
abroad and facilitate contracts with additional potential sponsors as well as establish
relationships with media which is crucial for football clubs to spread their image.

In addition, the partnership offers a key point of differentiation with competing football
clubs in terms of sponsorship agreements. FCB represents the only club paying 1.5
million Euros a year to include the logo of such a sponsor on the team’s shirts. Other top
football clubs in Europe earn on the other hand large sums of revenue (between 20 and
25 million Euros) per year by displaying a commercial company’s logo. This
characteristic shows that FC Barcelona’s commitment is real and of high importance to
the club. Thus, it can build upon this commitment to create a distinct brand image
worldwide.

In conclusion, even though the club might be giving up on revenue opportunities, we

believe that this sponsorship will allow the club to build a stronger worldwide brand
image by focusing on a more global, reliable and authentic brand message.

Entering the Chinese Market

We believe that FCB should focus mainly on the Chinese market for the following
reasons:

 The size of the Chinese population constitutes a huge potential market

 The most followed sport in China is football
 The degree of domestic competition is low
 The Chinese supporters’ interest for local teams is low

China is the most populated country in the world with a population of 1.3 billion. The
GDP of the country has been increasing steadily at an average percentage of 11.4
percent in the 2006-2009 period.1 This indicates that the number of Chinese that are
able to spend an increasing amount of money is growing, part of the money which can
be used to buy the merchandise from their favourite team. The U.S., on the other hand,
represents a developed market where the purchasing power of the single supporter is
higher compared to the Chinese supporter. However, it must be taken into
consideration that football competes with several other sports that are well rooted and
at least as popular. Some examples of the sports that football competes with and that, in Commented [SK6]: more

our opinion, could be considered as substitutes are basketball (NBA), hockey (NHL), Commented [SK7]: ?

American football (NFL) and baseball (MLB).

1
http://search.worldbank.org/data?qterm=china+gdp+growth&language=EN&format=html
China represents the world’s single largest TV audience for football2 with 16,374 hours
of broadcasting in the period between January and August in 2009, making football
undoubtedly the most popular sport on television (see appendix 1).

The level of domestic competition in the market can be defined as low because of two
main reasons. First, China was the last among the major Asian countries to start a
professional football league. The modern football league in China was created in 1994 3
and it is still not internationally competitive. Second, because bankruptcy is quite
common among Chinese football clubs, it follows that the teams present in the Chinese
league have failed to create a loyal and stable fan base.

The failure of establishing solid clubs is reflected on the low level of interest that local
football fans (estimated in the hundreds of millions) show for domestic football and Commented [SK8]: estimation of hundreds… ?

domestic football teams in general.4 Commented [SK9]: But for foreign teams? Emphasize that they
are following foreign teams
Summing up, we believe that the points discussed above makes entering China a more
lucrative option than entering the U.S. market.

How to enter the Chinese Market

As previously discussed, entering the Chinese market is the most lucrative decision for
FCB in order to grow and remain competitive. There are several steps, which we suggest
have to be undertaken to reach an expedient level of market penetration in China. Our
strategy contains both long- and short-term actions, so that the FC Barcelona brand can
be leveraged effectively. Our suggestion is that short-term effects can be achieved
through an increased domestic presence in friendly matches and tours throughout the
country. These actions should be taken in combination with the establishment of certain
football centres that will train talents for future recruiting and also strengthen the
brand and increase brand awareness, resulting in long-term impact.

The quest for talent in China is very important as Chinese players in FCB would make
the club very appealing to the market, helping to advertise the club’s values in the
country. To promote the brand successfully is a challenging endeavour, but also very
attractive as the market still shows high potential. The Chinese are affectionate of
football but remain unfamiliar with all the European football clubs, making it a perfect
point of time to enter and educate the market. By doing this, the club can capitalize on
some characteristics of a first-mover advantage and educate the market on the values Commented [SK10]: was just said…
that FCB represents before the competitors try and do the same.

2
http://www.sportbusiness.com/products/reports/football-in-china-160259
3
http://www.eaff.com/10fa/fa01/index.html
4
http://www.cdccorporation.net/en/Newsroom/Press-
Releases.aspx?name=20050707%20Arsenal%20Football%20Club%20and%20China.com%20Inc.%20Launch%20Exclusive%20Online