Barcelona’s football clubbing in Asia

There was a lot of fuss about Barcelona’s current tour in Asia. Kxevin voiced some concerns about it as well. I may agree on some of his points and disagree on some other statements, but that’s another story. What I am questioning most at the moment is the worth of the tours in the first place considering the circumstances that surround them. Is this the best way to go?

First, we can’t ignore the fact that such tours bring massive marketing and financial benefits to the club. It’s not only about the few millions the club earns to play a game or two. Such tours expand and enhance awareness. That’s the big gain on the long run as it increases the fan base, sales and merchandise and most importantly the market value of the club which help in milking the club’s sponsors more. No argument about all the mentioned facts. Yet, is there any possibility to do it any other way? Besides, if canceling such trips will help the team to prepare more properly to win titles, won’t that bring the same financial and marketing impact that a tour can generate?

Such trips are usually marked in red on the coaches’ calendars for preseason preparations. Commercial tours are not welcomed on the sport level. Such tours waste time and effort. Exhaust the players who need to pull up their performance bar out of sudden above the natural curve of a player coming from a vacation and heading to the preseason to gain the form needed for the following season. It cause injuries or plant the seeds for future injuries. It barely has any positives for the coach to smile and cheer up. But when the board tells the coach that this is the only way for us to pay for your living, he won’t be in the position to argue otherwise.

The hidden stitch that creates this destructive cycle of Sport Vs. finance hides within the marketing approach applied. It’s a common trend that business firms find it easier to act as followers than innovators. One company tries a marketing trick that works and out of sudden everyone else goes for the same tip. One club base its marketing on trips and tours and everyone else can find nothing else but booking the tickets for the following flight. But there are other alternatives that do not require a player to drag his feet to the field though he can barely walk. No doubt a marketing process that take place throughout the season can earn more than a tour for a week or two. That’s only if the officials are willing to make the effort needed, instead of demanding it from the players while they rest their behinds on a first class seat watching the boys stripping for cash.

I will start with Sandro Rosell, just because I “like” him. A lot. He can save Pep’s time by doing some effort instead. It’s a good start to stop worrying about the consequences of having 20,000 Chinese club members and its threat on the Catalan identity of the club. Or else, what are we doing there? Mind you, you can attract 20,000 members in China only from the first three tables of a noodles restaurant in a small village. Not sure who –in the club’s board-can lead a team responsible of customizing the regulations to meet such challenges. Maybe, its Carles Vilarrubí i Carrió, the Vice president of Institutional Area. If he does his job well, that will bring more benefit than all Pinto’s acrobatic moves we saw in this tour.

Barca TV: Why not developing this media mean to the next level? Make it an open channel. Give the chances for domestic financing in foreign markets to localize it in the foreign markets. Nowadays it’s an easy process to have Barca TV broadcasting in China using mandarin language for instance. Customize the programs to attract viewers, add training drills, skills demonstrated by Barca players, interviews and live programs hosting players to share an hour with the Korean fans-for example- on TV etc… That will not cost a euro as it will be easy to find financing for it. It will attract advertisements and will promote the club’s image, branding and merchandise earning more return than the current tour. And worry not; you can still promote the Catalan culture. In fact, this way the Catalan culture will be promoted more effectively as you will have more viewers to watch the documentaries related to Catalonia. Make a smart link between Catalans’ history and the values that make FC Barcelona more than a club and here we are, innovating a magnet that will suck the football fans to Barca’s orbit. Bring some similarities where Catalonia concurs with other cultures and you own the hearts and seal the minds.

Integrating in the football structure of international markets: Lot of counties has enough resources to finance any project that enhance their football level. Barcelona can create projects with domestic football associations to help the clubs on youth levels for example. Lot of former Barcelona players will like the opportunity to come back to football as coaches who share their experience with youth. Most of the clubs have the resources to afford the costs for such projects. Football associations will help as well. Promote Barca’s contribution in the development of domestic football on the localized Barca TV mentioned above and the approach will be dearly appreciated. That’s an image builder. After the season ends, give the fans the chance to elect two young players –for example- to spend two years training with Barca youth ranks –based on their ages. Again, there will be many sponsors willing to afford the costs. Send Barca B for a trip to Japan to play some games against such teams. Plant the club’s presence in the daily news of people out there, and they will sympathize with no other club.

Penyas’ weeks: Camp Nou barely enjoys a game with full capacity. Aside of handful games in the season, the stadium usually suffers from low attendance. Pick such games and encourage the Penya/s in China for example to pledge Barcelona’s game against Malaga (for example) at the Camp Nou as the match of Chinese cules. Barca have lot of directors responsible of the social area in the current board and they can coordinate with the Chinese Penya to engineer special packages that include flights + accommodation + ticket for the fans to bring their culture to the stadium. Such cultural engagement will serve both the national pride and the football passions of the Chinese fans. If that creates a competitive environment between the fans all over the world to create better exhibitions, the season may turn to a full stadium festival week in week out. The returns are undeniable.

Customized kits: It won’t hurt to customize the club kit sold for public in the foreign markets (unofficial jersey). Nothing that show commercial obsession but more cultural engagement. Something like this:

If Messi's name is not right, that's google translator's fault.

You can find a better dragon-ic design though

A lot more could be done if there is a will. But even if the club kept on making the tours, it is necessary to plan the trip from A to Z. it is true that the hosts usually arrange the details, but at the end of the day it’s all about Barca’s image. Companies dictate specific standards on anyone with the interest of co-promoting products. They don’t leave anything for coincidences nor do they count on good well and kind intentions. Media and marketing executives must prepare a presentation about the country the team will visit to give the players a better idea and it’s a must to choose who are the players who can give interviews and when. If a player is not ready for it, then he should stay in the shadow. They are all youth football dedicated boys and their faults are the responsibility of others who are paid to avoid it. If that’s the case with presidents, you can’t demand more from football kids.