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July 17, 2006
UNICEF and FC Barcelona Unite for Children; doing good by doing well
Max Oliva, Associate Director of IE's Social Impact Management
FC Barcelona has made an impressive long term strategic decision which is intended to position and strengthen their brand as “more than a club”, through a global agreement with UNICEF. When considering which company and brand was to appear for the first time in the club´s history together with theirs, they could have not come up with a better match. Probably risky and controversial at first, just imagine when they heard this suggestion while having on the table offers from some of the strongest companies out there. And mostly when considering the short term vision which has constantly been the driver in most business decisions, at least according to top management in a recent McKinsey survey, it will still be proven to be the right one.
Being a brand which relates strongly with passion like very few things in life, just look at the amount of passion which was recently evoked by the World Cup in Germany. It is this passion which makes the perfect strategic fit when relating FC Bracelona brand with UNICEF, children and the fight against HIV/AIDS.
This is one hell of a case to be studied, being a first mover on combining both brands globally. With which do you relate most when thinking about your football club, with a company which makes cell phones or with one organization which works for every child? I am a strong believer that they have made the right choice and would find it a mistake if other clubs don’t react fast with similar steps. This could be a perfect arena to see teams such as Real Madrid and others “Compete” and thus make football a strong catalyser in bringing the discussion of development to a broad world audience, one which relates to passion and can thus have a stronger impact.
This is a passionate posting but then again, it is football that we are speaking of, and being a strong Real Madrid supporter, I must admit that I’m proud of seeing FC Barcelona take this decision. Am I the only one?
Posted on 17 July 2006 in Corporate Responsibility, Philanthropy, Development
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Comments
779473
i know dat am not to disturb u guys with my problems, all i want is a miss of coming to barcelona to express myself,please give me a
chance to come and showcase my talent in
barcelona.if u want my football profile
i will send it, if u give me the email address am to send it to.
Posted by: Agbo uche john at August 5, 2006 06:42 PM
