Exploring 4 Ps : FCB
Any person who follows football knows that the Football Club of Barcelona or “FCB” or “Barca” as its commonly known, is one of the greatest clubs of all time. It has produced legends like Maradona, Ronaldinho, Messi, Iniesta, Puyol, Neymar, Suarez and so many more. From winning the Champions League a total of 5 times, the club has millions of followers worldwide.
Let us understand the marketing mix of the world’s greatest football club.
PRODUCT:
The supporters operate and own the Barcelona Football Club. Cant Del Barca is its official anthem and was written by Josep Maria Espinas and Jaume Picas. In the domestic arena, Barcelona has been credited with several victories to its name including Copa Del Rey 31 times, La Liga 26 times, and Champions League 5 times. Internationally, it has won the FIFA Club World Cup three times. Barcelona Football Club takes members and one can enter the club via membership only. The governing body of Barca is an assembly of its members and by the year 2016, the club had one lakh forty thousand members. The main products of a football club are its members. Barcelona Football Club’s sustained excellence is because of its players who can create magic on football fields. Xavi holds the record for maximum games played with seven hundred and sixty-seven appearances and Andres Iniesta at second position with six hundred and sixty-three appearances in all competitions. Lionel Messi is associated with Barcelona Football Club and is one of its core members. He is the top scorer with 576 goals in all competitions. The club has a core team in both men’s and women’s categories. Barcelona’s La Masia Academy is the home for producing some world-class players for the club.
PRICE:
Barcelona Football Club is one of the top two clubs in the Premier League and has a huge fan base. Their target audience is millions of people around the world who love to watch and play football. FC Barcelona is the second most valuable sports team in the world with a net worth of $3.56 billion. With an annual turnover of €648.3 million, it is the wealthiest football club in the world and ranks third in the world in terms of income. The Barcelona football club has its stadium, Camp Nou so they can get a separate, stable income. Season tickets for home matches have a premium price, which helps the club generate high returns. The club is a premium club and the governing body has adopted a premium pricing policy. Anyone who wishes to become a member of this respected club charges a hefty membership fee. By 2015, the club had officially registered 1,267 fan clubs worldwide. Fan clubs receive several lucrative offers and rewards to promote FC Barcelona. The club is one of the leaders and gets more broadcast revenue because it wins.
PLACE:
As the name suggests Barcelona Football Club has set up its base in Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. One of the main achievements of Barcelona Football Club is in acquiring its stadium. The team in the year 1909, 14th March acquired Camp de la Industria, an eight thousand-capacity stadium. With a stadium to its name, Barcelona decided to participate in the Pyrenees Cup as it was the most prestigious event at that time. The team went on to win four times consequently from the years 1910 to 1913. The club launched a membership recruitment campaign, and by 1922 nearly 20,000 people had helped the club finance its new stadium.
Les Cortes is a new stadium with a capacity of 30,000, which was later expanded to 60,000. Camp Nou is currently the stadium of the Barcelona Football Club and the largest stadium in Europe, with an estimated seating capacity of 99,354.
PROMOTION:
FC Barcelona is a sports team with extensive support and is one of the most followed teams on social media. By the end of 2017, his Facebook page had 103 million fans. The team is actively followed on the official website via Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Barcelona football club has very famous faces with a lot of fans like Lionel Messi, Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, Alex Vidal, Andres Iniesta, and Jerry Mina. The players have won numerous awards, including 11 Ballon d’Or.
Seven players including Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Romano, and Ronaldo were selected as the Player of the Year. In 2010, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and Lionel Messi were selected as the top three FIFA Ballon d’Or players. FC Barcelona has several notable patrons, such as former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Pope John Paul II. In 2011, FC Barcelona collaborated with UNICEF to display the UNICEF logo on the shirt. During the 2011-12 season, the club signed a five-year contract with the Qatar Foundation and was replaced by Qatar Airways in the 2013-2014 season. The club’s latest signings are Spotify being their official title sponsor from 2022.
