Rakuten reflects on historic partnership with FC Barcelona
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As our partnership with FC Barcelona draws to a close, we asked a few Rakutenians to share some of their most rewarding moments from these past five years.
Bringing fans to Camp Nou
When Rakuten and FC Barcelona first announced our ground-breaking partnership in 2016, the two committed to working together based on shared values of empowerment and innovation.
This was solidified in Rakuten becoming FC Barcelona’s Main Global Partner and first-ever Global Innovation and Entertainment Partner.
In the ensuing years, Rakuten used its spirit of innovation to bring the Club closer to fans around the world.?
These years, however, also presented their own unique challenges that no one could have predicted – especially the global pandemic.
But it was precisely these challenges that resulted in some of the Rakuten team’s most cherished and rewarding moments.
Several Rakutenians highlighted in particular the various ways fans from around the world were brought to FC Barcelona’s legendary Camp Nou stadium, both digitally and in-person.
Risa Choi, Vice Manager, FC Barcelona Partnership Activation Team, shared that seeing fan reactions to The Big Picture campaign — where thousands of fan pictures were stitched together to create a giant collage on the main fa?ade of Camp Nou — was one of her most fulfilling moments of the partnership.
After overcoming the challenges faced by her and the team, Risa said:
"I got very emotional seeing fans united digitally and receiving positive feedback about this project on social media. Doing something new under difficult circumstances was very challenging and hard. But hard work pays off. It was a special and thankful moment to see the fans' sweet and positive words."
One of Risa’s biggest takeaways from that experience was “recognizing the importance of teamwork.”
"Bar?a was the first global partnership we did at Rakuten. There was no manual or previous experience to reference so everything was new and challenging. I can't imagine accomplishing this partnership project without this team."
Fabrizio Calogero, Manager, Digital Activation Strategy Group, also highlighted the unique aspects of how The Big Picture brought fans together at Camp Nou, saying:
“It was a really unique way to engage with FC Barcelona fans and make them a part of the game during the pandemic. Being part of that was really rewarding: to see something new and engaging – and authentic.”
Fabrizio spoke on "the large amount of awareness that you can generate with this type of partnership."
"Especially with a partner like FC Barcelona, you have a level of awareness that is really difficult to achieve through traditional promotional activities. It is a super powerful way to connect and reach the fan community."
In addition to The Big Picture, Rakuten held the Rakuten FAN-TASTIC Cup in 2019 where fans of Vissel Kobe, Chelsea FC, and FC Barcelona were all invited to Camp Nou to compete in a friendly tournament.
Vanessa ?sell-Tsuruga, Senior Manager, Digital Sports Marketing Strategy, reflected on how the event symbolized what it meant to be a fan and its special ties to her personal background.
"Having lived in Barcelona as well as Kobe and London, it was a very emotional moment for me to stand at Camp Nou and see all the fans brought together. The fans had to overcome traveling long distances, especially those from Japan, to come and play. But it wasn't about winning. It was about getting all these people together through the power of sports.”
Vanessa explained that "the Rakuten FAN-TASTIC Cup symbolized what the name FAN-TASTIC is all about."
“It's not so much about the sport and the team you support – it’s more about being a fan and how we as Rakuten can give them really amazing and meaningful experiences.”
Some of our colleagues’ most cherished moments came when Rakuten employees and guests were brought to Camp Nou through virtual tours.
Rika Mikitani, Brand Management, FC Barcelona Partnership Activation Section, shared that her most rewarding moment came from conducting the exclusive Camp Nou Live Stream tour for Rakuten employees in Japan, Europe, and the U.S. as well as Mamawari, Gakuwari, Rakuten Travel, and Andrés Iniesta Methodology members in 2021.
"It was rewarding to see the excited reactions of the participants in the online tour. Although the pandemic kept these fans from travelling physically to Camp Nou, this opportunity enabled people to experience the FC Barcelona atmosphere and stadium from their homes."
Bringing it back home, impacting the youth
Our colleagues also spoke about the Rakuten Cup in 2019, when FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC, and Vissel Kobe came together in Japan to compete against each other in this special tournament.
Oyundari Gerelt, Marketing Planning Specialist, Global Branding & Activation Team, reflected on her experience from working on the Rakuten Cup.
“It was a great moment for me to see the fans enjoying themselves, being happy, and having a good time together at the Rakuten Cup, after having worked so hard with the team to put it together.
We had many opportunities to talk directly with the fans. I even randomly ran into some of the same fans who participated in the Rakuten FAN-TASTIC Cup which happened earlier in Barcelona.
Seeing these people and their reactions was a really rewarding moment for me."
Edgar Quezada, Manager, Content Marketing Strategy Group, emphasized that it was even more meaningful to see the younger generation have positive experiences through events like the Rakuten Cup.
"I can easily say that the most rewarding experiences were the ones where the youth and future generations got a chance to interact with players or participate in events with the Club. It’s one thing to see legendary players in person, but nothing beats witnessing a kid’s eyes and smile completely light up when they meet or get to shake the hand of one of their idols.
It was moments like these which made me feel very privileged to have been part of those activations even if just to document them for content. I know those kids will never forget those experiences, and it was evident that players legitimately enjoyed spending time with them.”
Worldwide creative collaboration, content awards
While events like the Rakuten Cup and the FAN-TASTIC Cup were great examples of bringing the fans together in person, a few of our colleagues spoke about creating and promoting content online.
Robert D. Cook, Assistant Manager, Content Direction Team, is a video producer and editor. He shared that his experience collaborating with team members around the world to produce the Discover Rakuten with FC Barcelona video was one of his proudest achievements.
“We worked with a team that shot in Barcelona with the players all in front of a green screen. And then we had the post-production team out here in Japan that did all the animations. Meanwhile, the audience for the video was located all across Europe.
I'm proud of how everyone really pulled together to try and extract the maximum out of what we had available in terms of time restrictions and player availability. It was a great example of a global approach.”
Sunanda Seshadrinathan from the Digital Sports Marketing Strategy Team also shared that Rakuten and FC Barcelona’s award winning ‘Most Likely To’ video series was one of her most rewarding moments of the partnership.
"Since I worked in awards submissions at the time, it felt great to receive the news that we had won a gold prize for ‘Most Creative Fan-Engagement’ at the Viddy Awards and a gold prize in the Digital Marketing + Communication category at the dotCOMM awards in 2021."
Starting from scratch
Memories brought us back five years in time.
Matthew Gong, Senior Manager, Brand Strategy Section, and Hiroki Kawaue, Manager, Rakuten Design Lab, both reflected on the very beginning of the partnership in 2017.
"It was very exciting. We were discussing from scratch about how to carry out and maximize Rakuten branding through this partnership. The most fulfilling moment was to see it realized and reported on in the media."
Kenny Wijaya, Assistant Manager, Performance & Growth Team, added:
"I had the best experience when we were building the Rakuten Arena channels on social media (what is now Rakuten Sports) from scratch. We had a lot of discussions and workshops to discuss the name, logo, content, and strategy. It was challenging and exciting at the same time, and I believe it was the first time for everyone to work with sports sponsorships."
Ami Shinoda, Senior Manager, Global Branding & Activation Section, heads the FC Barcelona activation. She remembered the time the team flew to Barcelona to pick up and bring back the very first FC Barcelona jersey printed with the Rakuten logo in time for the partnership announcement.
"Our team took separate flights to Spain in case something happened to one of us. In addition, we didn't know the exact time or day the physical jersey would be ready for pickup, so we arrived two or three days before and just waited. Looking back, it was such an important yet also very interesting experience seeing what we went through to get that jersey back in time.
It’s a great memory for me that I will never forget.”
Final thoughts
We also asked our colleagues to share takeaways from the entire experience.
Rika said she gained a lot from the opportunity to communicate with many stakeholders and persons-in-charge from all over the globe.
“I have lived and traveled globally, but this was the first time that I was able to work together with numerous Rakuten businesses – each with a diverse range of perspectives."
Oyundari added:
"Working with so many people on the Rakuten Cup project really helped me grow as a professional. I was able to get close to so many people and share so many experiences with them.”
Others reflected on the impact this project has had on their specific jobs.
Matthew and Hiroki said that “branding exposure planning from sponsorships is definitely our biggest takeaway.”
“FC Barcelona has huge exposure on all customer touchpoints. It’s given us a really good experience with planning branding and overseeing all the actual execution.”
Sunanda added:
“My biggest personal and professional takeaway from the experience was to treat every award application as a valuable opportunity to share Rakuten’s story and our team’s story directly and authentically.”
Edgar reflected on what he’s learned about “the complexities of being involved with a massive entity such as FC Barcelona.”
“Over time I realized that those we worked with at the Club were eager to hear our ideas and even championed some of them.
I also gained a lot of perspective for what they mean not just to their massive audience and fans but also to the people working at the club and the people of Barcelona.”
Finally, others saw what important values for both work and life arose out of navigating through this unique time.
Ami said:
“At the end of the day, one of the biggest things I’ve taken away from this experience is that we have all had to become a bit stronger mentally to navigate through such an uncertain time these past five years. It’s taught me the importance of patience, joy and perseverance.”
She added:
“I am so grateful to have had the chance to work on a project of this scale and significance to both sports fans around the world and to Rakutenians. It’s something very few get the chance to do – I feel extremely fortunate to be part of such an iconic partnership.”
Check out our final video, highlighting Rakuten’s historic five years with FC Barcelona.
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