FC Barcelona Agrees Nokia India Deal

Nokia India has agreed a sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona, order the club’s first in the Indian market.

D Shivakumar Senior Vice President of Nokia India Middle East & Africa (IMEA) believes the deal underlines the company’s interest in sport, particularly in football.

“While we already have deep relationship with cricket, owing to our association with Kolkata Knight Riders and Champions League T20, we are now looking to tap into the next most popular sport – football – in India,” he said.

“Unlike cricket, which has been developed bottom-up from the grassroots, I believe football will grow top-to-bottom. Football is gaining significant traction in India and the youth is following club football with a lot of enthusiasm. And with Nokia and FCB being equally hungry and creative in their respective fields, this association has become particularly special.”

Nokia will be the official mobile device for Barcelona in India and all the club’s football marketing promotions in India will be carried out jointly between the two organizations.

Nokia India has announced for a brand campaign to mark the deal and try to as broaden consumer engagement around club football.

The ‘Tiki Taka’ campaign will engage consumers through various touch points including digital, television and activation.

“While the ‘Tiki Taka’ campaign will run for six months, the immediate objectives will be to launch a mascot, tag the FCB flag through an extensive digital campaign and unveil an exclusive mobile app on Nokia Lumia smartphones,” Shivakumar said.

A competition will be held in which the 11 winners will be flown to Barcelona to watch a game at the Camp Nou.

“Asia is very important region for us and we are confident that this association with Nokia India will create an excellent platform for the Indian youth to engage with us, and bring the club closer to its Indian fans,” said Antoni Rossich, CEO of FC Barcelona.{jcomments on}