Why Beko Turned to FC Barcelona to Help Elevate its Brand

A look at the training jersey that Barcelona players wear. (Photo via FC Barcelona)

In the last 15 years, Beko has gone from being a mid-range Turkish brand to the #1 freestanding and fastest growing home appliance brand in Europe.

One of the major reasons for this is Beko’s partnership with FC Barcelona, which started in 2014 and was renewed & upgraded in early 2018. Beko is now a main partner, alongside Nike & Rakuten, as well as a training partner. The Beko logo is present on Barcelona’s matchday shirts (sleeve partner) and on the front & back of their training jerseys.

Before deciding to partner with FC Barcelona, Beko had to decide whether to partner with a sports property at all.

“Our mission is to be a strong global brand,” said George Mead, Head of Partnerships and Brand PR at Beko. “Our awareness as a brand still has a long way to go and building awareness through advertisement is not our core approach. Building your brand by connecting with what people love or are passionate about develops awareness through association and translates in growing your presence.”

Regarding the partnership with FC Barcelona, he said, “When we looked at different territories and analyzed what sports properties to use, the values of Barcelona completely aligned with ours: ambition, humility, respect, effort, and teamwork.”

The Becko logo present on Barcelona’s training kits.

The initial partnership was so successful that Beko decided to increase the assets available when the partnership was renewed.

“What do you do at the end of a great four-year partnership? We wanted to continue the journey & go bigger and better,” Mead explained. “The new package proposed by Barcelona – including Beko becoming the training partner – aligned well with our brand as Beko is helping power everything from where FC Barcelona players eat to where they train and play. The upgraded assets will also help increase our reach as 227 million FC Barcelona social media followers see posts every day from Barcelona’s official accounts of players training in kits with Beko’s logo.”

The expanded partnership also gives Beko the tools to continue its journey to becoming the best in the world.

As one of the few stand-alone home appliances brands to partner with an elite football club, Beko is able to differentiate from the competition. “We have big competitors who are great at what they do but we don’t want to follow,” said Mead. “The Barcelona partnership allows us to create new outstanding ways to connect with consumers around the world.”

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However, just associating the brand with FC Barcelona and seeing the logo is not enough. Fans and customers need to engage and interact with the brand, understand its values, and realize that it provides a better experience than the competition.

Two of Beko’s campaigns that boosted engagement & awareness are Eat Like a Pro & Beko Global Fan Wave.

For Eat Like a Pro, Beko & Barcelona joined forces with Unicef to promote healthy eating habits amongst children.

⚠️⚠️ Remember!! @Beko is spreading healthy habits around the world with this great initiative! Every tweet using the hashtag #EatLikeAPro means 1€ to the @UNICEF programmes! 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/PRwySNlMkc

— Barça Foundation (@FundacioFCB) May 6, 2018

During El Clasico, Beko gave away the sleeve space – the partnership’s most important asset – to Eat Like a Pro. For every social media post with #EatLikeAPro, Beko donated 1 Euro to UNICEF. Additionally, anyone who made such a post automatically got a chance to win the jerseys worn by the Barcelona players at this game!

The campaign went viral with players challenging each other on social media to Eat Like a Pro.

“It’s becoming like the ice bucket challenge with different players challenging each other,” said Mead. “Not only are Barcelona players doing it but also players across football clubs and across sports, all in an effort to raise awareness and funds for childhood obesity.” 

In the first 11 days of the campaign (May 1st-11th), 1 million Euro was raised for UNICEF!

Challenge accepted @ivanrakitic ! Let’s all work as a team. For every post with #EatLikeAPro, @beko will donate 1€ to @UNICEF in collaboration with @FundacioFCB to prevent childhood obesity. What about you, @kobebryant @cescf4bregas and @vanesalorenzo_ ? pic.twitter.com/dasu4PXLZG

— Carles Puyol (@Carles5puyol) May 5, 2018

Similarly, in 2016, the Beko Global Fan Wave brought together people from all over the world to do a Mexican wave. This was then shown on the in-stadium LEDs during the El Classico. People from 135 countries took part in the fan wave, submitting more than 7,600 videos. The campaign had a unique reach of more than 10 million, 55 million impressions & almost $10 million worth of PR coverage.

So far, the partnership with FC Barcelona has improved Beko’s brand awareness, image, reach & engagement amongst consumers and has helped catapult Beko to become the #1 freestanding home appliances brand in Europe.