Case write up of Real Madrid Club de Futbol: Marketing Analysis for Real Madrid Brand expansion, Based on: Harvard Business School case "Real Madrid Club de Futbol"

Essay by RobConspireUniversity, Master'sA+, July 2006

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From its beginnings in 1902, the Spanish soccer club Real Madrid CF has set the standards of a championship soccer organization. Bernabeu, Real Madrid CF appointed president (1943), created the strongest brand in soccer synonym of prestige and champions, wining 6 European Cups. During his tenure, he focused on creating Spain's largest coliseum with a capacity of 75,000, coined "best in Europe' by the international press, and acquiring the best soccer talent at any cost. Bernabeu aimed to build the most powerful team possible at any cost in search of challenges beyond Spain. Soon after his death in 1978, the club declined for nearly two decades on the field and financially. Through the 1990's under president Lorenzo Sans, Real Madrid CF underwent major financial restructuring. The organization constantly sold players and crucial core operating assets such as stadium rights and media rights to cover operating losses and minimize its significant debt.

Given these radical transformations, Real Madrid CF started rising to its prominent status once again by winning a seventh European Cup in 1998. In 2000, Florentino Perez defeated Sanz for the club presidency and promised to deliver superstar players in addition to restoring the club finances and profitability. With Perez arrival, he noted that the club's operations and

marketing approach did not match its reputation in sports. Perez set out to revolutionize Real Madrid CF into a professional organization redefining Real Madrid's objective. The organization began to think of themselves as content providers.

As content providers their vision was established and all their effort were aimed into achieving their goal: global dissemination of Real Madrid CF content/brand, world's best soccer club and make it profiable. In order to, strengthen its brand, Real Madrid CF managers identified four value drivers: (1) size of the audience; (2) frequency audience engaged with...