More and more actors are betting on creating an international benchmark sportech hub in Barcelona, that is, a center that links the sports industry with technology and the entrepreneurial ecosystem and that generates new business opportunities for competitions and clubs. The Olympic Games projected the Barcelona brand worldwide and today the city has consolidated itself as one of the sports capitals thanks to its experience in organizing major sporting events and undisputed assets such as Fútbol Club Barcelona, Leo Messi, the Circuit de Catalunya and leading companies such as Dorna Sports. The return of Pau Gasol to the Catalan capital will contribute to boosting a projection that will also be supported by the aspiration to organize the 2030 Winter Olympic Games through the Barcelona-Pyrenees bid.
"We want to act as business developers to offer results to all parties involved in the sports sector: brands, entities, professional athletes and gamers," explains Jordi Urbea, vice president of Ogilvy Spain and CEO of the advertising agency in Barcelona. "Ogilvy has always been linked to the world of sports," recalls Urbea, referring to the "Olympic DNA" that the agency maintains after, in 1992, under the leadership of publicist Lluis Bassat, it was in charge of organizing the opening and closing ceremonies of the games.
Ogilvy has always been linked to the world of sports; we have Olympic DNAUrbea is convinced that there is an opportunity to "add value" to an industry that needs to transform and that involves many actors, from elite athletes, to sponsoring companies, sports institutions, professional leagues, federations, administrations, media, sports facilities, clubs and now also gamersthat have millions of followers on online platforms.
The new Ogilvy Sports is born "to vindicate sport as a vehicle for companies to communicate their commitment to society" and to design strategies that contribute to boosting revenue and digital monetization through the use of new technologies and big data. The division will also provide advisory and marketing services, and will develop audiovisual and content generation platforms. In the field of eSports, the challenge is also to help gamers in the management and projection of their personal brand and in strategies of association with the brands and values they represent.
"The launch of Ogilvy Sports in Barcelona confirms the agency's commitment to bring all our strategic, creative, and data treatment experience, which works so well for us in other sectors and markets, to the world of sports and eSports," says Carlos Ranedo, head of the division and development director of WPP Sports Practice, a new department created by the advertising giant in 2020.
In the field of sports, Ogilvy already works in Spain for clients such as LaLiga, for whom they provide relational and digital marketing services that seek to create new experiences for football fans. In the emerging eSports market, the agency has an agreement with Good Game Group, owner of the Vodafone Giants eSports club. It is estimated that eSports already have an audience of 2.9 million people in Spain, placing it in twelfth position in the world ranking.
Project collaborating partners
For the launch of the new division, Ogilvy has several external partners with experience in this sector, such as Andrés de la Dehesa, technology expert and president of the Spanish Association of Manufacturers and Distributors of Sporting Goods; Carles Fité, journalist and communicator; Marc Rius, sports marketing expert; and Ogilvy Barcelona's own communication director, Marc Casanovas, who previously also held this position at the DiR gym chain.
The creation of this business unit will further empower Ogilvy in Barcelona, where 200 people already work. The group's Catalan office, located on Bolivia Street, in the 22@ district, has become in recent years a center of excellence in technology, data, and customer experience management. Among the clients of the office led by Urbea are large companies such as Nestlé, Audi, CaixaBank, Lidl, and VW Commercial Vehicles.