FCBARCELONA.CAT

06.08.2007 10:08

www.fcbarcelona.cat becoming more global

David Saura

Aware of the increasingly greater interest in FC Barcelona around the world, the club has set up two agreements with the Rakuten and Sports CN corporations to redesign and publish the website in China and Japan, respectively.

To coincide with the Asian tour, Chinese web users are in luck, because they will be able to follow the latest news about Frank Rijkaard’s side at http://fcbarcelona.guanwangcn.com/, the club’s official website in the local language (which can also be accessed via www.fcbarcelona.cat, by selecting the Chinese language).

Agreement with Sports CN

This new version has been set up thanks to an agreement with the company Sports CN, an online leader in the Chinese market that forms part of the multinational MIH media group. This is certainly the perfect ally for the Chinese market, given this corporation’s extensive business experience, especially in relation to electronic media (internet, pay television, mobile services...).

This new website offers all the information you need related to the football first team. It also displays corporate and historical information about the club and is complemented by specific information directed at the Chinese market.

Three years ago, the club set up an experimental version in Chinese, but this only involved the translation of certain new items. But the website is now much more complete and thanks to the support of Sports CN, who have such broad knowledge of local needs, there will be much more Chinese language content on offer from now on.

Redesign and new content

As for Japan, the http://www.fcbarcelona.jp/ site had been redesigned and refocused, in keeping with what has happened to the main club website. The agreement in this case was made with the Rakuten group, the seventh most important Internet company in the world with more than 32 million registered users. Apart from the Internet deal, FC Barcelona has been involved for three years in different projects in association with Rakuten, such as the setting up of the Visa Barça credit card and an official Japanese language magazine. These initiatives do even more to promote the Barça brand in Japan, the foreign country with more club members than any other.

These new agreements have consolidated the club’s strategic plan and should promote the Barça institution and brand even more than ever in Asia, in this case by exploiting the potential offered by Internet. And it should also generate new business channels for the club.