Twenty years ago hardly anyone outside of France knew about Paris Saint Germain. Despite not winning a single international trophy since then, they somehow managed to become one of the most iconic brands in world football. The biggest celebrities want to be associated with PSG and the club's value is the fastest growing among all soccer teams over the past decade.
This development is closely linked to its cooperation with kit sponsor Nike. So here is the story of how those two rocked the kit industry and created the most fashionable football club in the world. PSG is the second fastest growing club in the world in all sports, just behind the Golden State Warriors.
Nike is the most important sponsor of PSG
The injection of capital from the Middle East
They grew by almost a thousand percent in ten years and are now valued at around a billion euros. Behind that astronomical figure is an investment from the Middle East. Qatar Sport Investment took over PSG in 2011. He first focused on improving the team and has spent more than a billion euros on new players alone since taking over. Movement similar to the one carried out by City Football in Manchester City.
Players
Some of the most notable transfers: Cavani, Ibrahimovic and Kylian Mbappé. And anyway the record of more than 200M that they paid for Neymar. The investment woke up a sleeping giant and PSG can now compete with the best clubs in Europe.
The most important signings that came with investments from the Middle East
But it also made the club very dependent on oil money from its investors. This is a high risk for a club. FC Málaga is just one example of how a club can suffer when its wealthy sponsor suddenly loses interest. This is why PSG executives made a plan to become less dependent on foreign money and they decided to invest heavily to gain access to new markets. An essential part of the strategy: build a global brand.
A club for culture
Soccer and its look are becoming more and more intertwined with street culture and hip hop. You see artists wearing soccer jerseys on stage, revealing new kits for brands, and even being interviewed about the trend. "This is definitely a fashionable thing" PSG is at the heart of this development. All the cool kids wear PSG uniforms. And the Parc des Princes has become a meeting point for some of the world's biggest celebrities, who like to stop by in Paris. It's hard to imagine a better city to determine a club as a fashion statement.
Paris: HUB fashion par excellence
Paris is already a world capital of fashion and style. And that authenticity is very important, as PSG's brand manager (Fabien Allegre) pointed out. She stressed that they don't proactively ask celebrities to wear their gear, but "it has to be organic." There has to be an attachment." It has to be organic. There has to be an attachment." Along with famous musicians and artists, PSG also works with stars from other sports to build your brand. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant visited and supported the club.
The strategic alliance with the Jordan brand
But what really put PSG on the map is their collaboration with Michael Jordan and his famous Jumpman brand. Owned by PSG kit sponsor Nike, Air Jordan is one of the most iconic brands in American pop culture, hip hop and sports. What started as a deep partnership between a player and a brand has grown to be iconic and revolutionized an industry.
Some prominent athletes are ambassadors of the PSG brand
The Air Jordan brand today covers more than 30 versions of the shoe, many of them re-released multiple times. The shoes often sell out as soon as they are available and are resold online to sneaker collectors. In 2019, Air Jordan made its first quarter with revenue of over a billion dollars. To put that in perspective: that's about as much as Under Armor earns in the same amount of time. Its status among sneaker lovers is definitely one of the reasons for Jordan's success. The brand went from making basketball shoes in the beginning to becoming a big name in fashion. In that sense, the collaboration with a club in the fashion capital, Paris, makes a lot of sense. The great mix between the brands becomes apparent when looking at the markets that PSG and Jordan are targeting.
Winning business partnership
Jordan es una de las marcas más relevantes de EE. UU. Y gracias a sus raíces está fuertemente ligada a la cultura del baloncesto. Y aún cuando Jordan es definitivamente una marca global, fundamentalmente en Europa, aún hay grupos target¿Qué es un objetivo?En marketing, un objetivo es el resultado que se pretende alcanzar en un periodo de tiempo, a través el uso de los recursos disponibles. Por tanto, se debe formular de una forma clara y hace falta que sea accesible y medible. plus que no están familiarizados con la marca. El baloncesto es cada vez más grande, pero no recibe tanta atención en Europa como el fútbol. El PSG en cambio es muy conocido en Europa, por lo visto fundamentalmente en Francia, one of the countries with the highest purchasing power. This means that, even though both brands are similar in character, both sports and fashion, they are famous and loved by different audiences.
The most important strategic alliances
Strengthening the exclusivity of the brand
By collaborating, they combine these audiences and cover markets that are often too far away for them individually. Jordan had already tapped into the soccer market when he released a custom shoe featuring Neymar, who was probably the most exciting player at the time. And he plays for PSG. It was already an indication that the kit's deal with el PSG no se limitaría a tener el LogoConcepto de Logotipo¿Qué es un Logotipo?Un Logotipo, o logo, no es más que el elemento gráfico o visual con el que se dota de identidad a una empresa, negocio, producto o servicio. Es ese símbolo con el que se apela a la memoria visual y con el que se permite dotar de presencia a cualquier tipo de entidad sin necesidad de recurrir a descripciones.De hecho, es más correcto hablar de plus de Jumpman en los kits. No other football club will be kitted out in Jordan kits, at least until 2021.
Part of the collection are also shoes and more than 70 other posts. And anyway, the collection is not only presented on the field, but on the catwalk of the big fashion shows. It's safe to say that the collaboration paid off for PSG. The club sold more than 80,000 kits on the launch weekend alone. And it's clear where the extra sales are coming from: Compared to the previous season, US jersey sales have grown by an incredible 470%. And there is another market that promises similar figures in the future.
Entry into the Asian market
If there is a country that truly buy premium brands and luxury brands, it's China. And since basketball is one of the biggest sports in China, working with the Jordan brand could help PSG take a leading position in the competition for Chinese soccer fans. The deal with Jordan also puts PSG on the map for other sponsors.
Acaban de firmar un acuerdo de diez años y varios millones de euros con el gigante del comercio electrónico Fanatics. La empresa además realiza el merchandisingConcepto de Merchandising¿Qué es el Merchandising?Es un recopilatorio de posts de tipo publicitario que se utilizan con fines promocionales o como forma de negocio. Sin embargo, además se puede hablar de él como del conjunto de técnicas comerciales pensadas para impulsar la compra en el punto de venta.Dos significados para un mismo término que adquieren distinto peso en los tiempos que corren. Actualmente es más común hablar del merchandising como plus de la NFL, NBA y MLB. Es probable que hayan tomado nota del PSG en vinculación a su colaboración con Jordan, que causó revuelo en el mercado estadounidense. Inclusive se puede argumentar que la fuerte marca global del PSG aumenta sus oportunidades de fichar a los mejores jugadores; definitivamente es un factor blando valioso a la hora de convencer a estrellas como Neymar y Mbappé para que se unan al club.
The construction of a sporting and commercial image
Despite not having a single Champions League, PSG is positioned as one of the most recognized clubs in the world. From a historical perspective, it will always be difficult for PSG to compete with clubs like Real Madrid, Manchester United or Barcelona in terms of sales. But for a team new to the European stage, it's impressive how quickly they managed to build a club that stands apart from the rest.
Will fashion bring a Champions League for PSG?
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From a purely business perspective, how the club promotes itself off the pitch is almost as important as how it performs on the pitch. PSG already nail the first part: the question is whether the extraordinary record and financial stability will eventually bring the long-awaited Champions League title as well. What is your view on this? Nothing but hot air or the future of soccer kit design?
What is the DNA of the PSG brand?
El activo número uno es la ciudad de París. París es el centro de la marca. La Torre Eiffel es el centro del logotipo. París significa tantas cosas para tantas personsLas personas son personalidades imaginarias que representan a un determinado grupo objetivo. En el marketing online, las personas ayudan a entender mejor a los usuarios de un portal web o a los clientes de una tienda online. Concepto de personas Para que las personas puedan ejercer su efecto positivo, deben ser lo más detalladas viable. Esto conlleva un término exhaustiva de los grupos destinatarios para conseguir datos empíricos. La próxima plus en todo el mundo, desde la historia hasta la cultura, pasando por valores más modernos como el diseño, la moda y la gastronomía. La Ciudad de las Luces. La ciudad del amor. Es un material tan bueno sobre el cual construir.
The other thing is that it is the only team in Paris. When you look at all the other major cities in Europe, there are at least two, sometimes three, in London, seven or eight, teams competing in the same city. PSG equals Paris and Paris equals PSG. That gives a stronger position.
PSG is a young team. They turned 50 in 2020. All the other great teams were born in the early 20th or late 19th century, which obviously gives them a lot of tradition and history, but it gives them the ability to be much more nimble and agile as a brand, and also be perceived as cool because they are young.
So if you put all of this together, it really is the coolest brand in the world of football, a lifestyle brand, a premium brand. That positioning has been expressed through many different collaborations and partnerships and developments in the world of entertainment.
They have recently worked with two fashion designers: a French fashion designer named [Christelle] Koché and an Indian designer named Manish Arora. They have given them the brand and have played with their own artistic values and creativity to create fashion lines. They have been on the runway in Paris and in New York for Fashion Week with those collections. It really brings a point of differentiation to PSG. They have also worked with many brands, not just typical associations or sponsorships. We have that, of course, but at Levi's, for example, we've created capsule collections together.
They have also flirted with the world of music. They have done a great collaboration with the Rolling Stones. The art world is also something they work on a lot. They've partnered with artists to give them the ability to create within the brand, whether it's creating a limited edition of one of our jerseys or posters for our games, or new products like skateboards, these kinds of things.
All of these products allow for a different retail strategy, which is not just being there in Nike stores and PSG stores, but also being present in some really high-end retail stores that are very different from traditional football. That's quite a different way of positioning yourself.
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