Oppo Electronics banks on FC Barcelona sponsorship deal to open doors

Models pose with Oppo smartphones during an expo in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, July 4, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo Electronics has signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Spain's FC Barcelona soccer team, in a move that will help the company enter the European market and strengthen its foothold in Asia.

Under the deal, Oppo will become Barcelona's exclusive global mobile partner and will have an LED advertising presence at Camp Nou, the club's home stadium.

Additionally, the Chinese phone manufacturer will cooperate with the Catalan team in a wide range of activities, such as football events, fan activities and TV advertisements. No financial details of the deal were disclosed.

The phone manufacturer says it is also launching 5,000 units of the R7 Plus FC Barcelona phone, a special edition of its latest device the Oppo R7 Plus for Barcelona fans.

The customized phone with the Barcelona logo on the back will be sold for $549 through Oppo's official online store, with shipping available for overseas markets.

"As Oppo continues its global expansion strategy, this partnership will enable us to reach even more global consumers at a faster and more dynamic pace," said Sky Li, vice-president of Oppo.

Bradley Williams, a professor of Asian studies at the City University of Hong Kong, said: "If a Chinese company can gain an association with a club from one of the top European leagues, it might increase name recognition and help it in the marketplace."

Although the Chinese phone producer is aiming to become a top-three brand in Southeast Asia within the next three years, the company has been struggling to break into the mature markets of Europe and the United States.

John Fang, a business analyst at the China Market Research Group, said: "Oppo smartphones are very successful in some developing countries, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia."

"Expanding in mature markets such as the US and Europe might be harder as there is lower brand awareness for Chinese smartphone brands," he said.

Nonetheless, the R7 plus device could be the company's first breakthrough in mature markets as Oppo announced that the mobile phone was finally opening for US and European pre-orders, with the producer promising to ship the handsets by the end of this month.

Chinese phone manufacturers are no strangers to using partnership deals with soccer teams to build their brands in Europe.

In 2012, Huawei Technologies Co inked a sponsorship agreement with Spain's Atletico de Madrid to support the expansion of its mobile phones in the Spanish market. The deal with the Madrid-based team marked the first sports sponsorship for Huawei in Western Europe.