FC Barcelona: "The goal of the partnership, make Rakuten a global brand" (R. Kadavakolu, Rakuten)

"Rakuten is a leading brand in Japan (specialising in internet services, e-commerce, finance, digital content), known and recognised in this market. Our ambition is to become a global brand, and to achieve this objective we needed a global communication platform. This is the main reason for our partnership with FC Barcelona (LaLiga Santander)," said Rahul Kadavakolu, executive director of Rakuten in charge of global marketing and branding for the Japanese group, on 05/10/2017.

Rahul Kadavakolu spoke at the 2017 Leaders Sport Business Summit in London (ENG) in a debate titled "The Future of Sports Sponsorship", alongside Fiona Taag (head of global sponsorship and Europe marketing communications of DHL) and Mark Kirkham (head of marketing and innovation of PepsiCo). News Tank Football covered the event an on-site analyst.

The Japanese group Rakuten became the main international partner of FC Barcelona on 16/11/2016. This partnership makes Rakuten the main shirt sponsor of Barça since 01/07/2017, for four seasons (2017-2021), with an additional option season (2021-22). The financial…