Oppo recently announced its renewed three-year partnership with football team FC Barcelona. This furthers an already successful four-year alliance with the world-famous team, which is now the longest running partnership between a Chinese brand and a European football club. This new chapter was also commemorated by the release of a Limited Edition FC Barcelona Reno 10x Zoom Series handset.
The renewed partnership will include in-stadium signage, training camps, workshops for fans, plus creative online and off-line fans engagement activities; kicking off an exciting new chapter in the Oppo-FC Barcelona story.
“These elements aim to inspire Barca fans, strengthen the community by bringing them closer to the club and OPPO products, and drive our two sides’ shared values of passion, creativity, innovation, and perfection,” explained Derek Sun, Oppo Global Marketing Director.
Both organizations’ mutual philosophies have become even more apparent with this re-upped partnership. Just as FC Barcelona’s world-renowned passion for the “beautiful game” has effectively transformed football into an art; likewise, OPPO aims to create beauty in people’s lives, through cutting-edge devices that unleash users’ creativity. Both partners’ shared values extend to innovation and perfection, with OPPO setting up institutes across the world to advance the company’s tech innovation and research capabilities in 5G and AI, as well as the Barça Innovation Hub, that is exploring the use of new technologies on the football field. Camp Nou is also set to become the first stadium in Europe with dedicated 5G coverage.
Oppo has been able to reach out to Barça’s more than 200 million fans across the world, making this a critical element of the company’s overseas branding strategy.
When Oppo and FC Barcelona kickstarted their partnership in 2015, it marked the very first in-depth cooperation between a Chinese brand and a European football club.
Oppo places tremendous value in sports globally, becoming the first Asian sponsor of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in the UK, the first Chinese sponsor of the French Tennis Open, Roland-Garros, while also backing the Indian national Cricket Team. These events serve as a communication bridge for Oppo, effectively bringing its young and innovative technology to sports fans worldwide.
Since the start of OPPO and FC Barcelona, it has gifted fans several limited edition smartphones. Under the slogan “The Smartphone of Champions”, OPPO released the FC Barcelona Edition of the R7 Plus in 2015. Following this initial success came a series of well-received limited edition handsets including the R9 (2016), F3 (2017) and R11 Plus (2017).
This 2019, stunning new Limited Edition FC Barcelona’s handset from OPPO celebrates the three-year partnership, highlighting to fans the fruitful relationship between the two. This commemorative edition of OPPO’s Reno 10x Zoom phone blends the team’s famous garnet and blue colors, creating a genuine work of art that is sure to resonate with Barça supporters globally.
Sporting the powerful features of the Reno 10x Zoom such as the camera with 60x zoom and Ultra Night Mode 2.0, panoramic screen, and VOOC 3.0, this limited edition smartphone offers something more special to fans.
Inspired by the club flags waving in Camp Nou, the phone’s exterior sports the club’s famous garnet and blue colors. This used an innovative, industry-first heat-press technique to create its unique gradient effect. Overlaying this are two Barça logos: a larger blurred logo, paying homage to the club’s glorious history, as well as a smaller gold team logo at the bottom, which represents the club’s present, as well as its bright future. It also comes equipped with custom software, including exclusive wallpapers and icons such as footballs, garnet and blue kits, and more. Fans can also feel like Barca is with them wherever they go, thanks to its custom ringtones that sample the FC Barcelona anthem and stadium sounds.
The Limited Edition FC Barcelona OPPO Reno 10x Zoom with 8GB RAM and 256GB ROM will be available in select markets in Europe and Asia.
