Video interview: FC Barcelona marketing boss outlines branding strategy

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A full transcript of the interview is featured below:

Interviewer:           Lander, thank you very much for joining us on Meet the Boss television.

Interviewee:          Thank you.

Interviewer:           I wanted to really talk about the extraordinary changes within the football industry.  Certainly, over the last 10 years we’ve had increased revenue from television.  We’ve had players’ wages have just gone through roof.  From your own point of view, what have been biggest changes from, I guess, a commercial standpoint?

Interviewee:          Yeah, well, that’s true.  That last decade has been impressive, the change, not only the football, the sports industry has evolved too much. 

If I had to point out main elements that have drove those elements, I would say that, probably, stadium development.  Stadium development has been key.  You know, a stadium not any more are places where teams play or athletes run their course, are places where they are doing big concerts and doing many activities, social, cultural activities, and it’s been a big revenue growth, in that sense. 

You have mentioned that TV rights.  That means broadcasting, the regulation, has been probably the most important lack in revenue for clubs.  But we should say, as well, that many proposals and actions from marketing and merchandizing standpoint have been enhanced, and the last 10 years we’ve seen many, many changes on that.

Interviewer:           From a CMO’s perspective, would say that FC Barcelona has become more of a, I suppose, a global entertainment business rather than people playing football in the park?

Interviewee:          Yeah.  Well, we’ve seen, as well, an evolution in that.  And we’ve seen an evolution, probably 50 or 60 years ago, we were an important organizer of sports events in the City of Barcelona, but now, whereas with global media, this has evolved and we are not anymore local organizer.  We are a global entertainment company.

We are facilities here, in our stadium.  This is not anymore in a stadium.  We are in a theme park.  It’s a theme park where we have an arena, several pitches and a stadium; we have a nice hockey rink.  So, at the end, we are saying that the evolution of sport is not only the practice but is the entertainment, with all of the elements that are fulfilled with this fact.

Interviewer:           So how do you look for marketing inspiration?  Do you look it at other soccer clubs, or do you look outside of the football arena and really look around for your inspiration?

Interviewee:          Well, we’ll look 360 degrees around.  We’ll look to everybody.  We do not think that we are the ones that have the best an brightest ideas.  Everybody has great ideas.  We try to benchmark and we try to adapt those things that we think are important to the identity of our club.  Our motto, our claim, is “More than a club,” and that has an important implication.

So, in some instances, we are pioneering.  We are doing things, sometimes risky.  In some others, we try to adapt things that we are seeing that are evolving __ ____ that we think we have to be there, probably are not going to be the best.  We’re not going to be the first, but we have to be there.  Digital _____, social networking, things like that make us move.

But at the end, is not looking on the special places, it’s looking around.  It’s looking everything, this is important.

Interviewer:           I mean, I guess, from a CMO’s perspective, your job is to increase market share, may that be a global footprint or increase your fan base and so forth.  From your own experience and throughout your tenure here at FC Barcelona, what would you say have been your three biggest challenges?

Interviewee:          Well, that’s true that, at the end, our goal is to increase our brand value.  FC Barcelona “More than a club” brand, this is the most important asset that we have.  At the end, there is a highest competition, sometimes geographically, sometimes local. 

But to maintain that top brand positioning that, at the end, have to translate into how many millions we are having as an income and in order to get best players, our biggest challenges is to try to be at the top and be at the top.  Not trading our shirt, our jersey, you know, top clubs’ jerseys are worth around €20-25 million per annum.  But at the same time, naming rights of a stadium, we’re seeing more and more that the stadiums are having commercial naming rights.

But on top of those two, of the jersey and naming rights, I would say that continue being a multisport club.  That makes a difference.  It’s not the same, in terms of the people that you have to invest to work with having only one sport if you have 13 different sports like we have, 5 out of the 13 being at the professional level in competition internationally, that makes a difference.  And that are elements that our main competitors do not have that have a cost and that we have to find other ideas and other resources in order to continue being at the top.

Interviewer:           Definitely.  I mean, you’ve mentioned, and, hopefully, we’ll get back to UNICEF and, obviously, the work that you do through the foundation __ _____.  I just wanted to mention a recent interview that we’ve had here on Meet the Boss television, and I mentioned him earlier, Kodak CMO, Jeff Hayzlett.  I said that he actually believes that marketing’s job is, to some extent, to challenge and company and to stretch it in different directions.  Would you agree with that statement?

Interviewee:          Our company, our institution, is in a special ___ ___.  We challenge ourselves, but we want to challenge the societe, as well, our community.  We challenge our employees, our players, our partners because, by saying that we are more than a club, we want that they understand and they fulfill with the vision that we have that not only a sport is the important, it’s very important, but a social commitment is something that __ ____ ___.  One cannot go with the other.  We cannot be someone playing in Africa or playing the U.S. or playing in Asia and not making a reference that sometimes we want to be next to those more vulnerable.

So we have to stretch, but we have to be thinking that we are luckiest because we have a job and we have leisure and we can see matches.  But because our ownership and because we’re history of more than 110 years says that we have to grow with our community and that makes a big difference.

Interviewer:           So what would you say your value proposition is, as a chief marketing officer?

Interviewee:          Well, as simple as we are more than a club.  There is a big element that can be seen from multiple facets, can be seen from a cultural, from a social, from identity standpoint, as well as from a sport standpoint.

Our key vision is to fold, is from one side be a sport club, multisport club, but in any manner.  We want to play football.  Sometimes we do it, we achieve it, sometimes we don’t.  But we want to play football in a spectacular way.  We want that our fans, our ___ members, that they enjoy.  We want to play offensive.  Sometimes if we don’t win but we have attack, we are not that much loser.

But, at the same time, having this type of a sport offensive with enjoyment, with fair play, we want to be committed with our community.  And it has not been now with UNICEF that you mentioned, it’s been in the past 100 years.  We have many examples, at the beginning, on a very local basis; now, on a global standpoint.

But, for us, both example for sport, being a reference, being an icon for the community, but, as well, as an identity _____ having commitment that we can say we do not want to save the world, but we want to be an example.  We want to open a door.  Because we believe that if many others follow, we can change things, and this is important.

Interviewer:           I wanted to talk about the world that we live in now.  It’s become a very lean world, and I think all of us have to do better.  We have to be better at our jobs.  We’ve, certainly, got to be better than our competition.  I mean, from a marketing perspective, how do you, I suppose, deliver value in clear and concise way, and what are the metrics that you use to gauge if you are doing a good job?

Interviewee:          Say it again.  What do you mean?

Interviewer:           Well, so being able to report on marketing’s impact, say, if your job as chief marketing officer to market the brand, to have the value that the brand brings, what metrics, other than, obviously, revenue and income, what other metrics do you use?  How do you gauge that it’s been successful?

Interviewee:          Okay.  Well, for us, from a marketing perspective, that’s true that the income and the revenue are the most objective things that we are looking.  But there are number of elements that, lately, a number of companies are able to follow, which is the expansion that we’re having internationally.

So the way that we have the visitors that we have in our stadium, we have almost 1.5 million in our stadium.  Our museum that you will be able to see is the second largest museum visited in Spain.  But to have almost 300 million fans across the world, to see that every year we more countries and more fans in Asia, in Africa, in the Americas, that’s something that, for us, is a good metric.

But let me tell you something because we cannot talk about marketing or sports without talking about social again.  For us, is a good metric if every year rather than give support to 3,000 kids, we give support to 300 or 400 kids more.  In that sense, we are known in many countries, not that much because we are a sport club, but because we are an entity that has given support to children in refugee camps and kids with AIDS or kids with malaria.

Or far beyond those countries that need a high support, we try, as we are doing with UNESCO, to try to give support of education and to give full ____ education.  Because education is not only how to learn how to write, might be, as well, to understand that sport is something that has to be done in tolerance with no racism and with not violence, and that’s something that we have in the old Europe and that’s something that we are committed, as well. 

We are doing plenty of things with European Parliament and with UNESCO in order to tell our children in those occidental countries that to live in communities like to practice football much because there are rules, there are respect to others.  And especially intolerance, this is something that, for us, is a good metric and seeing social evolution on that.

Interviewer:           Certainly, from what you’re saying, the whole social aspect and social responsibility, social commitment, plays a very, very large role in the grand and the world of FC Barcelona.  How do you weigh up your marketing decisions?  You know, where you move forward, where you invest either socially or, indeed, the sponsors that you have here, which you brand the club.

Interviewee:          Yeah, the club has a body that is the foundation.  That is the one that runs and is the arm that deals and takes care of the soul of our institution.  But at the same time, from the club, from the commercial department, from the marketing department, we take a lot of attention that our sponsors, they are committed with those elements.  We ask them to contribute to the foundation.  At the same time, we find partners just for the foundation.

There are a number of elements that, for us, are key.  We wouldn’t be able to work with companies or partners that do not support children integrity, that do not support defense of rights of elderly people or women, on a different aspect. 

For us, is not only from the social side, is, as well, from the day-to-day work basis.  We want that players being committed.  We’re having UNICEF on our jersey.  We might not understand that something doesn’t feel that children’s rights are important.  And both players, employees or our partners, for us, it’s very important being committed and this idea that far beyond the return on investment that they are having, what we want is, as well, that they are committed and that they show us that it’s important to move forward in order to make changes for the sport side, marketing side, but social side.

Interviewer:           And you mentioned UNICEF again.  I believe that you guys pay for the privilege of having UNICEF on your shirts.  And, obviously, through that you donate a large amount of money to help those within UNICEF.  Was that a marketing strategy?  I mean, would you consider that an _____ marketing strategy?  Because you’ve mentioned before that a lot of other clubs make €20-30 million a year from having that lucrative deal of some sponsor on their shirt.  So was it a strategy, was it a marketing strategy?

Interviewee:          Not that much.  There are many histories that are much nicer to being explained looking backwards than looking forward.  You know, with the ___ ____ this is we wanted to write a new chapter in marketing, but it’s not that fact the fact.

It’s more what I was explain of the type and the commitment that the club has and the history of the club.  There was a moment that the board, they said it was important to make a change because, on those two pillars that we are saying that are important for the club, a type of sport and that social commitment for a vision of being more than a club in the world.  There is an important word that is global.

We are global.  We are global because our members that are the owners of our club are not anymore owners and members of Barcelona.  We have almost 4,000 members in Japan, and we have a huge number of members outside Barcelona.  So we have to dedicate our efforts to them, as well.

So, now, when we thought that we are seeing that we are committed, it’s important that this nice speech that we have that we believe that we are passionate it’s followed with actions.  It’s tangible.  And in that sense, we said if we believe the best action is to use our jersey as the best standpoint to the world.  We need to help organizations that are defending the rights of children to shake people’s mind, to say, listen, there are things that we are important.  You are here enjoying having a good match, but it’s important that you learn that other people _ ___ ____ ____.

So where we thought about UNICEF it was not that much thinking on, well, we’ll make something different.  We knew, at that time, that would be a mighty decision, risky, pioneer as well.  But we were convinced that that was another proof that when are saying that we are committed, that we are more than a club, this is important.  We say we do not want to have 20 million in our account. 

The other way around, we want to give $2 million to UNICEF, but we want to give them $2 million and we want be involved.  Involved probably more important that in the amount of money that we are giving them into the communication in saying that we are doing actions in Swaziland, we are doing actions in Rwanda, in many places and this the important.  It is important that we follow our actions.  We have to talk the talk and walk the walk, so it’s important to ____ in that sense.

Interviewer:           You mentioned the fans earlier, and I know that they’re extremely important to the _____, to, actually, Barcelona.  And we mentioned that they own the club, that they’re members of the club.  How much do the fans’ demands affect, perhaps, marketing strategies moving forward?

Interviewee:          Well, fans, they meant, fans, they meant a lot because they are passionate and this is great for us.  We have, from one side, members, that the club is owned by 170,000 members, which have the right to provide feedback to the board of directors and through the annual general assembly, which is the highest, the supreme governmental body where all the agreements ____ __ members and the board of directors for the decisions.

So when we are saying fans, and we include our members as the strongest fans, those are the ones that are taking the decisions if we want to give naming rights to the stadium or if we are allowed to put a commercial name in our jersey or if this has to be a single football club or has to be a multisport club.

Fans and members oblige us because are their desires and their willingness through this assembly, annual assembly, that is telling us the big lines that we have to follow.  So this is good because this is the most democratic and you now have a great asset to know what they desire and what is the hopes that they are having.

In a company, stakeholders, they are expecting, at the end, they expect that the brand value increases.  Well, but because they are expecting that at the end of the year they are going to get an amount per share.  We do not give an amount per share to our members, but we give something that is probably more important.  Is intangible but there is hope and there is proudness.

When we have members that say, “I was in Sweden and I was talking to someone that loves football, as well, and he said, ‘What a great club,’” because you are defending this or we are doing the other he is coming and he is sending us an e-mail saying, “We are proud to be a member of that club.” 

There this intangible, but, at the end, it’s the most radical way to keep our members and our fans.  We have 300 million fans across the world.  We have a lot of members, as well, across the world, and those are the elements that keep us pushing and going and making of this club, not only on the sport club, but something different, sometimes on the social, sometimes on the cultural, sometimes on the environmental. 

But we believe institution like us, as many others, that they are great institutions, have a role to help and to be next the community.

Interviewer:           I wanted to talk about, obviously, the vision for Barce moving forward.  And we’ve talked about interweaving sport with social issues, social commitment, global identity and also economics.  Can you shed some more light for the vision, for the future, for Barce on any of those levels?

Interviewee:          Yeah, well, by all means, we are going to continue willing to be global, and willing to be global means to continue investing in elements of mobiles, TVs, Internet, social elements that are able to communicate better and deeper with our fans.

At the same time, we have to continue having a broad actions with schools and summer camps and international tournaments that we are doing.  But, at the same time, those physical presences that we are having at the global level, along with the international competitions where we are, because there are most important elements and our fans that love football, we are following.

But we need to maintain this globality that we have to go to, but _____ of being local.  And we are talking about being local, we mean to maintain this identity that we have being a _____ club where we love to maintain our language, where we want to maintain our presence in our city and to help those that are around.

So we need to maintain this difference on what we are doing to make that the ______ club has a sense, but not a sense on the theory, a sense on the action that we are pulling behind.  We will see the future more global but not forgetting our local identity, as well.

Interviewer:           You mentioned global, and I’m going to quote you now, Lander, you once said that Barcelona is no longer a club for Barcelona.  We are now a global club.  You also it is important to have a unique identity.  You must see the benchmarks from the outside, but each country has its own local attitudes and that is how you have to develop the sport within that country.

How do you communicate a clear brand, a clear message, across different cultures?

Interviewee:          Well, communication is, by far, one of the keyist elements that we have to work.  Because it is through communication, either visual or sounded, that we are going to go far beyond with our fans in all the countries.  Global media are going to be the tools that we are going to use, and we have to work deeper and deeper on those elements.

But we are luckier.  We are luckier because football being the most practiced sport, and, at the same time, solidarity being an asset that human being is always supported and sensitive.  You might think that you give a ball to children and they are going to play even if they are from different cultures, different countries and different religions.  And if you have a terrible magnitude in any country, you have other people and other human beings that are going to give support.

For us, we communicate through football, in a type of football, and we communicate through the actions are doing.  Unfortunately, we are not always able to communicate and to bring that message because football, the sports, the leagues are so important that eat everything that we are doing.

But in those countries where we are, in Asia, in Africa, we are working.  It’s very well-known that we have a deal, a partnership with UNESCO.  But we have as well a partnership with UNHCR.  UNHCR is the entity, the United Nations entity, that pays attention to refugees.  There are 9 million children in refugee camps.  We said we have to provide them some type of hope, so we are doing things in refugee camps.  We are doing things with UNESCO, as well, in many other countries, and doing plenty of actions with UNICEF.

So those actions on the field are the better elements that we are doing, but we do not miss the occasion when are able to communicate, either our media factory.  We have a media factory and we are proud because we want to tell them what we are doing.  If we want to bring them that proudness of saying, “I’m not going to give you a dollar per share.”

But for you to know that we were in Rwanda and we help and that there are three camps in – one in Asia, one in Africa and one in Colombia – where we are helping around 5,000 children, bringing football and trainers and material for them to have ___ ____ _____.

All those elements, the football itself, the competition itself, but, as well, all the actions that we’re doing around, all those things are _______ elements to communicate.

Interviewer:           I wanted to talk to about being an organization that has such a global following, do you have a huge on-line presence?  I mean, do you use social media?  Do you use the Web, if you like, to expand your global footprint?

Interviewee:          Yeah, we were not pioneering on that, but, definitely, we realize, we were saying earlier that we have to look around and we have to see what youngster and what the societe is doing.  We want to be pioneers in football.  This is our core business.  But we have to look what other elements interests our fans and our members.  And we realize that social networking and digital media, it was important, and we are on that.

We are probably, if not the largest, at the top of the clubs, that we have 1.2 million subscribers on Facebook.  We are on Twitter.  We have thousands of subscribers that we follow.  We try to use social media them those elements on how our players are doing, what our club is doing in the sense of an institutional.  But, as well, we are telling them that we are acting in such an event and those things.

And digital and social network is probably the most challenging thing that we have to face, and, by all means, we are doing our best job on that because we feel that young people, now, they are more with a handheld device and with a TV and a computer than probably as a newspaper, a physical newspapers, and classical TV that we had in the past.

Interviewer:           Have you found that there are certain regions or a particular region around the world that is more susceptible to being on Twitter or having followers on Facebook and so forth?  Do you have a demographic breakdown of who you can say –

Interviewee:          Yeah, we are _____ and we are impressed how in Middle East they follow.  Every time in the Middle East I come back impressed and astonished.  They know our statistics and our players much better than myself, at least.  They know the lineup in ’75 and how many goals score Johan Cruyff and so forth.

Many countries, also in China and in Africa, they are big followers and big developers on the social.  Sometimes time changing doesn’t allow to be able to see a match live, but they are able to follow it through Web, through Internet, through Twitters and Facebook, Middle East and also in China with big, big developments there.

Interviewer:           So what would you say probably over the last two years, for you, personally, have been your biggest successes, a marketing perspective, a communication perspective?

Interviewee:          Well, I would say that continue being at the top without using our jersey and putting your name in writing our stadium.  This is great because at the top flaps we are almost there, all of us, in revenue.  And sometimes what you are not using the same tools from a volunteer point of view because our members we do not go in that way, at least now.  So this is a big challenge.

But, at the end, is a good element to see that the whole team, when I’m saying the team, I mean the players, when they see them play at the pitch and the employees at the commercial, whatever, transversal across the club, how they are passionate.  Because, at the end, we are in something that is not only a _____, this is passion, this is illusion and this is emotion.

So, for us, realizing that every year our brand value increases, this is great.  But this increase, that comes, mainly, if you gain a title, and this is great and that’s what cheer up that much in our players to get the Champion’s League and whatever titles, but, as well, coming from that social, from that merchandizing, from many elements that are bringing more and more value to our _______.

We try to be _____ because we are in the sports.  And in the sports, one day you win and one day you lose.  We are in a great momentum and we are very happy, but might not be for the next 20 years.  The good is that they are sort of a magic and creativity in those players they are having on the pitch and every club is trying to do the same, so we have to be ready to have a sustain and solid club.  That even in a given moment we are not the best, we are being the second, the club continues to be something important and proud to the members and to the fans.  This is what we want to achieve, that independently of the successes the club is more than a club for the millions and millions of fans that we have across the world.

Interviewer:           I mean, you’re almost talking like safety net.  If you cease to be the best, you still need to be able to market and to communicate.  Is that safety net always there?  Are you always prepared for that, and is that an important aspect of your job?

Interviewee:          Well, not that much.  We work at the club, but, at the same time, we are members of the club and we love football.  And you don’t go to the pitch to say, “Well, if you tie, it doesn’t matter.”  We want to win.  We want to win, as I was saying, playing well and having a fair play.

Just on a point, last two times that we won the Champion’s League, at the same time, in Spain, we get the award of the best fair play team, and that was, for us, a great thing because every day we have more than 2,000 kids that wear a Barce shirt, either on football or in basketball and handball and hockey.  And to be able to tell them that you can get great elements from sport having fair play as they are doing on the pitch as the first team.  This is an iconic and a _______ way to explain _____ values.

So we’re not trying to find a safety net.  What we are trying is net is our asset, because our brand is the best asset that we have.  Every company, the best asset is its brand value, a brand name.  And you need to invest.  You need to maintain that brand.  You need to invest.  Like research and development, you have to invest every day.  And this investment, what it’s going to do is that it’s going to protect you against externalities that you may have, sport externalities or institutional externalities that may happen.  So this is a great call and that’s what we are trying to appreciate.

Interviewer:           Thank you very much for your answers.  They’ve been fantastic.  I wanted to talk a little bit about you, Lander.  You have a degree in medicine.  I believe the University of Barcelona.  I guess it was obvious at that time in your life that becoming the chief marketing officer of one of the biggest and most successful football clubs in the world was ever really on your agenda, your sort of life plan, as it were.  What changed?  What made you become who you are today?

Interviewee:          Yeah, well, there is a moment in time that you have to take big positions or important decisions, at least, that might decide, that change the path of your life.  I still love medicine.  I just am able to put a little bandage and even I put it ___ in the right way.  But it was a moment where I said, but there were many other things outside that I might give my passion and my illusion in order to be done.  I was not targeting to become CMO for Barcelona.  So those things happen because sometimes you are at the right place and in a good moment.

But what is important is that I still wakeup every morning saying I want to have fun on what we are doing.  I want to have fun with the people that have around.  I want to learn from them and from above and from the external.  And the illusion of having fun every day, this is very important.

So all of us, we have not many but probably two, three or four moments in our life that we have taken a decision of not going right but going left and probably has changed.  And at the end, being a doctor, a physician or being marketer, at the end, you are doing the same.  You are listening at the beginning.

I said that we have two ears and one tongue because we have always to listen to double of what we talk.  And physicians, at the beginning, do the same.  At the beginning, they have to listen to patients and they have to analyze and they have to see around and to make different diagnoses and some analysis, probably, using external companies and medicine.  That they will apply and they will say, “Okay, let’s go in that sense.”

At the end, we are applying either in a company, either in a sport club or in hospital they know the same thing.

Interviewer:           So you have always have management desires, so you always want to manage people?  Was that part of your make-up?

Interviewee:          Yeah, I’m very people oriented.  At the end, in a nutshell or summarizing, I’m people oriented.  Sometimes you need to be direct in terms of a job or a project.  There is not always extreme.  We are very _____.  But at the end, I think that all the companies are moving and all the brands and all the products are moving because there is people behind.  It might be very simple, but I’m a strong believer that the ones that make that change are the people.  If you motivate them, if you are with them, if you treat people what you would like people treat you, this is simple.  But it’s basic and that’s what makes humanity move forward.

And our club is this.  Our club is just saying we want to help others as we would like if we were in that location where we would like others help our club, our institution, so this is important.

Interviewer:           So has football always been – I mean, it’s quite a glamorous sport.  I mean, very highly paid players, always in the headlines.  Did that draw to want to be part of the football world?

Interviewee:          Yeah, I take a lot of sports.  I played handball at the professional level, and I was not playing with Barcelona team.  I was playing against Barcelona team, so I remember have played many times in this arena here against Barcelona and having Barcelona members.  But sometimes there’s this dichotomy that happens a lot in Barcelona that you might play or support a basketball team, but it might not be Barcelona, but then you are member and supportive of the Barcelona football club. 

So I’m a member from long time and I love football from Barcelona from since I was a child because __ ______ ____ that make __ call and they make something special.  Yeah, we love that.  I would say that if not all, most of the employees, they are members and they are very committed, both on the sports and on the social, as well.

Interviewer:           I wanted to look at your early career.  You, obviously, turned from medicine or decided to go to a different path, into marketing.  Were there elements of your job that you can look back and say, “I really excelled at that element in that job?”

Interviewee:          I’m not going to say that I’ve been excel in anything.  I think that I’ve wanted to do my best and being committed and passionate on the different jobs that I’ve been working through.  It’s been more a matter of I’ve been very lucky and with a high gratitude with the people that I’ve been working through, that they have gave me a lot of responsibility on the different assignments that I’ve had in the past on very different sectors.  I’ve not been always in sport and in other sectors.  And always you realize that at the end, independently of __ _____, but at the end, is a matter of the people.

People are able, if they are passionate and committed, to move things forward.  And at the end, none of us, we are expecting that someone comes with brightest idea, that it’s not going be changes.

Now, with these things are done transversally, are doing in team, are doing someone has an idea that is full of change, modify, fine tune by many others, this is the good intelligence, this is the collective intelligence __ ____ important.  I think I’m very common.  I do not excel on anything.

Interviewer:           I only mentioned just because a couple of interviews have questions I’ve asked and some people have said, “I was always extremely good at communication, but my organizational skills weren’t very good.”  And it was just to see if it was anything, but you’ve ___ ____.

Interviewee:          I’m very comfortable.  And I do realize that being with people that’s something that people appreciate.  I know how to motivate them and I know.  I think that people around feel comfortable and we are able, all together, to move task assignments forward.  We have success in the sense that ______ has an increased market share or has a good acceptance or has a good moments, but it’s a common thinking.  I’m very general.

Interviewer:           I think innovation is all about communication, may that be innovative marketing or so on.  And from what you’re saying, it certainly sounds like the whole communication across all functions within the organization, may it be senior management to marketing to HR and so forth.  How important is that for you to be able to communicate transversally, as you said, right across all functions?

Interviewee:          Well, I said earlier, communication is key.  I’m not going to say it’s the most important but should be among the most important elements.  You have to communicate ___ ___.  You have ___ _____ to your peers, you have to communicate downside. 

All these stakeholders around whatever action they are doing is very important because, at the end, you have to bring or to lead a message or a product or a service to others and the communication is going to be the element.  But within communication is where they are going to see your passion or your engagement or your illusion of doing something. 

At the end, there is always a core in every company, either doing a product, doing a service or acting on something.  Then there is always an economical element that is behind you.  You have a P&L and you need either to have a nice bottom line, either to distributing to stakeholders or to reinvest it into the company. 

But between those two you always have communication.  What you do, you have to communicate it, either because you want that your, first, a stakeholder, your member, your stakeholder, whoever, needs to know what you are doing. 

But also because by communicating you’re increasing brand awareness and by increasing brand awareness, you’re going to have more distribution, better partners, more attraction, better claims and then all of that is going to bring a better P&L.  A better P&L because you are going to increase your income, you are going to optimize your cost probably and this is a circle.  This is a circle, so communication key. 

Interviewer:           I wanted to go into the past again.  Can I ask you what was your first job out of college?

Interviewee:          After hospital, my first job, it was in a quarry park.  I was the doctor of a quarry park.  I was sewing heads of people that were throwing with the _____ every day, so I was sewing – sewing, no, stitching.

Interviewer:           ___ __ selling.  Oh, yeah, sewing.

Interviewee:          I was sewing, that was my first job.  I spent a couple of years being doctor at a theme park, and it was a very good experience.  And turn into a business school and I start working.  My first job after the medical side, it was as a commercial.  I had the chance to meet an interesting professor that I had, that he said, “Listen, if marketing please you, do sales, because it’s going to be the best school for you.”

Well, as you can imagine, my peers at the business school, they were engineers and all this type of bright people.  So when we finished, the Proctor and Gambles and those big, fast-moving consumer goods, they took my peers and they did right.  So I found a small company that they said, “Well, we need a commercial, but it’s likely that you are going to knock the door and you are going to hard sales.”  And talked to that professor and said, “Do it, even if it’s a year, but it’s going to be you best ____ __, much better ___ _____.”

And that was great, to knock the door, to have the – sometimes the door just close on your nose.  And living with reps and explaining and realizing that you haven’t explain at all, that you have just talk, it was a good thing.  At that time, it was 20 or 25 years ago.  It was not the moment of the bubbles and the bright companies, but it was a small company, 20-25 people doing technology, selling software, specific software, to different collectives and that was interesting.  You know, very good learning and very good advice for that person.

Interviewer:           If you could go back and visit yourself back in that time within your first job after medicine in sales, would you have any words of advice for him for the future?

Interviewee:          Advice for?

Interviewer:           For you if you could go back and visit yourself back 20-25 years ago?

Interviewee:          Well, I would say that it was good the decision to try to appreciate what one believe it’s going to be exciting for one’s self.  Not looking at a position or an economical position, it’s just to have fun.  I had almost nothing, so to eat in a good restaurant, to eat a pizza, for me, it was the same.  It was a good thing, but I won’t enjoy. 

So another thing that was a good decision that I said that you always have two or three decisions that, Mark, when I finished that first year of doing sales and commercial, that was in Spain, I decided I want to go abroad.  So that was great because you realize how small you are, how tiny you are, how your language, you do not master your language. 

That’s good to be able to speak in a Spanish or in _______ and you might have a good communication skills, but it’s not the same if you have to do it in Italian or in French or in English.  It’s not even the same, if in a tough situation, you have to explain yourself or you have to sell or you have to convince because you have competition. 

I remember, at that time, back when I said, “Listen, I’m going to go abroad.  I’m going to be a modern gypsy,” and rather than taking a box, I took Samsonite.  But I just say goodbye.  I leave.  And when I spend 10 years outside and there was __ ____ probably it’s time to come back and to see.

But I do remember as a good decision to go into business a little bit with a big question mark because I didn’t know that much, but it was P&L and below the line and all those types that are very fancy when we are talking now.  But I’d say, “What those guys are talking in a way that nobody understand them?”  But I think that were good decisions. 

Going abroad, having the experience, not that much professionally, personally as well, to live how others live, understand, see the culture, get color tolerance.  And that helps you not that much when you are abroad, but, especially, when you come back.  When you are with someone that is from abroad that doesn’t master the language, you realizes that you are looking him 20 years ago and you see that that person has a potential that probably is not able to express as good as you are, as you can, but definitely has huge potential inside.

Interviewer:           And having fun is definitely important.  I mean, I think 25 years on from that person that left college you’re a lot busier in life.  How do you balance your work life?

Interviewee:          Well, it’s difficult.  I’m going to give you the cell phone of my wife and she will give you a much better input on that.  I’m a tough worker.  I do not ____ at all on that.  I’m a heavy worker.  I have fun from Monday to Friday.

But I was about to say unfortunately.  It’s not unfortunately.  It’s fortunately that the work that we have now with Barcelona, with FC Barcelona, on the weekends, you have to do plenty of things, as well, because teams we play over weekend and Wednesdays and so forth, so weeks are long.

Fortunately, family, my wife, she supports me a lot.  She loves sports, as well.  She was very sportive, as well.  She’s a member.  She comes.  I come with my children.  My son, he plays football.  But, definitely, this is a big thing to improve.  I confess that sometimes I would say I should probably go a bit earlier home, but children, they live, they understand that this is a period and it is good moment, though, something to improve.

Interviewer:           Definitely.  How do you go and relax?  I mean, how do you relax, as a person?  Do you have –

Interviewee:          Yeah, well, I love sea.  I do a little bit of sailing.  And I do painting.  I love painting.  I always paint since I was a child.  I start drawing and doing ___ _____ and countryside and things.  And then you evolve and there was a moment that I discover, I stop it while I was at university.  Then I remember because always like to go visit museums and things.  And one day I discover something, that I discovered that it was called _____ expressionism, and I was completely astonished and I say, “Wow, this is amazing.”  So I start painting again.

So I do painting.  Unfortunately, you need some space and some time and it’s not the best moment.  But when I have a _____, a fence, completely white that you have to face __ ____ and this is very relaxing, very relaxing moment; well, then spending a lot of time with children, with family.  But as a personal side, I would say that going to the sea and do painting.

Interviewer:           Interesting.  I wanted to get some advice.  I mean, marketing is famously a very highly competitive job market out there, and I know a lot of our viewers are going to be the chief marketing officers of the future.  What would be the three most important pieces of advice that you would give to marketing executives looking to climb the ladder?

Interviewee:          The first, and I’m very convinced of that, to listen to double of what we talk.  On the marketing side we have to be very good listeners, deep listeners.  It’s important to listen what is happening outside.  To listen what our teams, above and below, what everybody says, it’s is important to capture what are the needs.

The second, I would say is that whatever we do, and I’m sure things that are done are done with a team group.  It’s not, “This is my _________.  I’m going to go for it.”  But those teams’ decisions, one decided to do it with passion.  People feel when you are passionate in something, either you are selling a shirt or either you are selling a service or either you’re selling a big investment.  Doing it with passion means that you are your first customer, you are your first believer on that.

Third, I would say that, well, if possible, try to creative, have fun and trying to evolve because it’s important that we think a little bit out of the box.  If we are doing over and over the same, it’s necessary things need to be continued and we need to continue the path.  But if possible, not to try to apply what everybody is doing.  Let’s take benchmarks, but let’s adapt it where it might be our things, even if there are things that are risky.

But at the end, anyway we are going to do wrong things.  That’s human.  We did it.  We are doing now wrong things and we will do it in the future.  So the idea is that we have to think deep that our contribution to our stakeholders, to our board of directors, what they’re expecting is that we are committed, that ___ ____ with passion, that we try to bring value with creativity, with __ _____, with doing things.  And at the end, being honesty, to have that type of integrity and honesty, I think that is important in our jobs.

Interviewer:           Definitely, very wise words.  I just wanted to talk about, very briefly – we’re just going to come to the end soon, so I hope I haven’t kept you here too long.  But even the most successful chief executives, presidents, CMOs will admit that despite their many strengths they have weaknesses, which generally get compensated by their management team or by others that are managed by their management team.  What would you say are your weak areas, and how do you compensate those?

Interviewee:          Many, I’m definitely going to give you the cell phone of my wife.  She’s going to tell you much better where are the weakness area.  There are plenty.

How I compensate them?  I don’t know if I do compensate them.  I think that they’re still weak and they are.  When you are people-oriented, sometimes it’s tougher to say people that you have to move or change or do.  But probably this is the most important if you want to be transparent and is a weakness because I suffer. 

But at the end, the best moments and the worst moments are driven by – not that much by products, by the people.  So to take someone and to say, “Listen, this isn’t working and probably we both we’ve got wrong,” is a moment that is not pleased but it’s necessary.  I think to compensate that moment is that, at the end of the year, of the week, of the day, you have more good moments at those moment.

I would say that is weak that sometimes have to provide even more feedback on that, not only at the end of the year, because at the end of the year, that means that this is mistake of the one that is providing the feedback because if something is not working, it’s not working just the last day.  It’s working across probably the period.

I’ve always looking the weaknesses on that relations with your peers because, at the end, this is they are helping you on that sense.  The more and more you realize that you are not doing the things, the micromanagement, so you rely on what others are doing and what you are telling or you are communicating, what you’re presenting to your board is based on what your colleagues are doing and going into the ___ and they have, as well, other people that ___ _____.

So this type of working on that transparency sometimes is difficult, but it’s necessary.  The more we work, in that sense, I think that is the most positive element.

Interviewer:           Okay, I mean, you’ve essentially, and this is my last question, you’ve essentially landed every marketing executive’s dream job and managed all of the UNICEF and UNESCO and you’re president of the Barcelona Foundation and so forth, and you’re having fun in doing it.  What would you say is the driving force or motivation that made you reach these goals where you are today?

Interviewee:          I would say that the main motivation is that everything that we are doing serves for others.  It’s we are doing something that will be used and will be thrown to the bin.  We believe that in our every action that we are doing has a definite concrete goal, on the social or on the sports.  The more partners we get the higher will be the income, the revenue that we have, better players we will be able be, and they are expensive, believe me.

But having good players, we will have fun, as yesterday.  That wounded be a great day and what we want is to have fun.  It’s not just to win.  We want to win, but we want to win having fun and having fair play.  And for that, you need to find sponsors, you need to find partners that want to do this path with you having ___ return many things.

But on the social, every time you say, “Listen, if we do something with children at school explaining them how important is having tolerance each other or playing against violence, that means at the pitch at these stadiums, people will not be shouting some racist things to others.”  And if you believe on that, you do it with passion.

So I think the best element is that we believe in that vision.  And if you believe it’s not my company’s vision, it’s my vision as well, so you do it in that sense.

Interviewer:           If I can ask what’s next on the agenda for your personal goals?  I mean, you’re obviously a very motivated –

Interviewee:          Well, continue having fun on whatever the other assignment; continue meeting great people from whom learning a lot; continue listening because there are new things that come on digitals that are things that are – when I was young, I had not.  I had to put myself into Twitter and Facebooks and all those socials and that keeps you awake and keeps you young, as well.

But I think that the most important is looking at the future that surely probably in a different position in a different company, different sector, but we’re trying.  This is the vision, to continue have fun.

Interviewer:           Lander, thank you very much.

Interviewee:          Thank you very much.

Interviewer:           It really was fantastic.  Thank you.

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