Samba Digital: how they brought together Ibai with Messi on Twitch and the marketing lessons for Peruvian soccer

One of the most remembered sporting moments of the year 2021 was the signing of Lionel Messi al Paris Saint-Germain. After sixteen years at FC Barcelona, ​​the Argentine star started a true French revolution, both in sports and digital. The arrival of Leo to PSG sparked a global euphoria. Fact that could be evidenced in the different online platforms of the French team, the days before the official announcement. Taking into account the magnitude of what was about to happen, the Social Media team of the French team began to work against the clock, to create a welcome strategy according to one of the football legends.

Behind all this planning was Digital Samba, a sports and entertainment digital agency, which works managing the social networks of clubs (PSG, Napoli, Tottenham, Frankfurt, Leeds, Everton, Juventus, among other clubs) and betting companies. Trade spoke with Pedro Caffa, Social Media Manager of Samba Digital for sports brands in Europe and Brazil.

—Pedro, tell us a bit about Samba Digital and your business with soccer clubs around the world

samba typeHe has already been in this sector for more than ten years, lately it has become a little more renowned worldwide. We are dedicated to brand internationalization, that is our goal. First, by building audiences outside the countries of soccer clubs and federations. Also in other sports such as basketball, motor racing or tennis, we work with Roland Garros for example.

We make digital content in different languages ​​for different territories. Then, once that audience is built for our clients, we try to capitalize on them through monetization practices and business benefits. That is our first objective, but we also have other products, such as the portal sports traslate, where we dedicate ourselves to translations in any language, with options of more than 150 languages. We are now working on a new platform for influencers which will be released soon.

—How is it possible to connect clubs in Europe with Latin America when they don’t have players in this part of the continent?

That is one of the main challenges we face. Speaking properly of Latin, we try to appeal to different strategies, the first is a player or a former player. Although it is not always possible. For example it happened with Peru and Lille (club from France). There were no players in common and we tried to get closer through key dates, such as flag and Independence day. We created a lot of content and the truth was that it had a lot of impact on Peruvians, it was a nice experience. Then there are different ways to join local market trends, try through local clubs, congratulate them, or build an alliance. We had an alliance a few years ago with Wolfsburg, only through the mascot. In Mexico there was a team called Lobos BUAP. As Wolfsburg is called by wolves in Germany, the mascot was the link to connect the two teams. We created a digital alliance in which content was exchanged, it was planned in the future to have some academies in common. That also happened with Napoli and Atlético Nacional. There, there was a real bond that was the soccer players David Ospina and Camilo Zúñiga. It can also be because of the colors as it was with Lille and Peru, there are too many ways. Much resides in the creativity of our collaborators and exploit it to the fullest. Because everyone in Latin America is a fan of their local team, but they also have a certain affection for European football because there are its stars. So our challenge is that that second love that they find in European football is in our clients.

“You mentioned Peru.” Was there any reason why you chose our country to start generating content?

When we talk about Latin America we refer to all countries, but we also know that Peru is a community that has a lot of engagement (connection) in social networks. On many occasions it is above Colombia. It happened with the Bundesliga. After Mexico came Peru in audience levels for obvious reasons: Claudio Pizarro, Carlos Zambrano and Paolo Guerrero. We always create a lot of content from Peru in the Bundesliga. Now we work with Eintracht Frankfurt where Zambrano played. There are also other clubs where there is not such a clear relationship with the country, but which have generated good results. Napoli with the special dates, Monaco through the founding of Lima, because it is a city that is also built on a rock as is the Italian city. We have even managed to unite PSG. (Peruvians) are a huge audience, they care a lot about European football. We like to have that affection for Peru and that is why we create content for the country.

– What does a club in South America need to internationalize? Is it necessary to have a link outside its borders?

The first thing a Latin American club needs to internationalize is its own desire to do so. I think that for some teams it may be easier to transcend internationally, such as River, Boca, Corinthians, Flamengo, among others. But going international does not mean going to the whole world. There is a first internationalization in South America that can be given through the language, for clubs that are not from Brazil. Brazilians are an audience that also looks outward a lot, so perhaps creating a marketing action, when a team goes and visits that country. For institutions with many fans around the world it might be ideal to have social networks in English, Portuguese and even Arabic. I think it would be a good practice to start because they are teams that have international potential, because they are clubs that not only communicate, but can also sell merchandisingThey can be able to enhance the visibility of many trade agreements they have abroad. But what do you need, first the desire and also the creativity of how to transcend outside. Because not everyone has the possibility of reaching the US, Europe or China, which today is one of the most coveted markets. The idea is to go little by little, we advocate that. We establish alliances with other clubs. Recently there was a verdiblanca alliance between Betis, Atlético Nacional, Banfield and Santos Laguna, just because of the colors, that is an example of creativity and the desire to internationalize.

– Why do you think that greats like River or Boca have not opted to enter other languages? Are you missing out on a great business opportunity?

I am precisely from Argentina and I know the Argentine idiosyncrasy well. It happens that passion is very ours, very Argentine. This has to do on the one hand, but I think the number one factor is the economic difficulty that the country has today. It is in crisis and perhaps where the clubs cut the most is the marketing area and everything that is digital. Luckily, more and more new campaigns are being seen, the clubs contribute to that sense. I don’t know if they are losing business with that, but they are not communicating to the outside fan in their own language. Maybe trade deals are popping up anyway because they are giant clubs.

—How much can you add to a South American club to connect with different audiences around the world?

It depends on how big that audience you build can be. For example, Boca is making plans for international partners who pay a monthly fee and that is a way of monetizing, offering exclusive content, trying to generate value there. What we have been talking about before, communicating in different languages ​​is approaching different sectors and perhaps attracting new sponsors.

—How did you handle Messi’s signing at Samba Digital, taking into account that everything happened in just a few days?

What was the presentation of Lionel Messi in Paris Saint-Germain was our best case of success to date. We have been working with PSG for more than six years. First it was with the Brazilian market, where we managed to organize our own carnival in Rio de Janeiro in the summer of 2018. Two years ago we worked in Spanish and this year we started in English. Messi left Barcelona to everyone’s surprise, what we did was start thinking with the Spanish team, because it was the language that was going to be directly involved with the arrival of Messi. Then we began to see the ideas with which we could help the club, what we were to give our support and our experience in Latin America for the arrival of Leo. That was on a Saturday, on Sunday we closed the idea, which was to bring Ibai Llanos streaming to Paris, to do an interview with Messi, which was going to be the first interview for Twitch. Why? Because all the media in the world were already there, the most important ones, CNN, ESPN, El País de España. What we could offer that is not in the global package. It was Messi’s first interview on French soil, in addition to other content that we also did with the creative team such as graphics recalling his steps, his origins in Rosario. But the big action was taking Ibai. Luckily everything went very well. It was incredible because it was two hours of live streaming in the Parc des Princes. Messi, with total simplicity, was one of the company’s greatest success stories, the best player in the world along with the best streaming in the world.

—You talked about Ibai and before an upcoming influencer project. What role do these types of characters have today in the world of football?

I think that it is a predominant role more and more, not only in the world of football, but in the world in general. Brands, clubs, the media are also looking for these types of characters, influencers, streaming, comedians as well. I believe that today they are necessary, they are a new channel, a new player when it comes to communication. Today Ibai Llanos with Gerard Piqué’s Cosmos company are broadcasting live PSG matches for Spain. They did the same with the Copa América matches. One day they said let’s do the World Balloons and they became a global phenomenon. Today the youngest are preferring this type of content. Influencers are becoming the role of what television hosts were for us in the 90s.