Global presence, profitable business, and time for a re-branding at Real Madrid?

Global presence, profitable business, and time for a re-branding at Real Madrid?

By Isi Lewis

A President voted in after yet another uncontested run in the club’s election, the announcement of a huge sponsorship deal with Emirates airlines, and now they want to buy Luis Suarez; José Mourinho has left Real Madrid in a state where they are the pantomime villains of world football.

After a disappointing season which eventually saw José leave the club, the Santiago Bernabeu side have plenty of work to do to rebuild their image as the greatest club in the world or, as FIFA called them, the greatest club of the century. There are european football scores to settle.

It’s the sort of double-edged sword endorsement that sums up Real Madrid’s struggles when it comes to forging positive PR. Tantamount to a ‘star’ from the headmaster, or a queen’s crown at prom night, a compliment from FIFA is the sort of popularity award you get when no one actually really likes you.

Granted, an inevitable part of what comes with being very, very rich and successful is resentment from others. And it’s a position Real Madrid know all too well, yet one they don’t ever seem to want do that much about.

Just as rumours start about the prom queen, conspiracy theories have long gone round about the integrity of Real Madrid. Long-standing accusations of historical links with fascist dictator General Franco have more recently evolved into tamer incidents of modern corruption, which have ultimately given the club something of a fat-cat image – former President Ramon Calderon’s resignation for alleged vote-rigging in 2009, for example.

These days, the image is propagated by big-business deals; lavish proposals to build a theme park and sell the naming rights to the stadium. Perhaps the most defining example of which came during the ‘Galactico’ era, which saw the arrival of superstar players such as Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo, David Beckham and, later, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. By no means illegal or even strictly corrupt, it has become synonymous with what the club symbolises today.

But if the club has had image problems off the field, the recent, though relentless, success of great rivals Barcelona has presented an added problem for Real Madrid; this time on the pitch. A revolutionary period of beautiful football, in which the Catalan side won trophies upon trophies with a group of players predominately made up of home-grown stars, Madrid looked further afield – namely to Portugal and Jose Mourinho – to help break the trend.

With Mourinho at the helm, the Portuguese had some success; notably in 2012, when Madrid grappled the league title away from Catalonia. But it was to come at a cost. Moulded in the image of himself, Mourinho embraced the ‘bad guys’ image of the team. Spear-headed by his countrymen, Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe, Madrid started to resemble the Monstars in Space Jam; a team of pirates, in which Mourinho was Blackbeard and Ronaldo and co. were his first mates.

Mourinho took measures to make the team more nasty; deliberately falling out with the press, forcing his side to pressurise referees and employing a series of what was seen by many as ‘negative’ tactics to try and beat Barcelona. As if that didn’t upset enough people, Mourinho also dissolved the influence of all-round nice guy and club captain ‘Saint’ Iker Casillas. In short, Madrid was corrupted.

Mourinho has since left, and what the club needs now – perhaps more than ever – is a return to a kinder image; the sort that used to be emblemised by Raul, the local hero and symbol of all things great and good about Spain and Madrid. In recent years, Barcelona were defined by the public personas of characters like Pep Guardiola, Xavi and Lionel Messi. Now, all Madrid have left is Casillas – and to an extent Xabi Alonso – as a favourable frontman to the institution.

Real’s priority should be to get Casillas back in the team and back on the cover of the club’s marketing channels. They need to buy players that people love but also like. They missed the chance to buy Neymar, the on-brand samba boy with the great hair, losing out to Barcelona, again, which must have hurt. Bale may help somewhat, but he will be expensive. As great a player as Suarez is, the reputation that precedes him is not going to help the image of the club. They also need a manager that everyone is fond of. But they need to win too. And Suarez is that good that he could make that happen.

Perhaps Madrid are just happy as they are; the global equivalent of Millwall: No one likes us, we don’t care.

This piece was written by Isi Lewis. Comments below please.