Pedri, Barça’s budding icon for international brands
By Óscar Maya Belchí
Madrid, Apr 8 (EFE).- Barcelona’s young starlet Pedro González — better known as ‘Pedri’ — is following in the footsteps of his idol, Andrés Iniesta, both on and off the field. Up to 80 brands have reached out to him in the first three months of 2022 and he has established himself as the face of a new-look FC Barcelona.
Companies are looking to him because he transmits “naturalness” and “sensitivity for the environment”, TQTK Studios, the company that manages sponsorships to the Canary Islander, tells Efe.
Before this season, Lionel Messi monopolized the sale of FC Barcelona shirts – 85% – until his departure to Paris Saint-Germain last summer. Now it is Pedri, along with another youngster in Gavi, who is the fan favorite in a paradigm shift that, as Efe learned from club sources, they are grateful for.
Pedri’s importance to Barça goes beyond the fact that he is a locked-in starter for manager Xavi Hernandez. The board of directors consider his lifestyle and the clean-cut image he projects as a highly valuable commercial asset, as demonstrated by the fact that Pedri features in most of the club’s advertising campaigns.
His emergence at the club he joined from Las Palmas in 2020 has catapulted him into another dimension. When he came onto the scene, he had 25,000 followers on social media; now he has 5.5 million.
FOLLOWING IN INIESTA’S FOOTSTEPS
The careers of Andrés Iniesta and Pedri have been linked since the latter’s career began. “He is my idol and will remain so until I die. I hope I can do something of what he did”, Pedri told Efe in February 2020, in his first interview as a professional footballer.
On the pitch, he is already showing signs of the potential he has to reach the heights of the player who scored the only goal in Spain’s first and only World Cup title to date. Pedri was eight years old that summer in 2010. This November in Qatar, he will have his first opportunity to write his own chapter in La Roja’s World Cup history.
Off the pitch, the Pedri brand is attracting major interest from the Asian market, especially from China and Japan, two countries where major Spanish stars David Silva and Andrés Iniesta have already made a name for themselves.
The Tokyo Olympic Games were held without spectators, but some brave people who came to some of the Spanish national soccer team’s training sessions were clear about who they wanted to see; they were only interested in Pedri.
Springfield, a well-known clothing brand, has chosen Pedri to join its ‘Icons’ campaign, joining Andrés in a long-term relationship. “Commitment, magic and simplicity”, is how the company describes Pedri.
He is also a face of ‘Kick Out Plastic’, an organization that advocates using sport as a way to remind people of the importance of protecting the environment, and above all, fighting against single-use plastics that, in some cases, never decompose, such as bottles.
Pedri even brought this campaign to the forefront of the sport when he collected his award for best young player last season at the Ballon d’Or gala and soccer legend Didier Drogba presented him with a personalized aluminum bottle.
The youngster is also one of Adidas’ global stars and will be the image of the new ‘Run for Oceans’ campaign, which promotes the fight against plastic waste and pledges to collect the equivalent of 10 plastic bottles for every kilometer. The campaign will have five ambassadors from the world of sport and Pedri will be its only footballer.
He uses his boots – the main tool of his trade – to show that he has not lost touch with his roots. He has been wearing a Canary Island banana on them since before he established a sponsorship with the brand.
“The Spanish Football Team and Pedri represent the values of Plátano de Canarias: quality, passion for what and a deep commitment to our people and our origins. Pedri is and will be a reference for the youngest players,” said Sergio Cáceres, Marketing Director of Plátano de Canarias at the presentation of the agreement. EFE
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