Juventus won its sixth consecutive Serie A championship in ’16-17 and was runner-up in the Champions League to Real Madrid. The Italian club’s Champions League play earned it $85M in ’15-16, third overall in Europe. Juventus cracked the top 10 on Forbes' list of the world’s most valuable football clubs, with a valuation of $1.26B and revenue of $379M in ’16. Club execs want to capitalize on the on-field success and push the Juventus brand globally. That started with a revamped logo, launched in January this year. While the logo received mixed reviews, the message was clear: the club wants to compete as a “lifestyle brand” with football’s heavy hitters. A recently-announced deal with Netflix and a VR app with Oculus were the latest steps in Juventus' global push. Juventus co-CRO FEDERICO PALOMBA answered questions about the club’s new app and its goals for the future.
On how the Oculus app turned out ... Frederico Palomba: This is exactly the type of app we had in mind and, in the future, we’ll be updating the content with a greater emphasis on storytelling and more features belonging to the world of gamification.
On download figures ... Palomba: Approximately 8,000 people have downloaded the app and there has been a particularly positive response from the United States, South Korea and the United Kingdom. It is our aim to build an ever stronger connection with our global fan base and the potential of this VR app is enormous for a club like Juventus, where 80 percent of our 50 million followers on digital platforms live outside Italy. Not all of these people are able to travel here for matches, so we are breaking down geographical barriers in order to bring them closer to the club without having to physically be here.
On any tie-ins with the Netflix docuseries? Palomba: While there is no direct association between the two projects, the launch of Juventus VR and the recent announcement of the Netflix docuseries are both important milestones in the club’s innovation strategy. Earlier this year, we also launched Juventus Pass (live streaming and watch on-demand service for matches and highlights). It’s no coincidence that all of these projects are aimed at a young, international audience, bringing them up close and behind the scenes at Juventus.
On the club's brand strategy ... Palomba: Our strategy is clear: we always strive to be innovative in everything we do and to be the first team to come up with new ideas and implement them successfully. Nowadays, Juventus is a sports entertainment brand and a big part of that is to become ever more relevant and accessible to young people across the world. They are the ones who are embracing new technologies all the time, and we want them to enjoy connecting with us, whether that be on our digital platforms, on Juventus VR or thanks to the Netflix docuseries.
