Copywriting and Football: How the power of words took Figo from Barcelona to arch-rivals; Real Madrid.

I recently read about a football transfer that happened in July 2000. I saw some copywriting techniques that I thought you’d find interesting.

The transfer was between Real Madrid and Barcelona, where Madrid stole Barcelona’s most prized asset at that time, Luis Figo.

Photo Credit: Rory Martin and Bleacher Report.

What you’d find interesting is that the man who made this move possible was an underdog presidential candidate eyeing the seat at Real Madrid.

With Lorenzo Sanz as Madrid’s President, they won their first Champions League trophy after 34 years in 1998 and another one in 2000.

But now, it’s election time and to retain his position as the club president, Lorenzo has to defeat Perez.

You will think Lorenzo would have it easy. Well, you know, the club has just won a trophy they’ve coveted for 34 years. It should be an easy win. Right?

Normally, It Should Be Easy. But It wasn’t, for Lorenzo.

You know, as an underdog, eyeing the presidential seat for the first time, Perez has to do something extraordinary to win.

The First Move.

What did he do? He gathered Madrid’s cabinet members and asked them which player they wanted the most at Madrid. They said Luis Figo —- a key player of their arch-rivals, Barcelona.

At the time, Figo had a release clause of Euros 60m, was at the end of his contract, and was negotiating a renewal.

Then a Promise, Strong offer, and Guarantee Were Made.

Knowing the desire and dream of the cabinet members, Perez promised to bring them Figo if he’s elected president.

After that, he reached out to Figo’s agent and offered him €2.5m to have a contract that binds Figo to join Real Madrid if he wins the election. And if he loses, Figo’s guaranteed to keep the €2.5m.

Perez Won. It’s Time For Figo To Move.

With the offer and promise Perez made, he won the election.

At the same time, Gasper won the election and became Barcelona’s President.

Gasper wanted to stop the deal because the fans were angry at the move — - Figo was regarded as a football icon at the club.

It just wasn’t easy to stop the deal. Because Figo’s release clause has been paid — - and Barcelona would have to pay a penalty of €30M to keep their own player.

Perez knew that. So he used…

Emotions: Shame and Fear.

To his advantage. He told Real Madrid’s members that if he fails to bring Figo they would watch madrid’s game for the whole season, free.

I know you’re thinking, is Perez insane, how will he finance that?

Well, he planned on using the €30m penalty Barcelona would pay if they wanted to keep Figo.

Now what?

News Headline At Play.

A newspaper headline came out like this, “Barcelona’s new president would pay real Madrid fans to watch their team for a season”

Jasper saw that and said he’d die for that to happen.

So, he let the deal go through.

To further push his agenda as the new president, Perez introduced a policy promising to bring a star player to the club every season.

A Unique, New, and Memorable Name.

With the biggest football talents coming to Madrid every season — - those set of players were nicknamed The Galacticos.

Summary

From the story, here’s a list of the copywriting techniques I saw.

For Perez to win, he had/did the following before and after his triumph.

- A promise.

- Did research before starting the project.

- Guarantee.

- Used the power of a headline.

- Justified emotions with logic (Jasper stopped the move because he would be ashamed to allow that as the new president).

- A strong offer (irresistible offer)

- Power of FEAR.

- Having a unique and memorable name.

Also, using the word FREE is always enticing.

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