Classy & Clever Social Media from FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona may have been defeated by Celtic in this week’s shock Champions League result, but they proved that they were victorious on the Social Media field. The Catalan club took a fascinating and ultra-classy approach to their Social Media activity ahead of their tie against Scotland’s only Champions League side.

The four time UEFA Champions League winners demonstrated that good Social Media isn’t always necessarily always about the way you to present yourself, but often how to engage with others. In this case, FC Barcelona showed what can only be described as enormous class, friendship and grace towards Celtic FC.

Celtic FC had celebrated the anniversary of 125 unbroken years in football the day before, so it was no surprise that the club had put together some excellent content to stir up excitement and look back on their history. However, what was a surprise was how Barca were so involved and complementary to the Scottish side in celebrating their birthday with them.

In a sport where gentlemanly behavior, grace and respect are so often ignored in favour for aggressiveness, rivalry and dog-eat-dog mentalities, Barcelona’s pre and post match activity was nothing but startling.

Barcelona officials were in attendance at Celtic’s 125th year comemrative event and posted kind birthday comments on their sites pre-match. Barca Vice-President Carles Villarrubi hosted a Catalan cultural event at the University of Glasgow. And Celtic and Barcelona legend Henrik Larsson was drafted into the the official FC Barcelona website to comment about the two teams and the shared philosophy and cultural identity that both clubs share.

Post-match, the official FC Barcelona showed a huge amount of class by tweeting the following message of congratulations (have we ever seen anything like this before from an opposition team in such an important competition?):

Even the Barcelona players showed great grace and class, with the likes of Gerard Pique tweeting congratulations to Celtic and commenting on the famous Parkhead Champions League atmosphere.

So, why is this so good. It’s no secret of course which team I support and why I’d be writing this, but in honesty, I was incredibly surprised to see that some clubs still understand the way the game should be played and even in defeat remain gracious. Furthermore, it was very clear that Barcelona were keen to position their brand as very much a “family club” with good sporting values. Inevitably, they will have picked up a few more Glaswegian supporters – which might not mean too much, but when you consider that maybe a couple thousand new fans might head to the Nou Camp for the tour or the game, buy a shirt or even promote Barcelona content – this may be worth it.

FC Barcelona’s brand is one that is the epitome of everything that is right in football – the way they play, the way the club is run, the fans and even their social media. They could’ve taken a very different direction with their content, but they didn’t – and for that I applaud them for incredibly classy social media.