Qatar National Bank Leverages Neymar Endorsement For Global Growth

The agreement will see the 26-year-old appear front the lender’s marketing campaigns and advertising platforms, including personal appearances.  Qatar National Bank (QNB) is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), whose subsidiary Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) completed a takeover of French champions PSG in 2012.

The Doha-based commercial bank has an ongoing shirt sleeve deal and is one of the favourites to takeover the main shirt sponsorship from Emirates following the diplomatic fallout between Qatar and UAE.

QSI splashed out on Neymar’s world-record transfer from Barcelona to PSG in August last year as it sought to build a global sports brand. Including salary and taxes over five years, Neymar will cost about US$570m.

Since then, the move has come under increased scrutiny with several reports suggesting that PSG took advantage of sponsorship deals funded by their owners to circumvent Uefa’s financial fair play (FFP) regulations.

Neymar Jr is undoubtedly the best brand ambassador with whom we share the same values that will bring a lot of passion to deliver an exceptional experience to our customers,” said Yousef Darwish, general manager of QNB group communications.

“This partnership with Neymar Jr enhances our brand awareness in international markets, where QNB puts great devotions, in line with our global business strategy, and further strengthens our leading efforts to develop the communities where we operate across our growing international network.”

The partnership adds to Neymar’s burgeoning endorsement portfolio, which includes deals with the likes of Nike, Oppo and TCL, while he was also recently unveiled as one of the major footballers to sign up for the launch of digital content platform Otro.

While QNB has been making inroads in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia in recent years, the lender has a mere 0.5% share (slightly over US$8.7m) in the market since Q116 and investment have fallen from a peak of almost US$1.1m in Q116 to an average of US$550k since Q117. Its investments have solely been in football, largely buttressed by a ~US$2.3m renewal with the AFC Champions League earlier in March.