Not football alone. How Lionel Messi created and develops his clothing brand, whose sales are growing every month

One of the highest paid athletes in the world, Argentina and PSG forward Lionel Messi has been building his business empire for a long time. In addition to participating in advertising campaigns for various brands and investing in all kinds of projects – from real estate to tech startups, Leo is actively developing his own clothing brand. And, it must be admitted successfully: according to the portal wwd.com, monthly sales grow by several tens of percent. And neither the coronavirus pandemic nor the shift in plans to open new stores prevented this.

It must be admitted that the market met the emergence of Messi’s “signature” brand with great enthusiasm. Already on the first day of the start of the online store, due to the large number of buyers, the site “fell down”. And at the moment, according to company representatives, orders for clothes have come from 110 countries. At the same time, if we talk about income, then 50% came from the United States. The special application, since its launch on Black Friday 2020, has been downloaded more than 500,000 times by users from 60 countries around the world. There is another interesting fact: 30% of buyers are women.

“Our goal is to find the Messi in everyone and inspire anyone who wants to be inspired,” explains the success of the brand, CEO Maximiliano Ojeda. According to him, the transfer of Messi from Barcelona to PSG last year also had a very positive effect on sales: “the aesthetics of the brand has not changed, but the audience has seriously increased.” And even more progress should be facilitated by the 2022 World Cup, which will soon begin in Qatar, where the Argentina national team, led by Messi, will be among the favorites. The leaders do not forget about the 2026 World Cup: given the age of Leo, there is little chance that he will play there, but the markets of the USA, Canada and Mexico are among the largest in the world, and you should not miss the opportunity to make yourself known.

Already, MGO Global is actively working to increase the number of offline stores. Yes, due to the coronavirus pandemic, plans to conquer the Asian market had to be adjusted, but now the company has opened stores on the border of Uruguay and Brazil as part of a partnership with Duty Free Americas. Negotiations are underway with retailers in Latin and North America, Europe and the Middle East.

According to Ojeda, the company is very sensitive to customer feedback. “We learned that our clients like bold graphics based on Leo’s tattoos or more creative approaches to the logo, and building a brand is about building and interacting with the community.”

The “Green Messi Line” was also very trendy: an ecological line launched with the slogan – “Cuttings are designer’s mistakes.” The range of environmentally friendly products created from old fabrics or scraps of new fabrics is not too wide yet and makes up about 10% of the collection. However, as the company assures, it will be expanded.

And although MGO Global is not yet talking about the profits that the company and Messi personally receive, financially they feel very confident, expanding markets and assortment. Yes, and Leo himself, I think, does not remain for nothing.