Huawei has announced that it has appointed FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi as its Global Brand Ambassador. Few hours back some global media speculated that Huawei will pay him €8 million annually, but the company did not reveal an exact figure.
“The partnership with Lionel Messi showcases the brand’s alignment with people and brands that demonstrate, and strive towards its shared value of connecting greatness. To connect with greatness, we have to value the growth, learning, experiences and struggles as the parts of our story that took us where we are now. Those who understand that are always pursuing not success but challenges, to be better. That is what makes Huawei and Lionel Messi a perfect fit,” said Huawei.
Huawei said that in the last few years they invested in several teams – like the América, Santa Fe, Sporting Cristal, Arsenal, Atlético de Madrid and the AC Milan that inspire people all over the world and in players it believe share its brand values such as Robert Lewandowski, the Huawei ambassador in central and eastern Europe and the Nordic, and Alexis Sánchez, the Huawei ambassador in Chile, and now Lionel Messi.
Huawei has shipped around 3 million Mate 8 smartphones globally, since its official launch on 26th November 2015.
Commenting on the association, Kevin Ho, President, Handset Business, Huawei Consumer BG, said:
Lionel Messi will help our brand to encourage people to focus, persevere and breakthrough; to connect with greatness, especially in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, where Huawei puts great devotions. We both honor the path we walked to what we have achieved, and with each new challenge we renew our commitment to find the path to success.
Commenting on his coming on board as brand ambassador for Huawei, Lionel Messi said:
You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and go all in, always looking forward to achieving greatness. The day you think there are no improvements to be made,you have to keep working for reaching other achievements.