Ana Botín was not the only one who set her sights on Jon Rahm on that golf course they shared a couple of years ago at the Spanish Open (in the image). Not even the marketing team of the president of Santander has been alone in monitoring the golfer during the long time since that meeting.
Large American companies were also behind the player, currently number 3 in the world ranking after having been number 1 for 52 weeks. As sources from Rahm’s close circle reveal, he has had juicy offers on the table, one of those that value great values of American sports at a price also on the other side of the Atlantic, the cradle of the sport, and that shuffle names at the level of large banks .
But the golfer, with a Basque ID and a very long international projection with his own American dream that is set as an example in business schools, was very clear: he wanted a Spanish brand. The party in the offices has thus been won by Banco Santander, which has just announced the signing of a multi-year agreement to make Rahm its ambassador. Starting today, he will wear the bank’s logo on the right sleeve of the shirt he wears during competitions, and will participate in events and publicity for the entity, which has enormous ties to the US. He shares visibility with brands like Callaway, Travis Matthews, Rolex or Mercedes-Benz.
“We have taken a galactic signing to the American world, an athlete with a lot of impact in the US, he is one of the ten people with the most weight in the industry,” says Juan Manuel Cendoya, director of communication, corporate marketing and studies at Banco Santander and Vice President of Santander Spain. At the same time, “the Spanish retail client sees in Rahm a self-made person who goes to the US to study without knowing English and gets by on his own, he is an example of improvement, a lever for the bank’s recruitment”, he adds. Rahm himself announces the agreement today at the Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club (UK).
The business opportunity is clear. The golfer is a world sports figure who was born in Spain, lives in the US and has a great global impact, especially in some of Santander’s main markets in America and Europe. In many of them he plays part of his average of 22 annual tournaments. Thus, he will help the entity to increase its visibility in North America.
The sponsorship also represents a commercial opportunity, since Rahm will interact with Santander clients, among whom the analysis with data in the hands of the bank shows the attractiveness of talking about values such as humility, education or friendliness. “He is an athlete who has always been inspired by Seve Ballesteros,” Cendoya emphasizes. His memory is among his followers, as happened, among many other milestones, in April, when Rahm became the fourth Spaniard to win the Augusta Masters, emulating Seve (1980 and 1983), who was followed by José María Olazábal (1994 and 1999) and Sergio García (2017).
From Santander they emphasize that Rahm has not only conquered the public in the US, where he has conveyed special admiration and confidence. Cendoya highlights that the records that measure the “notoriety and taste for golf among our clients exceeds the average of the countries where we operate by about ten points” with rates of around 30% of the global public. On the other side of the Atlantic, he is considered almost “like an American athlete with a global projection”, which is just in line with the objectives of the entity, which has ambitions in the US and global growth to reach 200 million customers. in 2025 (40 million more than the current ones), connecting at the same time with young people, companies or private banks. “We are one of the few international banks that are in the US,” recalls the manager. “While many have left the country, we want to grow there selectively, we are already one of the main car financiers there through Santander Consumer USA”, its subsidiary in the country.
