The Business Problem

When we engaged with Inter Milan, this wasn’t a “make it look cooler on social” assignment. It was a business survival problem. Inter was carrying:

• Chronic operating losses that had shifted from “futbol volatility” to structural drag

• Material debt and financing pressure tied to ownership transition

• UEFA Financial Fair Play constraints, limiting the ability to buy growth through talent spend

• No Champions League participation, suppressing premium matchday and broadcast revenue

• A massive, emotionally loyal fan base is under-monetized and under-activated

Despite ranking among the highest-attended clubs in Serie A, Inter was averaging ~45,500 fans in a 75,000+ seat stadium. Visually, emotionally, and financially, the gap was obvious.

This is the nightmare scenario CMOs know well: High brand equity. Limited budget flexibility. Structural constraints. And no room for wasted effort.

Our Strategic Point of View

Most agencies would have tried to “pump demand” or chase vanity metrics. We didn’t. We diagnosed the real issue:

Inter didn’t need more fans. It needed a modern global brand system that could convert passion into scalable value without violating financial or regulatory constraints.

Our job wasn’t to spend more. It was to make the brand work harder everywhere it showed up.

The Strategy: Build Enterprise Value Through Brand, Not Spend

1. Rebuild the Brand From the Inside Out

We began by modernizing Inter’s 109-year-old identity by not erasing its heritage, but sharpening it.

• A polished, contemporary visual system

• A clear, ownable brand voice

• A global brand book and social guidelines built for scale, not just Italy

This wasn’t aesthetic work. It was infrastructure; the foundation for growth under constraint.

The response internally and externally was immediate and overwhelmingly positive.

2. Activate the Fan Base—Globally, Not Generically

Inter’s next challenge to us was clear: Energize and expand the global fan base fast, efficiently, and credibly.

Our competitive advantage: deep multicultural intelligence.

Instead of one global feed with translated captions, we created market-specific cultural relevance:

• Content developed in Italian, English, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, and Indonesian

• Messaging calibrated to where real fan density already existed

• Cultural moments, language nuance, and platform behavior baked in from day one

This is where most global brands fail.

Execution That Actually Moved the Needle

Social & Digital: Precision Over Volume

We deployed across major global platforms Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram while also activating local platforms that actually matter, including WeChat and Weibo.

Standout Example: Lunar New Year Campaign

• Purpose-built for mainland China

• Doubled social engagement in the market

• Generated thousands of new followers organically

• Proved Inter could grow relevance without buying attention

This wasn’t localization. It was cultural fluency applied to growth.

Microsite: Turning Curiosity Into Participation

To launch the new Inter jersey, we created an interactive microsite designed to reward exploration, not just clicks.

• 24,000 engagements

• 150+ countries

• A global proof point that the brand could drive action—not just impressions

Video: When the Brand Shows Up, Fans Show Up

For Inter’s 109th anniversary, we released a hero video built on emotion, heritage, and modern storytelling.

• 1M+ views in 24 hours

• One of the highest-performing organic video moments in club history

• A signal internally and externally: this brand still matters everywhere

The Business Outcome

• Fan engagement surged and outperformed local rivals’ own fan metrics

• The brand regained global momentum during a period of on-field inconsistency

• Inter entered the early 2020s positioned as a globally relevant, digitally modern asset

• The club was ultimately groomed for acquisition, a process that culminated in ownership transfer to Oaktree Capital following Suning’s financial collapse

Brand doesn’t sit on the balance sheet—but enterprise value does. Our work helped make Inter Milan legible, investable, and future-ready.