FC Barcelona’s former communication chiefs set up a consultancy firm specialising in sport
Journalists Toni Ruiz and David Saura have founded Xerpa Studio, a strategic communication, social media content and crisis management consultancy firm. Both have 25 years of experience as communication managers at FC Barcelona.
Toni Ruiz led the creation of the FC Barcelona Corporate Communication Department between 2017 and 2022. During this period, he was in charge of designing a team that took on the communication responsibilities for projects in the Global Area, Social, Sponsorship, Espai Barça, Foundation, Sustainability and Barça Innovation Hub, among others.
For his part, David Saura headed the FC Barcelona team responsible for web content, digital video and social networks until the summer of 2022. In recent years, the Catalan club’s social channels have been a benchmark in the sports industry, both in terms of the volume of followers, exceeding 400 million, and in terms of audience interaction figures. In the audiovisual field, the management of Barça’s YouTube channel, which has more subscribers than any other professional team in the world, has been an example in the sector for its type of content, focused on entertainment, and for its viewing figures, surpassing the rest of the clubs in LaLiga, Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A.
Now, having dissociated themselves from FC Barcelona a few months ago, they have created Xerpa Studio, which – under the slogan ‘We build reputation to add value’ – offers communication auditing services, strategic communication, media services, digital content strategy, crisis prevention and management, and networking and public relations.
“We have seen the strategic value of communication in the management of any project and its direct impact on the achievement of reputational and commercial benefits. And we have also seen that each project requires a customised solution”, explains Toni Ruiz on the background that his previous experience at FC Barcelona brings to this new initiative.
On the one hand, Xerpa Studio is oriented to the sports industry to accompany the different actors in the professional field (athletes, clubs, federations, media…) and companies that offer services to the industry (agencies and brands). But the new firm also works with all types of corporations and institutions, advising companies and organisations, both in the public and private sectors, whatever their size.
Toni Ruiz and David Saura have managed the Catalan club’s communication for the last 25 years.
According to its promoters, behind the Xerpa Studio brand is the desire to help, in a personal and close way, projects and brands that believe in the value of communication to strengthen their business objectives. The ability to adapt and be flexible to different assignments is one of the attributes, they say, that the new company will develop. In addition, the firm highlights the professional complementarity of its founding partners, which offers a 360º vision to solve the needs of potential clients.
Beyond the services directly related to auditing and communication strategy, Xerpa Studio also focuses on digital content, in which one of the partners -David Saura- is a proven expert after managing FC Barcelona’s digital communication for several years.
