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Interview -
Interview with Óscar Jiménez Óscar Jiménez joined Joma 24 years ago as an indoor football professional sponsored by the brand. Since then, he has followed the evolution of Joma in this sport, first from the court and then from the inside as head of this area. 1. What was your career in professional indoor football like? I started playing at school, in Salamanca, combining 11-a-side and indoor football. When I was 16 I had to choose one of the two and when I was 17 I was given the opportunity to start training with the Universidad de Salamanca’s first team and make my debut in First Division. From there I started my professional career in different teams: Caja Segovia, Movistar Inter where I won most of my titles, Azkar Lugo, GSI Bilbo, Cartagena and the Spanish national team until, at 34 years of age, I decided to leave the front line.
thanks to the work and perseverance that characterizes the company and the R&D investment. We have achieved a very wide range of products. We have achieved a very wide product range that covers all the needs that different players may ask for. We have incorporated new materials, new soles, new technologies... The greatest evolution has been in cushioning, one of the weak points of shoes of my time. The injury problems for players who do several sessions a week have been eliminated. But I must point out that there is one shoe that has not changed in essence: the Top Flex and the leather. It is still the best rated shoe in the world.
The sponsorship of the Spanish national team is the logical evolution of a Spanish brand that has gradually incorporated the best teams in the world: Movistar Inter, Carlos Barbosa, Aqua Sappone, Accs Paris, Kairat... And national teams like Kazakhstan, Romania, Ukraine... At a business level it is a source of pride to supply apparel for your country, but it is by no means the ceiling because the brand still has a long way to go in indoor football.
5. You played in some of the teams that now wear Joma. How is the relationship with them from the other side?
To be in the minds of the indoor football consumer. Our goal is that when an amateur or professional player is asked about an indoor football brand, they will say: “Joma”. This will mean that they recognize Joma as the best technical brand and will value your product as the best. For this to happen, it is essential to have the endorsement of professional players, who Joma also involves in the process of developing its products. For this reason, sponsorship has been Joma’s growth strategy in all sports.
7. In a sport in which you sponsor the best teams in the world, the best players, national teams... What is your goal?
2. What attracted you to Joma in 1997? When I was playing for Caja Segovia, I received a call from Jesús Martínez, Joma’s marketing director at the time. He encouraged me to try Joma shoes and I’ve never worn any other brand’s shoes since.
“Undoubtedly, having been a player, the access and approach to all of them is easier.” 3. How was the transition to the company’s sponsorship department? When I retired, Fructuoso and Jesús Martínez asked me to join the company’s sponsorship department. They showed me their confidence, strengthened by years of professional relationship, to make the brand grow from the contribution of a professional. It took me ten seconds to say yes. Since that call, more than eleven years ago, I have had the good fortune to work in something that I like and that motivates me, which is very difficult to say in the world of an athlete after his or her professional career. 4. What are the differences between the shoe you used to play with and the one a professional now expects? The brand has evolved a lot both in the product itself and in its development
Without a doubt, having been a player, the access and approach to all of them is easier and more direct, especially because I still have a very good relationship with the directors and players. 6. This year Joma has signed a sponsorship agreement with the Spanish Football Federation as a sponsor of the national indoor football team?
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