The Barça Innovation Hub (BIHUB), FC Barcelona’s global platform for sports innovation and knowledge management, has made a new strategic investment, this time in the start-up Adspective, a Polish company that has developed an AI-powered advertising intelligence system.

What Adspective offers is a product that analyses every frame of video content with the aim of identifying key moments and suitable instants, and transforming them into Virtual Product Placement (VPP) opportunities for brands. Unlike traditional adverts that interrupt the fan experience, Adspective’s technology inserts brands naturally into the story, creating more contextual and authentic moments.

With FC Barcelona, Adspective will begin by piloting VPP in non-sponsored content that the club produces for its own social media and other channels. This initiative, with 400M+ Barça fans worldwide, opens the door to replicable models for leagues, teams, and broadcasters, monetising content at scale while preserving the authenticity of the fan experience. 

The main advantages of Virtual Product Placement (VPP) are: inserting products into existing videos without the need for re-shoots; delivering hyper-personalised versions of adverts in real time, adapted by location, age, gender or language; and enabling fans to purchase products instantly, among others.

According to recent studies, this product placement system generates up to 85% more brand recall than traditional adverts. It is also a method of advertising that resonates more strongly with Generation Z, as this group is 71% more open to adverts perceived as content. A new advertising paradigm that is forecast to reach more than $30 billion in in-content business by 2030.

Adspective thus becomes the thirteenth start-up in BIHUB’s portfolio, alongside Visualfy, OLIVER, Onalabs, CeleBreak, Made of Genes, Fyxbody, Rimbarlat, Genomcore, Omniscope, Riterz, Metrica Sports and Admefy, consolidating BIHUB as a driver of innovation in the sports and technology sector.

Statements by Àngel Riudalbas, FC Barcelona Board Memember in charge of the BIHUB:

“FC Barcelona sees the BIHUB as a strategic tool to explore the new frontiers of the entertainment and sports business. By acquiring a stake in Adspective, the Club secures first-hand knowledge of where the advertising sector is heading and positions FC Barcelona at the forefront of innovation in an industry that plays a key role in the world of sports.”

Stataments by Rafał Radawiec, CEO and Founder of Adspective:

“We don’t sell quick fixes. We sell results. This partnership shows how advertising can evolve inside the story itself, not around it. The Barça Innovation Hub is the perfect partner to shape a scalable model that keeps fans happy without interrupting the content.”

About Adspective

Adspective is an advertising intelligence ecosystem created for modern content consumption. We analyse, insert and activate brand moments directly inside video, helping content owners and brands to monetise without interrupting the story. With a presence in North America, LATAM, MENA and Africa, Adspective is positioned to capture market share in the $300 billion global digital advertising market.

Força Barça