FK Crvena zvezda is a club with a great history and tradition. Zvezda, along with Steaua, is the only club from Eastern Europe to have won the competition known today as the Champions League. Older fans remember the legendary generation that turned Zvezda into a global brand. However, years without matches in European competitions led to Zvezda becoming less and less recognizable. The revival on the football field also brought a revival in marketing, because Zvezda is once again becoming a global brand, not just a regional one.

This summer, something truly incredible and previously unseen in Serbian football happened. Zvezda and Marko Arnautović reached an agreement, and a player who played in last season’s Champions League final signed a contract with the Serbian champions. The news of the agreement echoed across Serbian, regional, and even global media.

Fans organized a welcome at the airport, a presentation press conference was held with more journalists than ever before, and the club’s official store was filled with jerseys bearing Arnautović's name. The player was introduced to the public and fans in a manner similar to top European clubs: social media was flooded with videos of the airport welcome, his arrival at the stadium, the visit to the “Siniša Mihajlović” lounge, and the emotional reaction of the player, who even broke into tears at one point...

Crvena zvezda sold over 3,000 Marko Arnautović jerseys in just a few days, which is a record!

The marketing generated by Crvena zvezda, especially through social media, led to this result. The club effectively used communication channels with its audience to further strengthen its brand. Marko Arnautović is now the all-time top scorer in the history of the Austrian national team — and he achieved that milestone as a player of Crvena zvezda.