Rakuten

Okay, we have the beautiful & talented Latin songstress - Shakira - promoting a worldwide tour of her new album EL DORADO, so how can that NOT get your attention? Thing is, the sponsor of the tour is Japanese e-commerce and fintech mega-firm Rakuten, which boasts over 1 billion members throughout its various subsidiaries, though it's not so well known in the US or Europe. But they're starting to do some event marketing with the intent to change that. Note the press release below on the concert tour, which has been edited due to length, contains extensive verbiage on Rakuten. Fintechs are entering the next phase of growth - just as we saw with e-commerce after firms launched - survived - and moved into the mainstream vernacular (think Amazon, first launched in 1994).

(Cindy Taylor/Publisher)

"LOS ANGELES

,

June 27, 2017

/PRNewswire/ -- Twelve-time GRAMMY® Award-winner and international superstar Shakira has announced plans to embark on her

EL DORADO

WORLD

TOUR

, presented by Rakuten. The tour, produced by Live Nation, will feature many of her catalog hits and kicks off on

November 8

th in

Cologne, Germany

. It will feature stops throughout

Europe

and the US including

Paris'

AccorHotels Arena and

New York's

Madison Square Garden

. A Latin American leg of the tour will be announced at a later date... Tickets for the

EL DORADO WORLD TOUR

go on-sale to the general public beginning

Friday, June 30

th at

10am

local time. Citi® is the official presale credit card for the U.S. leg of the

EL DORADO

WORLD TOUR. As such, Citi® cardmembers will have access to purchase U.S. presale tickets beginning

Tuesday, June 27

th at

10am

local time until

Thursday, June 29

th at

10pm

local time through Citi's Private Pass® program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com. On her first-ever partnership with Rakuten, Shakira commented,

"I'm so excited to be announcing the EL DORADO WORLD TOUR, I feel this will be my best tour yet, and am thrilled to be supported by such an amazing partner as Rakuten, with whom I share the same values!"

Global internet services leader, Rakuten Inc, with over 70 services and one billion members across e-commerce, digital contents and fintech businesses, will be the sole presenting sponsor of the El Dorado World Tour. Rakuten is known for its support of major music and sporting events in

Japan

and around the world but this will be its first sponsorship of a pop star of Shakira's global standing, a bold new step aimed at boosting Rakuten's global branding, customer & community engagement. Viber, one of Rakuten's subsidiaries, will hold a presale beginning

Wednesday, June 28

th at

10am

local time and a Live Nation presale will begin

Thursday, June 29

th at

10am

local time. For all ticket purchase information, please visit http://www.shakira.com/.

About Rakuten

Rakuten, Inc. (TSE: 4755) is a global leader in internet services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Founded in

Tokyo

in 1997 as an online marketplace, Rakuten has expanded to offer services in e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications to more than 1 billion members around the world. Since 2012, Rakuten has ranked in the top 20 of Forbes Magazine's annual "World's Most Innovative Companies" list. The Rakuten Group has over 14,000 employees, and operations in 29 countries and regions. For more information visit https://global.rakuten.com/corp/.