Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Asia Communications Support
After winning the contract to provide FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ communications support in Latin America, Gem successfully pitched for Asia as well. Markets in the fast-growing continent presented a range of challenges and opportunities. Our team was able to quickly put in place a strategy that aimed to increase regional understanding of Qatar as a destination, counter negativity surrounding Qatar’s ability to host the tournament and ensure COVID-wary fans that safety and health were paramount.
During the 1.5-year contract, some of our team’s accomplishments included:
- Developing 20 media interview requests on behalf of high-level SC leadership, ambassadors, stadium directors, artists, community leaders and fan leaders. These media interview requests often came on the back of the teams proactively looking for storytelling opportunities to draw relevance and connection between the FIFA World Cup™ and local audiences in less football-mad markets.
- Proactive pitching of news stories and content, resulting in over 1000 pieces of positive coverage over 12 months across the four markets.
- Establishing relationships with key media in the region, leading to more than 15 host country and FIFA-accredited media attending, despite only one key market (Japan) qualifying for the tournament.
- Driving positive coverage about Qatar beyond the pitch, with topics including sustainability, legacy and infrastructure.
- Establishing and growing relationships with Asian football industry stakeholders, such as federations, fan groups and governmental entities, resulting in social media posts, meetings and events.
- Providing translation and interpretation support to ensure Mandarin and Japanese-speaking media and fans were kept up to date on the tournament.
