On November 20, local time in Qatar, the curtain of the 22nd FIFA World Cup kicked off. There are Chinese elements inside and outside the arena, from manufacturing, brand marketing, and cultural derivatives to event broadcasting.

 

 

Made in China shines during the arena

In terms of heavy industry manufacturers such as construction machinery, China Railway Construction Corporation undertook the construction of the main stadium of the World Cup in Qatar, Lusail Stadium, as the general contractor of design and construction, and created a number of industry records in the process of building Lusail Stadium：The world's largest span double-layer cable-net roof single building, the world's first World Cup main stadium project that deeply applies Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology throughout its life cycle, and is also the largest and most technologically advanced professional football field project undertaken by a Chinese enterprise overseas. In addition, there are LED light display products and solutions from China on the court. It is understood that Unilumin Technology is the supplier of large LED screens for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

When fans go to the competition venue, they will receive the connection guarantee service of Chinese-made vehicles. It is reported that two A-share listed companies provided more than 3,000 buses for the World Cup in Qatar to serve the public transportation network during the event. It is worth mentioning that for the first time, Qatar World Cup event service vehicles introduced new energy buses. These pure electric vehicles are provided by the Chinese company Yutong Bus, a total of 888 vehicles, accounting for more than 25% of the total vehicles in operation.

According to the estimation of Yiwu Sporting Goods Association, from the flags of the top 32 in the World Cup in Qatar to the decorations and pillows of the Hercules Cup, "Made in Yiwu" has accounted for nearly 70% of the market share of the entire World Cup peripheral products.

 

 

Chinese companies sponsored marketing campaigns during the event

 

In addition to Chinese manufacturing, there are also Chinese companies appearing in the form of brand sponsorship.

The ways to participate in World Cup-related sponsorship are generally divided into four categories: official World Cup sponsors, national team sponsors, rights-holding media cooperation, and signing football stars. Among them, the official sponsors of the World Cup include FIFA partners, World Cup sponsors, and World Cup regional sponsors.

According to incomplete statistics, as of November 17, 19 Chinese sponsors have participated in the World Cup in Qatar through the above methods. In addition to old faces such as Wanda Group, Hisense Group, Mengniu Dairy, Vivo, and Vantage, there are also smart projection brands Dangbei ( Hangzhou Dangbei Network Technology Co., Ltd.), lifestyle sharing platform Red (Xiaohongshu Technology Co., Ltd.), kitchen and bathroom brand Macro (Guangdong Macro Gas Appliances Co., Ltd.), Fujian Panpan Food Group Co., Ltd., former Ruixing Coffee Founder Lu Zhengyao's new entrepreneurial project Cudi Coffee and these new faces.

Brand sponsorships are a big investment. "Sports set up the stage, economics sings", this event routine has been widely recognized by the industry.

 

 

 

Derivatives around the event are quite "Chinese characteristics"

The reporter learned from AliExpress that, driven by the World Cup economy, the star card market appeared for the first time on the AliExpress platform this year. AliExpress merchant Guangzhou Deyu Trading Co., Ltd. has obtained the authorization of the World Cup star card from Panini, a well-known overseas player card issuer. Zhuang Xiaoting, the general manager of the company, told the reporter: "When the star cards were not on sale, we made plans for Brazil and other countries." Zhuang Xiaoting said that her team received orders from overseas customers the second day after the star card products were launched.

This kind of card printed with the portrait of a sports star has a considerable audience in the subdivided field, and has formed a market size of more than 10 billion US dollars at home and abroad. According to the research report of Tianfeng Securities, it is estimated that the star card market will maintain a compound growth rate of about 23% from 2020 to 2027.