McCann Worldgroup designs IPL campaign for Expo 2020 Dubai

McCann, which won the creative and strategic mandate for Expo 2020 in the Indian region, has designed a high-octave campaign that will be featured during the course of the Indian Premier League across traditional and digital platforms.

The campaign features Indian actor and television presenter Gaurav Kapoor alongside superstar Amitabh Bachchan who will enact the role of a cricket commentator. The campaign’s objective is to highlight the experiences that await visitors to Expo 2020 next year while riding the scale and popularity of the IPL as a global platform. The campaign will feature a series of episodes during the course of the IPL season.

Talking about the campaign, Rehan Assad, Chief Programme Officer, Dubai Expo, said, “Expo 2020 Dubai will be a showcase of human brilliance and achievement, as well as international collaboration. The association with Amitabh Bachchan and the campaign created by McCann Worldgroup for airing during the IPL will help us build awareness in India, our largest international market, as well as among the Indian diaspora and in other cricket-loving nations around the world.”

Referring to the salience of the event, Prasoon Joshi, CEO, McCann Worldgroup India and Chairman APAC, said: “An event such as a World Expo, which brings together the best of human excellence, is a major global attraction, and the task here was to seed the idea of Expo 2020 Dubai in the Indian consciousness. This is the first time that a World Expo is being held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, presenting an unprecedentedly close-to-home opportunity for India visitors, who already see Dubai as an exciting destination.”

Commenting about the role of the IPL platform as a brand messenger for the Expo, Prasoon added, “The immediate choice was to work with Amitabh Bachchan to announce the grandeur, scale and stature of Expo 2020 to target audiences in India, on a platform with the huge reach of the IPL. The creative messaging achieves this by seamlessly working within the context of the IPL, and uses an episodic narrative to keep viewers engaged through the IPL. It marks the beginning of a journey that consumers will take with the brand over the next year, leading up to the opening of Expo 2020.”

Expo 2020 Dubai will run for six months from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 and is expected to attract millions of visitors from across the globe, with more than 190 countries participating in the event. Besides, scores of multilateral organizations, businesses, and educational institutions will be showcasing real-life solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.