Qatar 2022 has stepped-up its bid to host the FIFA Football World Cup with the launch of its new website, www.qatar2022bid.com, which incorporates a colourful new brand design.
Launching the new brand, and the story behind it, Nasser Al Khater, Qatar 2022 communications director, said: “Today is an important milestone for our historic bid. The website is one of the cornerstones of our communications campaign to bring the flagship tournament of the world’s favourite game to the Middle East for the very first time.
“The site contains all the latest information about the bid: news, facts and figures about the bid and about Qatar, as well as messages of support.
“Today, we also launch the new brand for the bid. We have developed a brand identity that we believe reflects our ambitions and vision for the future, while also incorporating our Arabian traditions and our warm, welcoming and hospitable nature.”
The brand includes celebratory confetti forming a giant footballer against a background of Arabesque patterns delineating the geographic context of the brand. The background originates from the pentagon shapes found on a football and the brand’s luminescent colours portray the new vibrant image of Qatar.
Al Khater continued: “The legacy of hosting the World Cup will extend far beyond Qatar and reach the very heart of the FIFA ideals, stimulating a new and exciting football market that is epitomised by the vibrant and fresh colours of our logo and website design. We’d like to appeal to everyone in Qatar – as well as everyone across the Middle East – to join the numerous voices of support you will see on our website. Our supporters will be our twelfth player in 2022.”
In addition to its use in the Qatar 2022 website, the brand will be deployed in a wide variety of different ways: from the building wraps dotted across Doha’s rapidly expanding skyline, to posters, flags, advertisements and a whole range of merchandise that will symbolise the region’s pride in Qatar’s Bid.
“We hope this brand will take on a life of its own and portray Qatar’s adventurous, futuristic and historic ambitions to bring the World Cup to the Middle East,” Al Khater said.
The CEO of the Qatar 2022 Bid, Hassan Al Thawadi, said he was thrilled with the new brand design and overall feel, saying that it would help the bid move further towards its historic goals.
“It’s time to bring the world’s favourite game to the Middle East for the first time. This historic choice would ensure that every continent and region of the world has experienced the passion and excitement of hosting the World Cup,” said Al Thawadi.
“A Qatar World Cup in 2022 could offer people a new perspective on the Middle East, showing the values of a modern, progressive and open Arab state at the forefront of change in the region, while still confidently rooted in its ancient culture and traditions.
“Hosting the World Cup in Qatar would inspire a new sporting future for millions of Arab men, women and children, developing the game of football in a region that has enormous potential to become a key market for FIFA.”
Work began recently to wrap two landmark buildings in Doha – the Qatar Olympic Committee tower and the Ramada Hotel.
More buildings will be wrapped in the coming months to complement the 900 street banners and more than 400 other advertisements and bridge banners dotting the streets of Doha already.