Mumbai: McCann Worldgroup, which has the strategic and creative mandate for Expo 2020 in the Indian region, has conceived a high-decibel campaign that will premiere during the IPL, across traditional and digital mediums. The campaign features Gaurav Kapoor alongside the legendary Mr Bachchan, who will play the role of a cricket commentator for the first time. The campaign aims to demonstrate the mind-boggling experiences that await visitors to Expo 2020 next year, using the scale and popularity of the IPL as a launchpad. It features a series of episodes that will be revealed during the course of the IPL season.
Commenting on the campaign, Rehan Assad, Chief Programme Officer 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.”
Prasoon Joshi, CEO of McCann WorldgroupIndia 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.
“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. It is expected to attract millions of visitors from all across the globe, with more than 190 countries participating, plus multilateral organisations, businesses and educational institutions, coming together to highlight real-life solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
