With the 2018 World Cup starting in three weeks in Russia, the marketing campaign for the global football tournament is "ramping up," according to Jason Lynch of AD WEEK. FIFA is "rolling out several new spots that play up the excitement" that young football fans have for the upcoming tournament. Mandalay Sports Media created five promos for the World Cup, which will launch later this week and will air through June on Fox Sports, FS1, Telemundo and FIFA's int'l broadcast partners. Mandalay Sports Media EVP Jon Weinbach said, "This was a dream assignment." FIFA had asked for "a promo campaign that could spotlight their archival footage in an original way and get fans excited about World Cup 2018." Weinbach, who produced the spots, worked with director Matt Ogens (who has directed campaigns for Ford, Toyota and Coors Light) and editor Dan Marks to juxtapose historical World Cup highlights with modern-day footage of kids, who are "dreaming" about past and present football players. Weinbach said, "The World Cup is the platform where players -- and coaches and others -- become legends, and that's how we came up with the tagline: 'Legends Made Here.'" This was Mandalay's first time working with FIFA on a promo campaign, though the company had previously talked with FIFA's exec in charge of original content, James Reilly, about a documentary project. FIFA "greenlit" the campaign in March and Mandalay had to deliver it in early May (AD WEEK, 5/24).
