Located in the heart of Moscow, Budweiser transformed the InterContinental Hotel into the Bud Hotel for the duration of the tournament. The branded hotel featured a bar and restaurant with guest chef Diego Bulk, who created a special burger exclusively for the hotel for the first weekend of the tournament. The hotel also included the Bud x Loft, a spa and venue area designed for special events and after-parties, as well as Bud Studios, a space for content producers.
Budweiser also took over Moscow club Gipsy with a lineup of musical guests including Diplo, Ludacris, Nas, Zedd, Oliver Heldens, Armin Van Buuren, and more.
During a portion of the tournament dates, a double-decker Bud Boat floated on the Moskva River and offered fans access to food, entertainment, viewing screens, a barcuzzi (a Jacuzzi with a bar), and special events.
For the 2018 World Cup, Visa, which is the official payment services provider of FIFA and has partnered with the soccer association for more than 10 years, documented Zlatan Ibrahimović’s journey to the tournament, not as a player (he's retired from international soccer) but as a brand ambassador of sorts, as part of its marketing campaign. The financial services company also installed over 3,500 new point-of-sales terminals in all 12 stadiums, in addition to 1,000 mobile concession stands.
Various tournament packages were made available to Visa clients, including a four-night, five-day option that proved to be the most popular with 3,000 visitors booking it. Guests were able to register through Visa’s custom app and download program information and a personalized itinerary before their visit. Upon arrival, guests were given R.F.I.D. credentials that allowed them to participate in the activations within the brand’s footprint, which included two lounges at the Moscow Marriott Hotel Novy Arbat and the Four Seasons Hotel Moscow.
Since Russia isn’t necessarily a popular tourist destination, the Visa team wanted to showcase the best of the host country, explained Jenny Stahl, director of global hospitality event management at Visa. To highlight the local culture, a dedicated space within the lounge area was decked out with traditional Russian wares and accessories, and during the afternoon Russian fare and delicacies such as vodka, caviar, and wine, were served. Lounge design and production was handled by Shiraz Creative.
Called the Perfect Pint, this self-service beer kiosk allowed guests to grab a brew in a commemorative cup with the tap of their credentials. The first time a guest visited the kiosk, which created by Britelite Immersive, it asked which team they were rooting for, and the AR-enabled camera overlaid face paint and team flags onto an image that could be shared on social media.
Guests could test out their own soccer skills at an on-site augmented-reality activation called Shooting for the Stars, which gave them their own 3-D avatar and three shots on goal to win a FIFA World Cup soccer ball. The activation was created by Inition.
Guests were able to “keep” their avatars via a video that featured them flying into a stadium of the future in a Visa-sponsored spaceship. Visa partnered with Moscow company Texel for the avatar activation.
On June 12, Nike opened Box MSK, a site covering 15,000 square feet in Moscow's Gorky Park that includes an outdoor football court inspired by a traditional Russian korobka (an urban courtyard cage where soccer matches take place). The multipurpose space, the opening of which was timed to the World Cup, will become a base camp for the brand’s “Made to Play” initiative, a worldwide program to boost youth participation in sports. Box MSK will be open year round and includes a streetball court designed for three-on-three basketball, as well as the korobka. There are also training and yoga spaces, and the center will become the base for Moscow’s Nike Running Club.
On June 20, Spotify hosted its “Fit as a Footballer” event with Olympic and World Cup champion Brandi Chastain on the rooftop of the streaming platform’s offices in New York. The company was promoting its “The World’s Game” content, a playlist showcasing game-day preparations and celebrations in countries where football is king, such as Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina. The playlist contained videos showing fans engaging in rituals, superstitions, and traditions as they prepare for the World Cup mixed with a special performance by a local artist or band.
For the event, Chastain developed a soccer-inspired workout with Equinox trainer Mary O. The pair also provided workout tips to the guests.
In early June, Louis Vuitton opened up a pop-up store in the Miami Design District dedicated to its official World Cup collection. The shop features soccer-inspired store interiors, in addition to an LV-branded exterior field where visitors can catch live-streamed matches.
On the field, a hexagonal structure that resembles the World Cup ball includes a reflective interior surface for snapping selfies.
Inside the shop, brand-new releases, including the limited-edition World Cup trunk, which is displayed in the center of the store, as well as versions of the brand’s Keepall and Apollo bags and a selection of small leather goods, all inspired by the design of the tournament ball, are on view. The pop-up store will be open to the public until July 15.
