A Toledo company was instrumental in Russia’s successful bid to host its first World Cup.

The decision that Moscow will host the 2018 World Cup was announced Dec. 2 after a meeting of the 22-member executive committee of FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, in Zurich, Switzerland.

North Design was the lead design and branding firm involved with Russia’s bid. Russia was competing against England, a joint bid from Spain and Portugal, and a joint bid from the Netherlands and Belgium.

Also on Dec. 2, FIFA named Qatar the site for the 2022 World Cup over bids from the United States, Australia, South Korea and Japan.

David Woodward, president and creative director of North Design, said the firm has spent the past 18 months working on the branding, advertising, website and corporate presentations for Russia’s bid.

“Our job was to visually and verbally pitch the reasons why Russia was qualified and execute that in multiple channels — and they won, they actually won,” Woodward told Toledo Free Press during a phone call from Zurich as he was preparing to sit down with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and others for a celebratory dinner.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” Woodward said. “They’re going to spend in advance of $20 to $30 billion in investing in infrastructure and stadiums so they can host the World Cup.”

Woodward said North Design was chosen for the job because the firm has national and international experience branding cities and countries. The firm has worked on other international bids, including Russia’s successful bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The firm also worked on Chicago’s and Qatar’s bids to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, which ultimately went to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Moscow’s bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, which was lost to London.

Whether North Design will continue to be involved as planning for the 2018 World Cup begins is still being worked out, Woodward said.

Tags: North Design, soccer, World Cup

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 2nd, 2010 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Soccer, Sports.
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