How the Biggest Sporting Event in Earth is Marketed with Bettina Garibaldi, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at FIFA World Cup 2026 | Ep. 423

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0:25Welcome to the Marketing Millennials, the no BS marketing podcast. I'm Daniel Murray and join me for unfiltered conversations with the brains behind marketing's coolest companies. The one request I tell our guests, stories or it didn't happen. Get ready to turn the f*** up. We are back with another episode of the Market Millennials podcast, and I have a very special guest today. I have Bettina. She's the chief marketing and communications officer of this 2026 FIFA World Cup host committee. I'm super excited about this because the U.S. gets the FIFA World Cup this year. And also, not to mention, you're from Argentina, So you're defending champions won four years ago.

1:21So that's pretty cool as well. But welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Thank you. It's so great to be here. I am incredibly excited about this World Cup, not only on a professional level, my involvement, but a personal level too. So my worlds are certainly colliding. So we'll see how Argentina does. But of course, also rooting for the U.S. But yeah, very excited to be here. You're originally from Argentina and you got your master's at NYU and then you spent 15 years at Ketchum. And then you founded your own consulting and now you're at this job, which is awesome. Does this feel like the destination job or was this like the next chapter job that you decided to take?

2:16I will say having spent my entire career on the agency side, I always told myself if I ever transition to the brand side or in-house, it would need to be for a brand, a cause, a moment. that I truly would be passionate about to make that leap. And this was exactly that. It was exactly that. So you could say, you know, obviously this is my first in-house role. I'm probably, I'm just nurtured now to continue to think client service in everything that I do because I've been doing that for more than 20 years. So now that those, you know, that role has switched for me. But but it's great because now in a way I have I have different clients.

3:14Right. Which are all the stakeholders that are involved in this journey of putting this World Cup and hosting this World Cup in the region. So for me, it's it was that leap that I needed. And it's just so fitting for for everything that I've done throughout my career, too. And I would say, yeah, it's a dream job. I won't sugarcoat it. This is a dream job, a dream opportunity comes, comes, you know, once in a lifetime. It truly, truly is a once in a generation moment that we're all about to experience in less than 30 days. So it was one of those opportunities I couldn't refuse. So you spent the 20 years in the agency side, like you work with P &G, Free LA, Unilever, Pfizer, and those are some of like the most disciplined marketing organizations in the world.

4:10But now you're becoming like the client and you're like the one setting the brief. So what's the biggest thing from those blue chip clients that taught you about marketing rigor that you brought to this role? Yeah, I will say we, as the host committee, obviously we were established as a, we were a created, you know, entity of sorts, right? Because we're such a unique region where we're two in one. So it was a united bid between the state of New Jersey, the city of New York came together and an organization had to be formed in order to execute this. Whereas, for example, in other host cities like L.A., for example, they have an L.A.

4:59sports commission. So this they just took on the World Cup as just kind of another another big project of theirs. Right. Just like the L.A. Olympics, et cetera. So I will say it's, to your point, bringing all these best practices, having worked with very sophisticated brands and their processes and now applying it to almost where we're a bit of a startup, the way we're functioning as a team, right? As an organization, as an institution, we're a startup, but we're also working alongside FIFA, which has been around forever and has their ways of conducting themselves, etc. So it is a bit of a mishmash, but I feel that having worked on such large brands that, you know, there's been a crossover and everything that I've done across sports, lifestyle, you name it.

6:01So it has taught me a lot about, you know, applying that structure, applying that rigor, applying, quite frankly, that speed, that speed of just getting things done and being incredibly resourceful. And it's been, you know, honestly, it's been it's been critical to me sharing that with my team at the host committee to everyone's coming with different experiences and different walks of life. But having kind of that big brand experience, working with IATs, et cetera. Right. Just seeing that full bigger picture, I think, really has made that transition as smooth as possible. And I know you worked on from the agency side on Brazil and Qatar World Cups.

6:56What's something you you thought you understood about the event from the outside, but like is completely different now that you're inside those committee? Like what is it like things that you thought were true, but aren't true? Yeah, I mean, I will say an event of this scale. I've always seen it from the outside. And the unique part is, so when I worked on the World Cup 2014 Brazil, that was via a client. At the time, P &G was our client, Gillette under P &G. It was exciting. It was through a very reputable brand. And it was the year that Gillette announced Lionel Messi as their global brand ambassador.

7:41we launched you know country country flag razors it was exciting it was seeing it from that perspective right one just focuses on all right the brand your mission what you're trying to achieve etc when I've had the opportunity to work on this previous world cup in Qatar our client was the host committee so essentially our client was who I am now which is really interesting. The host committee was the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy was their official name, much fancier than ours. And we were helping them more in the sense of positioning, you know, the Middle East and them as a critical point for a destination, right?

8:32And for those to enjoy everything that the destination had to offer. So, again, that was the first one was through a brand the second opportunity was through working directly with the host committee of of of qatar and now it's it's truly full circle now being on the inside and seeing that i i obviously in the other two roles wasn't exposed to just the operational dynamic and I will say opportunities of what it takes to truly put something like this together. The World Cup, you know, obviously as a host committee, we are responsible for

9:20transportation, security, van engagement, economic development, right? And in those previous roles, I would just see it potentially just from one lens, right? From more of the kind of the consumer fan-facing lens. Now being able to see it on the back end, right? The behind the curtain of just how intrinsic and complex every little detail is and how everything is so interconnected that transportation has been in the works for years. But I don't think your, you know, your average person would know that. Right. Or security. This is more than just it's more than just kind of having a, you know, you know, one of those, you know, electronic things you walk through.

10:12Like this is a this is Homeland Security. This is FBI. This is regional law enforcement. This is city law enforcement. This is. And then times two. Right. When we're talking about our region specifically, it's New Jersey State Police on one side. It's NYPD on the other. So it is it is it is an incredible ecosystem to see this come to life from the inside that I've been completely wowed by. I know your audience spans from like a nine-year-old kid in the Bronx to a Brazilian tourist to like a first-generation immigrant family to the Queens who's never been to MedLife or a corporate executive. So how do you actually approach like segmentation and messaging with such a broad audience?

11:03We are. Yes. I mean, at the onset of my my role, as soon as I started was to put together pretty comprehensive audience segmentation analysis together, messaging architecture document to help kind of guide the team and how we're reaching each of these different audiences. And, you know, for for us at the end of the day and everything that we're doing is the scale at which we're operating. It's we it's you stop thinking about engagement as as a metric and start thinking about it more as a behavior. Because for us, to your point, it's reaching a wide range of audiences. Right. People aren't just also watching the World Cup.

11:55They're reacting to it. They're creating around it. They're organizing their lives around it. Right. It's touching a lot of people in very different ways. and we're trying to be super at the end of the day that the universal emotion is that excitement and this is you know the world cup is a stage and the people are the story right and it's just making sure that that universal emotion that touches everyone is typically consistent but then how we're reaching them is very tailored to to them so you know for the the child in the Bronx, right, that you mentioned, part of what we're trying to do is show up in the right places and ensure that everybody feels the World Cup, that the World Cup, we're bringing the World Cup to them versus them having to go out and seek it.

12:46We also can't be everywhere, right? We also understand that not everyone will be able to get a seat at MetLife, right? But it's what are we doing to bring bring that energy and excitement uh throughout the region um and in the bronx for example we're doing a lot of legacy uh you know driving efforts uh you know installing mini pitches and things like that but also uh bringing a fan zone there so so you're that child that you mentioned if if if that child and his or her family cannot actually go to met life they'll still be able to enjoy it right and it's speaking to them and giving them a reason to um to choose to be a part of it and then you've got the brazilian fan that would sell his soul and life savings to come to a world cup and trust me because i know as an argentinian people do that which is absolutely bonkers um and and those reaching them the way we're reaching them is through the diaspora communities in the region working with those fan bases that do exist here right and working with those creators that they um they they can influence that group um we also have um our external affairs team that is handling communications right with the consulates um and that sort of thing so it is very our audience is very greatly and i would say i've i've never worked on such a complex project that there are too many stakeholders to even categorize.

14:28And it's just ensuring that we are being very, we're over-communicating everything that we're doing and also listening, right? It's listening to how, you know, when we are talking to the consulates, for example, how they want to reach their audiences. is they obviously um have that in with that community that's here right how can they help us disseminate information that we want to share right and it's making sure that we're doing all that in the right way some are more um you know consumer friendly you know fan fun you know speak across what we're doing on social etc and the others are more you know important information that people need to know if they're making plans to come here.

15:15You have so many priorities under your belt. And this seems like you have, you have like PR, you have brand management, you're dealing with logistics, you have all this stuff. Like, how did you actually like manage those priorities? And like, what does like success look like at the end of the day? Like, if you said I define success for this role, like, what does that actually look like? If your boss has ever said who approved this copy because they signed off on it a month ago, you might need some ops help. If your campaigns get delayed because no one can find the brief, the assets, or the approvals, you definitely do.

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16:49And I would say from a marketing and comms perspective, that's a discipline that, quite frankly, touches all, right? It's horizontal. It touches everything. If we're doing something with sponsors, we're there. If we're doing something with, you know, transportation and announcing our newest whatever, we're there. Security, right? The know before you goes, we're there. We truly, right? We truly are part of the entire operation now. Obviously not the specifics, but it's understanding how truly we are operating holistically. Holistically. And there's a team. There's an incredible team that we put into place that are experts in their own fields.

17:39And yeah, at the end of the day, I know this is super cliche, but it's not losing sight of that goal, right? And for me, look, at the end of the day, our job isn't to sell tickets to the matches. They're going to sell. Um, our job is to ensure that if someone participated in something or felt included in something that we have put out there or offered that they wouldn't have otherwise engaged in, that's a win. And we're trying to do that. We're trying to do that. We and in multiple ways, we're trying to engage with local businesses in unique ways and doing things that, quite frankly, we're the only host city that we're doing.

18:31We're doing this really regional. Welcome world rewards program, we've called it, and it's basically a rewards gamification program where it's free for businesses to participate that opt in. They'll be part of a platform and fans are encouraged to explore, explore the region beyond the typical attractions that one typically goes to. But it's encouraging that exploration so local businesses can benefit from the influx. And we've included some pretty high incentive prizes as part of that. tickets to matches, even tickets to the final, which are incredibly hard to get because we really want to encourage people to explore local businesses.

19:22So the more people check in at different businesses, they accumulate points, they can redeem those points towards either a scarf or accumulate more points to get a higher, you know, ranking prizes. So there's a lot that we're doing and so for example to answer your question and and this is an explanation an example of how if we're getting someone engaged in something they wouldn't otherwise then that's a win for us and in this case it's a local business if they're engaging and opting into this program that's success um you know we've launched this i think maybe three weeks ago the the you know the call to action for local businesses to sign up it's a quick five minute form they're in there's a couple categories, obvious ones that, you know, you don't, you don't, we can't obviously promote them, but otherwise for the most part, everyone gets, you know, accepted as part of it.

20:14Um, and we've got over like 1000 businesses in the region already. And, you know, it's still the opportunity for business to sign up is still open till May 22nd. So there's, it's, that's the type of energy. If they participated, that's for us a success, um, because they otherwise wouldn't have, And they perhaps would have been just kind of waiting there to in hopes that fans kind of visit their businesses. So we're excited about that. And that's kind of what drives my my my side of the world. And then, yes, it's another example. It's the fan engagement work that we're doing and the official fan events that we're hosting.

20:54It's, again, someone that didn't otherwise think of or cared to go. If they participated, that's that's success. Right. For us and for me specifically, this entire role for me has been, I measure it as more as participation is the new reach for me versus just, okay, you know, they heard about the World Cup, whatever. It's actually, are they participating and are you connecting with your different audiences in unique ways that are, you know, tailored to them? Yeah. Also, I want to go into some of these campaigns, too, because I know there's fan engagement. We're doing some cool things like the Sonic ID.

21:36And that's one of the coolest things I've seen a host committee do, like commissioning take a daydrip. And you basically created like an audio identity deployed across like airports, transit hubs, digital platforms. So where did the idea come from from that? And how do you, what are some things that you looked at? Like, let's start with where did that idea come from, that Sonic ID? That was working alongside FIFA, where they, there's the one ID, the track, which is the general World Cup 2026 track. And they've asked each host city to recreate it in our own style. so we commissioned take a day trip to to to do that for us and and create kind of a twist to it right um you'll notice the sonic id and houston and dallas have a little bit of a country you know twist to it right and things of that nature that makes sense that is representative to to each of the host cities so it's essentially that became the the audio identity for our region for for a while because obviously that was before these new singles and tracks of the official FIFA sound have been launched so we needed something to identify ourselves via kind of an audio track of sorts that's very unique to our region and what what we did however is once once that was created it's how can we how can we ensure that we are taking over the waves right of the region And when we launched it, I think that was the unique piece and an opportunity that I wanted to make sure we didn't miss.

23:25So the way we launched it was really unique. We we worked with the MTA, the airports, we wherever there could be a place, a public place that had an audio system that could play sound. we also accompanied it with with the official that was an official kind of creative that goes along with it um so we sent some kind of out of home etc but we we essentially worked with different civic partners which is again a great example of just collaboration and making and amplifying something and making it a bigger moment right and we did that as the official launch um if i could have put a huge speaker on top of the empire state building i would have but obviously that that couldn't happen um but for us it's right also it gave us an opportunity to talk about the sounds of new york new jersey we're very well you know we're the region that never sleeps right so there's always sound so it allowed us to just take it take it a step further to to to not just talk about the sonic id and what it is right but it's more so to to kind of tell a bigger story about who we are as a region and the hustle and bustle of this region.

24:47And so we've, we extended it and everything that, that I do and that the team does is ensuring that, that we don't just, it doesn't just stop there, right? It's how can we amplify this and make it even bigger? So we're really, really, we were really, really excited about that. And a similar, similar campaign at the one year to go mark which was last june we um you know we we've got our brand guidelines and our brand colors for the region specifically it's the main color is you know it looks it looks like teal but it's not exactly teal but it's liberty green for for um the Statue of Liberty. And for the one year out mark, what we also did is we took over the region and any building that could be lit up any color.

25:39We worked with the Inspire State Building in this case, because that's what they do. But even public buildings, state buildings down in Trenton, you know, and even private buildings. It was great to just see that excitement of a simple ask to you know, the appropriate team members at each of these places asking, do they want to be part of this collective effort? And on the night of June 11th, 2025, let's light up Liberty Green. Right. As a that was our moment to really come out and say the World Cup is a year away. Right. And now it's kind of crazy to think that it's less than I can actually say next month.

26:23so those are the types of things that again we always try to make bigger make moments out of what you might think is mundane I think also another campaign I want you to talk about and I want you to go a little bit is like how you launched the poster because I think you did it in such a cool way which you could have just like slapped it in Times Square at first but you did it in a really unique way that felt really like authentic to the region. Do you want to go into how you launched the poster for the city? First, it was who would create for us. We knew that for this World Cup, it's very unique because we each had an opportunity.

27:03Each whole city had an opportunity to create your unique poster that's representative. And of course, we wanted to identify someone that's from the region. And what's unique about us, too, it's we're two in one. So it's always we need to be thinking about both sides of the Hudson. And we found an incredible artist, Rich, too. He was raised in New Jersey, but then lives in New York and Brooklyn. It was just he was great and perfect for this. He's also first generation American. His family's from the Philippines. So we started thinking about, OK, this is everything that we have to work with. How can we truly stand apart and do something unique versus just an unveiling kind of press moment?

27:47So then we started looking at different venues. Could we, what could we do simultaneously to really make a bigger splash? And we found that there's an actual poster museum in New York City. and I quite I like I didn't know this existed till we launched the poster for example um and we're like wow wouldn't it be really cool to launch our official poster at the poster museum in New York City so we approached them and they were completely thrilled and and such great partners in this and we identified a date that made sense etc and we hosted a very almost like an art gala opening type of event where we launched it there and actually became part of their museum.

28:46It's one of their official posters now that they're exhibiting. And that, again, was another example for us to truly showcase like how unique is that, that we as a region, New York City has a poster museum. So it helped also elevate the arts and the other artists that make up this unique city. But what we also decided to do is, okay, what else could we do? And we looked at just Rich as an artist himself. He has such a great story to tell. Even the way he describes how he created the poster, the different elements he included that representative of who he is as an individual, but also the region.

29:29And then we, I wanted to do something a little more very New York-esque and do something kind of cool that people would remember. And we did some wheat pasting of the poster, like the good old times when you start, you know, kind of plastering them up on concrete walls. But it was not just that, it was the where that made it really unique. We decided to do that in Jersey city because Jersey city, their dias, their Filipino diaspora is the highest of the country. Um, and it was just such a perfect, um, place to do this. Um, so we tied that story as well. Um, it was, it was a passionate kind of personal project of riches as well and to be able to invite um his fellow filipinos that happen to live in jersey city but obviously we made it a kind of a public moment with influencers and creators and it just that helped it kind of elevate it one step further too um and at the same time while we unveiled it at the poster house about maybe 20 seconds later we had it all timed We had a live a live stream at the poster house of the poster being unveiled to the world in Times Square.

30:59So, you know, as as the place that, you know, everyone, everyone kind of, you know, you're attracted to Times Square for what it is and the ball drop and all that. So, so yeah, we created something intimate as an exclusive unveil, but then unveiled it to the world via, you know, putting it up on, on, on one Times Square, which was unique. So it was a combination of very grassroots community, very exclusive arts, arts community, the poster house, which is, that's the name of the museum. And then of course, sharing it with the world and where else, but from Times Square. I love that what you're doing is, and you have to do this, but I love that you're incorporating the New York vibes and the New Jersey vibes.

31:47And I think one thing that I think you did too is how you decided to pick your ambassadors for this. So you have a two-time world champion. I know you have someone who plays for Gotham FC. I know you have a New York Knicks player. So I know those aren't random choices, why you chose these are the ambassadors, but why did you choose people from all different sports to be the ambassadors for these two cities? Yes, yes, I'm really excited about this one too. And they're doing this out of their own good heart, right? It's just because they are proud to represent the region. So yes, so the first one, well, not in any particular order, But so Eli Manning, quintessential New York Giant, super thrilled that he he's a part of this.

32:44And he's always been such a fan, right, of of the region, just given his role in the Giants. But also he's just such a such a great, charismatic, humble, humble guy. And we wanted a representative of, yeah, obviously, his credentials alone speak for themselves. But he's he loves other sports and he loves having fun. Right. And he loves he understands the energy and what what this World Cup is going to bring to the region. And also particularly where he has played for so many seasons is the stadium that is going to be hosting eight matches, including the final. So obviously his his cachet there obviously speaks volumes.

33:35So we're really excited about him. And and then we've we've got Midge Purse, obviously a champion as well from Gotham. And we wanted to obviously that just the growth of the of the sport as a whole in the U.S. and women's women's soccer just has been growing exponentially as well. and she's she's so great she she's just a great representative of the region and super excited about this too and and also she she you know her home base is sports illustrated stadium uh which has uh recently become a fan hub for us so we're super excited about that and um and then josh hark so yes he's very busy right now and continues hopefully continues um to to bring us joy So and he's he's again as well.

34:30We a New Yorker that is proud New Yorker that brings that swagger. And we wanted a kind of diverse set of individuals that this first group all happened to be in sports. That was intentional, but we might be bringing on additional a couple a couple more before before next month that might might be beyond the sports world, but are very quintessential to the region. So we're working with them to to help us with the community aspect of things and bringing kind of surprise and delight to different communities. And, yeah, we're really excited about it. They're just such a great trio to have gone out with.

35:14It's crazy how many things you're getting done in such a short period of time. But I wanted you to talk a little bit how the Airbnb partnership came about. I think it's pretty cool because it's like a three-year partnership that you did with them. And it seems like it's just more than like a logo slap partnership because they're doing so much. like the thousand tickets for the youth. So how did that partnership come about and how are you, how are you guys working together to make that partnership come alive? So we've partnered with U.S. Soccer Foundation, and it was a commitment of ours to install 26 mini pitches throughout the region in underrepresented communities as part of the partnership with U.S.