Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo, along with their PR teams, are bracing for the International Olympic Committee's Sept. 7 decision on which city will host the 2020 Summer Games.
Tokyo has relied on Weber Shandwick for global support of its 2012 campaign. The Interpublic firm, which also led Sochi, Russia's winning 2014 Winter Olympics bid, also worked the Japanese city's 2016 loss to Rio de Janeiro.
Tokyo also tapped Hill+Knowlton vet Hisao Shuto as international communications director for the campaign.
London-based JTA, the firm of H+K alum Jon Tibbs, who also advised the Sochi win and 2016 Tokyo push, is leading PR for the Istanbul bid, which recently enlisted NBA star Paul Gasol as a spokesman.
The IOC is set to announce the winning city for 2020 in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
London-based agency M-IS, with offices in New York and Berlin, is lead communications agency for Madrid's 2020 effort.
Burson-Marsteller handled the long-shot bid of Baku, Azerbaijan, backed by the Russian Olympic Committee. But that pitch failed to make the cut to three announced in May 2012.
Edelman is providing communications support to Panama’s Ministry of Commerce and Industries under an agreement capped at $97,100 per month.
Ballard Partners has recruited State Department veteran Matt Bryza as a senior policy advisor.
Teneo has extended its contract with the Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation for an additional four months to July 31, adding another $1.8M in fees to the New York firm’s coffers.
The Syrian Kurdish militia recruits Jim Dornan Strategies to press Congress for continued support in their battle against ISIS and Syrian president Bashar Assad.
The Government of Hungary has hired Strategic Improvisation Inc. to generate positive media coverage and combat negative press coverage of the Central European country. (6 reader comments)
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