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As the official timekeeper of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Hublot proves its enduring relationship with the world of sports. Even before the mega sporting event began, Hublot had already offered football fans an innovative new Gen 3 connected watch, ready to time every minute of all the 64 games of the tournament including the final in the Lusail Stadium in Doha on December 18, 2022.
There is no luxury watch brand as marketing savvy as Hublot. They spot a trend early and punt heavily on it, nine out of ten times succeeding big time. One such enduring relationship in the history of sports sponsorship has been the one between Hublot and FIFA World Cup. It all started with the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The legendary chairman of Hublot (then CEO) Jean-Claude Biver personally narrated the story to me a couple of years later about how he met with fellow Swiss, FIFA president Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter (1998-2015) a few years prior to the South Africa football world cup and asked if FIFA was open to appointing a timekeeping partner that allowed logo rights on the referee boards during the ongoing matches. Biver, the sharp marketer, knew he could hit gold with the idea as billions of people around the world watch football and the opportunity to show the referee board with Hublot branding multiple times during player change and extra time announcement was unprecedented. During the knockout stages of the tournament, the opportunities would increase with matches going to extra time and penalties. FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is the fourth football world cup the luxury watch brand has been associated with.
There has been no looking back for Hublot and football, since then. The brand now sponsors many football tournaments and clubs and has leading soccer players like Kylian Mbappé and football legend, Pelé as ambassadors.
As the first luxury watch brand to associate with football, Hublot’s Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is a connected watch with a new ‘timeline’ function that will take fans of the world’s largest football tournament right into the heart of the action. With more than 1 billion viewers, the FIFA World Cup is the world’s most-watched sports event. The 129 official referees will be timing the game with the new Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on their wrists. The Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is the highest performing and exciting Big Bang e to date. With an even larger and improved high-definition screen, every glorious moment of the game will be captured by the newly designed dedicated football app.
Commenting on Hublot’s association with the Qatar FIFA World Cup, Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe says, “We’ve waited four years for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022! Hublot has always been ‘unique, first, different’, becoming the first fine watchmaking brand in football in 2006. Today, Hublot is the first name in football timekeeping. For this year’s tournament, we wanted to do something that expresses our belief in a free, diverse and unified world in a new and memorable way. Football is the world’s game and has the unique power to carry a message of hope to every corner of the Earth, connecting us and showcasing everything that brings us together. We wish every participating team the very best of luck. Hublot Loves Football!”
Unique features of Hublot Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
The Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 kept track of the days until the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador on November 20, 2022. Here are some of the watch's football-focussed features:
- With 15 minutes to go before each match, the watch delivers team line-ups and player profiles, so the wearer can feast on the details on their wrist.
- As the game kicks off, the watch automatically enters ‘match mode’ and activates the ‘timeline’ feature, created exclusively for this watch to help fans live the most memorable and important moments of the match.
- At the outer edge of the dial, there is a scale split into five sections, indicating the first and second halves, extra time in each half and half time.
- When a goal is scored the watch shows an animation mentioning the player’s name, and a football symbol will appear at the appropriate minute mark on the scale. Similar indications come with a yellow card, a red card or a penalty.
- If a match goes beyond normal time, the watch display automatically switches into extra time mode, and then again into shootout mode.
- In the event that a match goes to penalties, each penalty is recorded by a football with a green or red outline to indicate whether or not the attempt was successful.
- A final ‘match period animation’ shows when the game is over, and the final score.
- The wearer can replay these events at any point during the game by scrolling around the dial using the watch’s crown.
- After five seconds of inactivity, the watch automatically switches into ‘battery saving mode’.
Not cutting any corners, Hublot used mechanical big brother Big Bang’s trademark micro-blasted and polished black ceramic and black titanium for the imposing 44mm case of the Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The watchmaking mechanics is run by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear4100 processor powered with Wear OS 3 by Google. The watch’s hardware includes an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a microphone, a speaker, GPS and a heart-rate monitor.
Moving beyond football, Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 also comes with many preloaded apps that enable wearers to stay connected and to track activity, health and more. The watch promises all-day battery life and a two-hour charge time. Bluetooth 5.0 connects it to a wide range of devices and accessories. The watch is Android and iOS compatible and water-resistant to 3 ATM. It is limited to 1,000 pieces.
Though the official version, inspired by the flag colours of the host nation, has a burgundy dial and a black and burgundy lined rubber strap, fans can customise dial and strap designs in the colours of each of the 32 participating countries.
Summing up in Pele’s words, “The World Cup is really something special for a football player. Being on the football pitch and listening to the national anthem is a wonderful thing. Listening to the crowd in the stadium, scoring a goal, what a beautiful thing. It really is an exceptional feeling. Off the field, this event is incredible, it brings people from all over the world together. It is a special time for us to be together and in peace. I wish all teams good luck for the competition. I wish Hublot an amazing World Cup.”
Photo: Hublot