Leading event branding specialist Icon Display has recently finished work on yet another major sporting project in Qatar, the ITU Doha Triathlon World Cup. Icon has recently opened an office in Qatar from where the company managed a number of recent projects creating and installing the signage at the Qatar Open Golf, Tour of Qatar cycling and the Wheels ’n’ Heels charity race.
Icon specializes in designing, producing and installing all the branding, dressing and signage for major sporting events. Having established itself in the UK over 50 years in the events industry, Icon has expanded within Europe and more recently the Middle East, initially working on the 17th Arabian Gulf Cup in Doha. The emergence of the Middle East as a centre for major sporting events has provided a number of outstanding opportunities for Icon to show off their unique style and approach to global event presentation.
This has been one of the most intense periods for Icon. Having completed all the branding and signage at The Commercialbank Qatar Masters, which took place at the Doha Golf Club and is part of the PGA’s European Tour, Icon moved straight into installing all the signage for the Tour de Qatar, the country’s premier cycling event. Icon worked closely with the Qatar Cycling Federation as well as the event organizers. Icon were also involved in contributing the signage for a major charity event, Wheels ‘n’ Heels, a race involving well known sport stars as well as fashion, entertainment, TV and film celebrities.
Just last week Icon completed work on yet another major project, the 2006 ITU Doha Triathlon World Cup. It was the first event of its kind to be hosted by the region adding to Doha’s illustrious sporting calendar and was a test event for the 2006 Asian Games to be held in the region later in the year. Icon once again proved its pedigree by designing, producing and installing all the branding, dressing and signage within 10 days. This included the Start/Finish and transition areas and parts of the course for this prestigious event.
For all the events in the region Icon uses its office in Qatar as well as local labour and production resources with specialist expertise.
Commenting on Icon’s growing reputation in the area, Managing Director John Francis said “This has been an extremely busy period for us in the region and it would not have been possible to brand so many events without the invaluable help of so many local partners who take huge pride in staging such major events. Our Qatar office is now fully operational and we are looking forward to building our reputation and working with other local organizers to help them develop the look and style of their events”.
Icon Display has an impressive track record working in most major sports as well as becoming increasingly involved in organizing the signage at major exhibitions and conferences. Some of Icon’s highest profile work is in football where they work for UEFA on the European Championships as well as the Champions League. They recently played a major part in helping London to win the 2012 Olympic bid producing all the promotional signage and displays for the bid.
Commercialbank’s sponsorship of the Qatar Open involves an investment of $3.3 million over 3 years. Icon has acted as consultants to Commercialbank and other event sponsors such as Conoco-Philips ensuring that they maximize the returns on their investment.
The Qatar Open is managed by the Tour de France and Icon has also been working under contract to the Qatar Cycling Federation. The Tour attracts 150 pro-cyclists from 20 different teams. One of the star attractions of the event was World Champion, Tom Boonen. The status of this colourful event and global reach of the TV coverage required Icon’s extensive experience to deliver the necessary finished look of the event.
Wheels ‘n’ Heels was sponsored by Shell. The Lifestyles Village was sponsored by Conoco-Philips. The event attracted 1000 cyclists, skaters and joggers including legendary cyclist Eddy Merckx, supermodel Linda Evangelista, film stars direct from the set of the latest 007 movie Casino Royale; Bollywood star Malikka & numerous other members of royalty & international businessmen, international footballers Ronald & Frank De Boer. The Lifestyles Village attracted a crowd of over 3000 people.
