Chinese smartphone brand Vivo counts on World Cup to boost its slowing sales

China’s Vivo, the official smartphone sponsor of the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia, is pinning its hopes on the upcoming global event to boost sales as the brand faces mounting pressure from competitors amid a saturated domestic market.

The company unveiled a Fifa World Cup limited edition smartphone targeted at both tech-savvy users and football fans in Beijing on Tuesday, where it officially kicked off its global marketing campaign for the World Cup.

Shenzhen-based Vivo signed a six-year sponsorship agreement with Fifa in May last year, which includes consecutive sponsorship of the Fifa World Cups in 2018 and 2022. It did not reveal how much it paid for the sponsorship deal.

The agreement includes the right to conduct special marketing activities such as this year’s Vivo Super FAN Photographer campaign, which gives fans from over 17 markets unprecedented access during pre-match player warm-ups for the World Cup, Michael Chang, Vivo’s brand director of international business, said in an emailed reply to questions.

“Our sponsorship will help the Vivo brand reach more young people and sports fans globally,” he said, adding that the strategy has also contributed to the brand’s global expansion.

Vivo’s World Cup special edition is based on its flagship X21 model, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor and with 6GB of RAM. The phone features Vivo’s display-based fingerprint scanning, which has so far been available only in the Chinese market. The special edition comes with a price tag of 3,698 yuan (US$580), 100 yuan more than its X21 model.