The Challenge: Going Beyond the Game

Sports entertain, unite, educate, and inspire, but leveraging this influence for social good is challenging due to limited resources and competing priorities. However, sports have the power to spark change, and I felt compelled to connect passion with purpose.

The Idea: A Mascot With a Mission

While managing the 2023 mascot development program, I saw an opportunity.

Mascots are beloved brand ambassadors, so I asked:

What if our mascot didn’t just entertain, but educated?

In creative briefings, I added a requirement: “Include a sustainability angle in the mascot development.”

Without a formal strategy, we gave agencies a blank canvas to innovate. JIP was born as a recycling champion!

Execution: From Character to Classroom

The mascot became a key element in the World Cup promotional strategy. Collaborating with the FIBA Foundation, we developed the Mascot Education Program to:

• Empower youth ambassadors in host countries

• Use sport as a communication tool to teach children environmental protection: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

• Provide age-appropriate curriculum tailored to local cultures and education systems

• Promote the World Cup through gamification targeting the youth

• Offer commercial partners a channel for activations

  
  

My role:

• Aligning cross-functional teams from hosts, foundation, partners, and promotion areas

• Defining project scope and delivery plans per host nation

• Supporting sponsorship activation through the “Little Champions” program

• Delivering materials and content for program creation

The Outcome: Real Impact, Real Recognition

The result was more than just a mascot—it was a movement.

The program reached thousands of children, introducing them to sustainability and leadership through sport.

It created a model for meaningful partner engagement, providing sponsors with a platform of real social value.

It also united departments and hosts under a shared purpose.

The cherry on top?

The Mascot Education Program won an award for innovation in sports education and is now a core legacy project of the Foundation, developed with the promotional team and adopted for future cycles.