CONNECTING MINDS CREATING THE FUTURE

Powering one of the region’s most ambitious commercial ecosystems

THE CHALLENGE

Expo 2020 Dubai was the first World Expo held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region - and the largest event in the Arab world’s history. With 190+ participating countries and a complex ecosystem of 30+ commercial partners, the event required a highly structured and scalable approach to partner servicing, governance, and delivery across multiple stakeholders, contractual obligations, and reputational sensitivities.

F31 was appointed as the lead partner servicing agency, working closely with the in-house Expo commercial team to manage one of the most ambitious and complex commercial programmes ever delivered in the region.

OUR APPROACH

A senior team of F31 staff were seconded full-time into Expo 2020’s on-site commercial team, supported by a wider HQ structure, to deliver a governance-led partner servicing operation across the event’s $1bn+ commercial programme.

We managed every element of partner delivery - from onboarding and contract compliance to issue resolution, event-time operations, and offboarding - ensuring consistency, accountability, and alignment across all partners and internal business units.

Our role also extended to developing and overseeing tailored activation strategies, ensuring all partner activity was executed in line with agreed plans, timelines, operational requirements, and governance frameworks within a high-pressure, globally visible environment.

The result: Seamless delivery across one of the world’s most complex commercial event ecosystems, helping power the success of one of the most significant global events of the decade.