Liam Mather | Inside the Beijing Olympic Bubble

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

● Liam’s work in Public Affairs and Communications at WPIC

● Becoming involved with the Olympics

● Looking back at the Beijing Olympics

● The level of interest of the Chinese population in the Olympic games

● The stars of the Olympics

● The state of Chinese hockey post-Olympics

● Lesser-known notable news stories in China that did not make the headlines

● The lasting impact of the Olympics on winter sports in China

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we talk with Liam Mather, Head of Public Affairs and Communications at WPIC Marketing + Technologies. Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, Liam helps guide WPIC's public and government affairs, strategic communications, media engagement, corporate branding, and sales enablement.

Liam previously worked in BCW's Corporate and Public Affairs practice in Beijing, where he helped clients manage reputations, respond to crises, and navigate policy issues.

He was a 2020 Fellow of the American Chamber of Commerce in China’s Leadership Development Program. He has a Bachelor's degree in Honours History from McGill University, where he focused on international Cold War history and served as Chair of Debates for the debating union.

Liam’s work at WPIC is focused on telling “the story of the enormous opportunity that exists in China for foreign brands,” and educating these brands on how working with WPIC is the best way for them to tap into this opportunity.

Following his recent role as a spotter for the hockey program at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Liam left with a very positive impression of the planning and execution of the whole event. Calling it “an enormously impressive organizational feat,” Liam highlights the management’s success at keeping COVID at bay, particularly via the massive quarantine bubble that was able to hold 70,000 people, including 5000 athletes, at the peak of the event.

Hockey—and winter sports in general—has a bright future in China. The numbers of ice rinks and players have exploded in the last five years: from 200 to 900 rinks, and from 1000 to 13,000 players, both since 2015. Those numbers will only continue to climb, especially in the aftermath of the Olympics.

Key Quotes:

“I’m trying to tell the story of the enormous opportunity that exists in China for foreign brands. Part of that story is how working with WPIC is the best way for brands to tap into this opportunity.”

“In terms of the state of hockey in China, before the Olympics, we saw very significant growth in hockey participation and hockey infrastructure. In 2015, the year Beijing won the game’s bid, there were 200 ice hockey rinks. Now there are 900, which is a pretty massive increase. That actually makes China one of the top countries in the world for the number of ice rinks. Just five years ago, there were about 1000 players in China, according to the IIHF; but, now there are 13,000.”

“I think we’re going to see China in the future as being a strong winter sports nation just like it’s been such a strong country in the summer games.”