BEIJING—Weber Shandwick and sister agency Octagon have been tasked with building international support for Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympic Games bid.

The assignment comes after Weber Shandwick's successful work on behalf of Sochi 2014 and Tokyo 2020. The Interpublic Group agencies secure the assignment following a competitive review.

Beijing is heavily favoured to win the bid, given that its only competition for the 2022 Games is from Kazakh city Almaty. However, Svetlana Picou — who heads Weber Shandwick's global Olympic Games practice — noted that bid races can be "unpredictable".

"Every bid campaign is different and even though the 2022 race is quite unique every country entering into the race to host the Olympic Games is a serious contender and needs to be respected," said Picou. "Those of us who have run multiple bidding campaigns in the past know that the bid race is unpredictable and it is not won until the vote is done in Kuala Lampur."

The decision will be made on 31 July 2015. Until then, Weber Shandwick will attempt to position Beijing's bid with reference to the city's successful hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

"China has a rich experience in hosting international sport events and the Games will provide for an accelerated growth of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou sport and culture tourism belt," said Picou. "Furthermore, the aim is to create a powerful platform for long-term development of the winter sports industry in China that will attract tourists from across China, Asia and the rest of the world." 

In addition to Sochi and Tokyo, Weber Shandwick has also represented Weber Shandwick also supported the unsuccessful Turin 2006 and Munich 2018 bids.