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Kate Dale at Sport England tells us how the organisation’s This Girl Can campaign, designed to get women engaged with sport, succeeded by keeping it real
Girl Powered
here are currently two million more men than women in England who play sport. This sustained gender gap persists despite the fact that 75 per cent of
women say they want to do more exercise, according to Sport England. To reach these women, the organisation knew it had to address the anxieties and pressures associated with playing sports and use the insight to create a positive campaign that would engage, rather than exclude, women who feel restricted when it comes to sport. The resulting campaign, This Girl Can, used video and social media to inspire women of all shapes, sizes and abilities to dismiss their inhibitions and give sport a try. It focused on fun, friendship and fitness— not appearance.
BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS To avoid being misconstrued as a
government health campaign, explains Kate Dale, Head of Brand and Digital Strategy, Sport England talked to women about what might stop them exercising, and put that insight at the heart of the campaign. “There were so many different
reasons, but what it came down to was a fear of judgement,” she told delegates at the Figaro Digital Video Marketing Seminar earlier this year. “This could be judgement from others or, perhaps most
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cripplingly, judgement from ourselves.” Sport England’s research brought
three main issues to light. “First, appearance. Worrying about
looking red-faced, sweaty or silly can hold women and girls back from exercising. The fact that sport marketing is often completely unrealistic only amplifies the problem. Images are often airbrushed or just beyond the realms of most of us, which can be alienating rather than encouraging. Next, ability. Women might feel they’re not good
enough to take part in sport, either because they don’t know the rules or they think they’re too unfit. Girls who are good at sport, on the other hand, may be put off due to the stereotype of being ‘butch’. Finally, priorities. Women might have conflicting pressures such as work, childcare or studies, and perhaps feel they’d be judged if they were to take time out for sport.” Sport England tackled each of these
barriers individually, creating content which took women’s negative anxiety and used it to build a positive attitude. They created short film clips telling the stories of real women who were enjoying sport regardless of busy lifestyles, gender stereotypes, appearance or ability. They all carry feisty slogans like ‘Sweating like a pig, feeling like a fox’ or ‘Hot and not bothered,’ and feature women who were street-casted to convey the campaign’s values. “We spoke to anyone who was
exhibiting an ‘I don’t give a damn’ attitude,” says Dale. “None of them have been airbrushed or Photoshopped. We didn’t put people into unusual positions. They’re doing the sports they’d usually be doing, in the clothes they’d normally be wearing. It’s all very authentic and real, which is a crucial part of This Girl Can.”
All of these individual stories were
brought together for a full-length TV ad, FEATURE ESTELLE HAKNER
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