The This Girl Can campaign was first launched in January and has since made waves across the nation, gaining support from a host of social influencers and garnering more than 7.7million views on its YouTube channel to date. As the organisation behind the campaign, Sport England, announces plans for the next stage of above the line advertising to further promote This Girl Can this summer, we explore what has made the campaign that aims to get more women into exercise so successful.
Far from taking the tried-and-tested “new year, new me” approach to January resolution marketing, many have praised Sport England’s decision to keep the campaign as realistic and relatable as possible, encouraging women to embrace exercise in all forms. Using insights which found that 75% of women say they would like to exercise more, but refrain from doing so due to a fear of judgement, Sport England opted to use non-airbrushed women to represent the general UK population of 14-40 year olds as opposed to the models and fitness professionals we are so used to seeing in high profile campaigns. This had a dramatic impact on the British public. According to the campaign’s creators, less than 1% of Twitter activity surrounding the campaign has been negative.
Leisure centres and sporting bodies across the UK are among those who have taken on board This Girl Can’s powerful message and acted, spreading the word further. Click on the icons below to see how some of our leisure clients including Soll Leisure, Impulse Leisure and Abbeycroft Leisure have taken inspiration from This Girl Can:
So what can we learn from This Girl Can?
“Real” sells. Sports marketing is evolving – we no longer want to see the “ideal” being thrust upon us with an air of superiority and glamour. This shift in approach has come across as radical and inspiring, making This Girl Can stand out from the usual sports campaigns that – for the most part – are pushing attainable goals and often having the opposite effect to what is intended.
As for the future of sports and fitness-related campaigns, we expect to see others taking note of This Girl Can’s rapid rise to success and following suit.
Here at Bigwave media, we offer bespoke creative and PR services, from graphic design to campaign planning and media management. To discuss our services in more detail, please get in touch.