Advertising Review: FIFA Women’s Football World Cup

As the Women’s World Cup kicked off in Australia and New Zealand, brands are supporting the tournament, its teams and players more than ever and it’s expected to be the best-attended and most-viewed women’s sporting event in history.

Women’s sport sponsorship is proven to attract new audiences and drive brand affinity, and an enticing opportunity for brands in a “cleaner, nicer, safer” area vs the men’s game, according to The Times.

New research from the Women’s Sport Trust in the UK reveals that high-profile sponsorships of women’s sport are achieving significant awareness, with over 14m people aware of O2’s sponsorship of the England’s women’s rugby team the Red Roses and Coca Cola’s sponsorship of the FIFA Women’s Football World Cup.

We’re taking a look at the World Cup ads and partnerships with a responsible marketing lens in mind.

Orange — challenging perceptions

This advert from France fronted by male stars including Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann has has grabbed the headlines and got people talking.

It shows the skills of male footballers, but then the footage rewinds and reveals the VFX editing trickery: the players featured in the ad are actually from the women’s team.

A study published last week revealed that when viewers know they are watching men play, they rate the quality of the football as being much higher than that of the women’s game. When viewers don’t know the gender of the footballers, they rate the quality of male and female players equally.

So this ad reminds us that gender bias and preconceptions are getting in the way and demonstrates how women’s football deserves to be on a level playing field.

It’s an impactful, memorable ad but the brand does feel somewhat lost here — will people recall it’s for Orange?

Adidas — ‘Play Until They Can’t Look Away’

Adidas are dedicating their campaign to next generation icons Alessia Russo, Lena Oberdorf and Mary Fowler, with the aim to drive more global attention for the game and inspire young women and girls to follow in their footsteps.

It showcases the skills of the footballers in a playful and eye-catching way and features a star-studded line up including Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Leon Goretzka and actor Jenna Ortega. The film itself is fun, upbeat and entertaining but not remarkable and there’s potential for the famous names to overshadow the female stars.

However, it’s great to see adidas’ investment in the women’s game and practical action they are taking which will really help the next generation. All of adidas’ federations will be offered bespoke 1:1 bra fittings and adidas’ FlowShield Technology, designed to prevent leaks, will be available in on pitch shorts for the first time.

This is incredibly important, with research showing that 70% of women dropped out of sport when they were at school due to clothing and related body image concerns, with many left feeling “sexualised” by what they were forced to wear.

This also follows The Football Association update that the England women’s football team will switch the colour of their shorts to blue after longstanding concerns about wearing white during periods.

Nike — What the Football

Nike have gone big with their ad which spotlights 11 footballers, including Australia’s Sam Kerr, Brazil’s Debinha and USA’s Megan Rapinoe. Each player also gets their own longer length piece and each one is unique to what they’re known for.

The premise of this fast-paced ad, with a Dad waking up 24 years after slipping on a banana peel whilst watching the 1999 World Cup final, is funny and stands out, keeping you engaged until the end.

Creative Review pointed out, “when former footballer Brandi Chastain hands the dad a cake that reads ‘Congrats on waking up’, there’s a knowing wink at the audience: the dad in the film has been unconscious for over two decades, what’s everyone else’s excuse?”

The ad according to Nike, shows the brand’s dedication to serve and support female athletes and they have really invested into this content without a male player in sight vs adidas or Orange.

However, the call to action on its Youtube ad is to download their app to view more athlete stories and to buy the national kits. So, whilst the ad does a great job to land a message around waking up to the greatness of women’s football, it’s not clear what else Nike are doing vs adidas who are delivering grass roots initiatives and new products to help women.

Lego — Play Unstoppable

Lego teamed up with stars Megan Rapinoe (USA), Yuki Nagasato (Japan), Sam Kerr (Australia) and Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria) to launch a new football themed set and ad to champion the way girls’ play — both on and off the pitch. This follows research that found girls feel less restrained by typical gender biases in play than boys — 82% think it’s ok for girls to play football and boys to practice ballet, compared to only 71% of boys.

The footballers selected are not only inspirational but also intersectional, representative of girls out there including LGBTQ+ and different ethnicities. This is particularly great to see given challenges with a lack of racial diversity in the English team and concerns that a lack of visible role models from underrepresented backgrounds will hinder the sport.

Lego also launched ‘Unstoppable FC’ in partnership with UK football stars including Beth Mead and Sam Kerr to arm young girls with the self-belief, resilience and practical skills they need to help break down barriers to play, with a series of workshops and online content.

This partnership works well as it fits naturally in a wider initiative from Lego to support girls in exploring their identity, with further categories including gaming, music, art and space. It’s a longer-term commitment from the brand beyond the tournament and they have the products and content to back it up.

Johnnie Walker — Watch Women’s Sports

In a genius move, Johnnie Walker has teamed up with Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham to ‘rally the nation’ to watch women’s sports this summer, tapping into the popularity of the show and its character, without needing an official license.

The ask of the ad is simple to encourage viewership and help close the visibility gap for women in sports. A content partnership with digital-first media platform Just Women’s Sports will provide ‘Match Day Memos’ from Waddingham and a game day schedule.

The ‘Watch Women’s Sports’ rallying cry is a continuation of Johnnie Walker’s First Strides initiative, an ongoing commitment to celebrate, inspire and enable more meaningful firsts in culture and follows a call to watch women-made films around the Oscars. Johnnie Walker is also donating US$100,000 to its non-profit partner, the Women’s Sports Foundation, to support work expanding access and opportunities for women in sport so they can play, compete and lead without barriers.

CALM — Unseen Signals

CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) has joined forces with England midfielder Fran Kirkby for an ad to tackle the rising rates of suicide in young women under 25.

The premise of the campaign is simple. When a player is injured on the pitch the help is immediate. Off the pitch it’s another story. The Unseen Signals campaign aims to challenge the stigma and stereotypes that prevent women from being supported, and help equip people with practical tools to take action and help save a life.

The stats in the campaign are hard-hitting and harnessing the topical moment of the tournament with their ambassador Kirkby, is a powerful way of bringing attention to this issue and then offering solutions to help.

In Summary

It’s fantastic to see big and bold ads from brands this Women’s World Cup, raising awareness of the talent at the tournament and inspiring future generations.

Some brands like adidas and Lego are really looking long-term beyond the tournament to make lasting action, which is important given the sheer amount of progress to be made with women’s sport in terms of investment, coverage and participation.

It feels like some great momentum right now but the pace to date hasn’t been fast enough. Could this be a turning point? It will be interesting to see how brands approach the Women’s World Cup in 4 year’s time and if we are facing the same challenges. Hopefully it will be a different story.

Will you be watching?

The tournament takes place 20 July — 20 August and the United States are the defending champions and favourites to win, with England second-favourites and Spain third. FIFA hopes two billion people will tune in.

Click here to add the fixtures to your Google Calendar, so you don’t miss a match.

And comment with your favourite ad or any that we may have missed.