Women’s World Cup 2019 blog

3 June – Nike debuts electrifying Women’s World Cup spot

With the FIFA Women’s World Cup just days away, Nike has thrown its support behind the tournament by debuting the latest instalment of its Just Do It campaign. The ad features a wealth of female football stars including Australia’s Sam Kerr, Brazil’s Andressa Alves and China’s Wang Shuang.

‘Dream Further’, produced alongside Wieden + Kennedy Portland, was unveiled during the UEFA Champions League Final between Liverpool and Tottenham and continues Nike’s ‘Dream Crazy’ positioning.

During the stirring three-minute spot, 10-year-old Makena Cook is led by the hand around the pitch by the world’s top players where she’s seen successfully sidestepping various on-pitch challenges while playing out her dreams.

Set to a soundtrack of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ ‘Bad Reputation’, the ad sees a number of cameos from the likes of England footballer Alex Scott, who is seen making history by coaching the Barcelona men’s team to victory.

The pinnacle comes when Cook serves Kerr a perfect assist for a goal. It ends with the message ‘Don’t change your dream, change the world’. The story serves as a metaphor for how the current crop of world class female footballers can help lead and inspire the next generation.

Nike is also promoting its limited-edition ‘Dream Further’ jerseys – the first children’s football shirt specifically made for girls.

28 May – Lucozade rewrites ‘Three Lionesses’ to support the women’s game

Lucozade hopes its £2m campaign will help propel the Lionesses to household names.

As part of the campaign, created by Grey London, Lucozade has rewritten the popular England tune ‘Three Lions’ for the women’s team. It uses alternative lyrics to highlight the ongoing challenge of overcoming prejudices against women in sport.

The changes include swapping, “All those years of hurt never stopped us dreaming” to “that we don’t have the skill in their eyes. Well, we’re tired of the lies.”

Speaking to Marketing Week ahead of the World Cup, Lucozade Sport’s head of marketing Claire Keaveny said it wanted to incorporate the song into the campaign because it’s such an important part of football culture in England.

“It’s something so iconic and so part of the culture here, my hope is that the [re-written version] really disrupts people and makes them tune in,” she said.

Lucozade Sport is also supporting the Lionesses on its packaging by putting the faces and names of some of the Lionesses as it looks to make them “household names”.

“I truly believe that if the general public know who they are, and knows their stories, they’re going to tune in, which will help to raise the profile of the game,” Keaveny explained.

22 May – Head and Shoulders promises ‘equal footing’ for Lionesses

Procter and Gamble-owned hair care brand Head & Shoulders has promised “equal footing” for both men and women as part of its partnership with the FA.

Katharine Newby-Grant, P&G’s marketing director for Northern Europe, says the brand wants to “showcase” the Lionesses in its new campaign ‘Join the Pride’, which features TV presenter Claudia Winkleman as well as England stars Beth Mead and Keira Walsh.

“If you want to inspire future generations they need to see their role models, they need to say ‘that’s me and I can do that’. It’s a really important moment and there’s a lot more social consciousness and as a brand we felt compelled to take a stance on that,” she says.

In the ad featuring Winkleman, the shampoo brand asks England fans to sport the patriotic hairstyle modelled by the two Lionesses, Mead and Walsh. The ‘three lines’ – which can come in the form of cornrows and twists – is intended to represent the three Lions on spectators’ shirts.

“Firstly, it’s a platform for the players but we also want to help the fans engage. Where’s hoping it encourages them to visibly show their support for the Lionesses, it’s something than can bring them closer,” Newby-Grant adds.

18 May – BBC Women’s World Cup trailer encourages women footballers to ‘change the game’

The BBC recently launched its trailer for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in a bid to spotlight women’s football alongside the fact it has acquired the rights to every game in France.

The broadcaster is guaranteeing “full coverage” of the tournament across TV, radio and online and is promoting the competition with its ‘Change the Game’ campaign, paying homage to the 264 female footballers who will play in France.

The spot features some of the world’s most famous footballers from the UK and beyond, across a series of scenes focusing on their skills, athleticism and personalities.

London rapper Ms Banks has also combined forces to help create an anthem that intends to empower and inspire the next generation of women who might follow in these athletes footsteps.

In the trailer Ms Banks delivers lines such as, “in history her name she writes” and “busting down all the doors we ain’t even putting the keys in”.

Every game at the tournament will be broadcast live on the BBC, with all 52 matches from France shown across BBC platforms including BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport online.