It's been two years since I wrote my article for Campaign Magazine UK on marketing women's sport. And I am so proud to see how much has changed since.
Specifically in relation to the points raised, we can now say:
🚺 Purple washing is on a steady decline as we see more authentic brands sponsoring sport to create authentic partnerships
🤝 We are seeing more bundled sponsorships but also a reverse where brands are scrambling to take on the women's teams and dropping the men's (aka #Gatorade)
💪🏼 There is definitely more respectful messaging being used as we move beyond the feminine tone and more towards the powerful, inspiring and realistic messages athletes and fans expect
🪞 We are finally seeing real athletes as the face of sponsorships and not models (as we'd previously seen with the Irish Rugby kit scandal) or popstars
❝❞ Broadcasters, journalists, publications and influential people are finally using the nomenclature as it should - women's rugby and men's rugby or just rugby for both
📖 We've had some incredible content and literature come out in the last couple of years that really dives into the women's sport space, how it's growing at exponential rates and where we still need to work hard
Areas to work on:
🎬 With docu-series like #NoWomanNoTry, #Cheer and #UnTold coming through, we are slowly starting to see more women's sport focussed TV content but there is A LOT more work to be done here.
It's important to reflect back on think pieces, predictions and expectations. It is too easy to get bogged down in how far we still have to go when really, we are doing so well already. Let's celebrate and let's keep going! Equality is coming.
Links below 👇🏼
🆓 Free link to article: https://lnkd.in/ejGTiKJ4