The final week of July saw Always leverage the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics by teaming up with inspirational Team GB long jumper Stefanie Reid as the brand continues its mission to ‘Keep Girls Playing’.
Part of the sanitary hygiene brand’s ongoing #KeepHerPlaying platform, the hero spot was launched on the last day of July and features track and field star Stefanie Reid MBE talking about her own life experiences: how she overcame losing her leg in a boating accident at the age of 15 and how, through the power of sport, she was able to gain her confidence back.
Stef echoes the brand’s core campaign message about how the long-term benefits of sport extend well into adulthood.
At the age of 15, she was in a boating accident which resulted in the lower part of her right leg being amputated and she changed from being a confident, outgoing teenager to someone who felt embarrassed about her appearance. But with the support of her parents and teachers, Reid kept playing sport and found it was a tool that enabled her to heal and grow as a person.
“Sport gave me back my fire and fierceness!” explained Reid in the campaign PR. “Through it, I learnt the value of hard work, I learnt how to deal with failure, and I learnt how to be resilient. It also helped me build confidence to explore so many things outside of my sporting career which I might not have considered before, like starting a career as a broadcaster, stepping in to sport governance roles and even walking in London Fashion Week. I wish more people knew how much sports can help girls, just like it helped me. I find it really sad that so many girls give up when they hit puberty. That’s why this partnership with Always means so much to me. I want other young girls to be able to experience the benefits I did, and I hope you’ll join me and Always to keep girls playing.”
The video campaign strand, which was helmed by The Visionaries’ Director Emily McDonald, is supported by a set of social content pieces running across the brand’s own channels.
“Not only do sports make you strong and powerful, but (and I’m an example of this) it can change your life and take you places you’ve never dreamed of.” @scoutbassett is proof of just how far playing sports can take girls. Let’s #KeepHerPlaying – more info at #LinkInBio pic.twitter.com/feVRTQN9NM
— Always (@Always) July 28, 2021
Members of the public can join the initiative by tagging @always_uk_ireland and #KeepHerPlaying to trigger a donation to Sported and by buying packs of Always Ultra, Always Platinum or Tampax Compak Pearl from participating retailers during the campaign period to also trigger a donation to Sported.
The creative invites viewers to learn more about Stef’s story and the #KeepHerPlaying campaign by visiting always.co.uk/keepherplaying.
Comment:
The aim of the umbrella initiative is to reverse the fact that around one in three girls drop out of sport during puberty and to show that sport is about much more than simply winning.
A recent study of 1000 girls and 1000 adults, commissioned by Always and run by OnePoll explored girls’ participation in sport during puberty and the long-term benefits of girls playing sport.
The research found that women who played sport during puberty said that it helped them learn how to persevere (23%) and helped them to develop their self-esteem (30%) and that 50% of women who dropped out of sport as teens wish they had continued to play.
A further strand of the initiative, run in partnership with charity Sported, has seen the brand help more than UK 15000 continue playing sports in the last year through over 130 grants to grassroots community groups.
The study confirmed that nearly 75% of girls said they require more support to keep them involved in sport, so, in addition to further raising awareness of the benefits of sport through marketing, Always continues to donate to Sported and the money donated is used to help more community groups hire youth centre spaces and ensure that they have the necessary sport equipment to support participants as lockdown eases.
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