Mid June, in the middle of the group stages of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Foot Locker leveraged the tournament with an integrated European campaign that champions female referees through creative content and qualification support.
Foot Locker shines a light not only on women’s football, but specifically on those officiating the matches.
Hacking the tournament which sees women footballer take centre stage, the sports shoe retailer launched a multi-platform marketing push with the umbrella objective of o inspiring increased inclusivity in football and youth culture both on and off the pitch.
The initiative saw Foot Locker partner with the Amateur FA Referees Course, roll out creative where its flips its iconic Foot Locker logo so that is represents women and teams up with three female referees and provide them with a platform to tell their own stories.
The campaign , developed in partnership with creative agency Virtue and PR agency M&C Saatchi Public Relations, was spearheaded by a hero spot that taps into the France 2019 tournament.
and a set of supporting creative.
backed up by a video content series running across Foot Locker’s own European social channels telling the stories of each of the brand’s female ref ambassadors.
Dutch-Surinamese Shona Shukrula (who recently made history as the first women to pass the men’s ref conditioning and fitness test),
16 year-old Caitlin O’Grady (a promising young UK re),
and Stacey Hall (another UK referee who often takes charge of male semi-professional games).
A further element off the campaign sees a female Foot Locker profile logo appear on displays and staff uniforms in France during the month of the tournament.
Indeed, Foot Locker says that this gender flipped logo “will be part of its evolving logo suite moving forwards”.
Another campaign strand adding further depth to the initiative sees the retailer partner with the Amateur FA Referees Course and also be subsidise the cost of amateur female referees qualification courses.
Thus providing practical financial help to get more female officials into the game.
“We’re passionate about enabling and inspiring an inclusive youth culture, of which sports forms a key part,” exp;lained Foot Locker Marketing VP Carmen Seman.
“Our campaign is all about celebrating these culture shapers for their skills, regardless of gender or position on the pitch, and inspiring a future generation of young players and refs.”
Comment:
This is essentially a smart, insightful Women’s World Cup guerrilla campaign that not only leverages the tournament, but also builds around the fact that the sports footwear retailer’s well known logo is a referee.
Foot Locker, which is headquartered in New York and boasts 3,221 athletic retail stores in 27 countries, focuses on the refs rather than the players and this tactic certainly helps it stand out from much of the other France 2019 marketing.
Links:
Foot Locker
https://www.youtube.com/user/footlockerEU
https://twitter.com/FootLockerEU
https://www.instagram.com/footlockereu/
https://www.facebook.com/FootLockerEU/
Virtue
https://www.virtueworldwide.com/
M&C Saatchi Public Relations
https://mcsaatchipublicrelations.com/
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