Lidl Ireland launched its latest wave of activation leveraging its sponsorship of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) under the title ‘Levelling The Playing Field’ which runs as part of the brand’s ongoing #SeriousSport platform.
The integrated initiative acknowledges and pays tribute to the generations of players who have battled for equality and also acts as a rallying cry for all current and future LGFA players.
The objective is to highlight that the battle for equality – for a level playing field – in sport is an ongoing one.
The retailer’s #SeriousSport campaign, developed in harness with creative agency BBDO Dublin, launched across national television, radio, press, OOH, digital and social channels in mid-February.
It was spearheaded by a 60-second, hero ‘Levelling The Playing Field’ spot featuring relentless women playing ‘uphill’ and shot on location at shot on location in Glendalough (County Wicklow) back in 2020 to offer a visual representation of the battle that female Gaelic footballers and all women in sport face in striving for equality.
The lead commercial was supported by a behind-the-scenes, making-of style social video and linked content created for the campaign’s other media channels.
Want to see how we captured our brand new LGFA Level the Playing Field TV ad? Been wondering where it was filmed?
Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the shoot in Glendalough, Co. Wicklow way back in early 2020! #SeriousSupport pic.twitter.com/fTAxp9FxQC
— Lidl Ireland (@lidl_ireland) February 9, 2021
This was a pleasant spot on today’s walk ☺️ Great photo!
Fair play @lidl_ireland #serioussupport pic.twitter.com/Of8BdGkjWs
— Louise Lawless (@louiselawless91) February 12, 2021
As well as the multi-channel creative, on 15 February a fundraising initiative launched in store and via the Lidl Plus app to raise funds for local clubs.
The 'Level The Playing Field' fundraising initiative is now LIVE on Lidl Plus
Collect stamps to raise up to €20,000 for your chosen club!
Visit https://t.co/cOWZ3w2Uke for full details and terms
More https://t.co/5gGO5tWmJF#SeriousSupport pic.twitter.com/fXIQNA3ntg
— Ladies Football (@LadiesFootball) February 15, 2021
The work emerged from 2021 Lidl Ireland research which found that 85% of LGFA female members recognise the uplift in support over the last four years since the brand has been backing the sport – specifically in the media and among the general public.
The study also found that 51% of women claim that they are currently participating in sport (up from 2017), but 31% of girls who used to participate in sports stated that they stopped playing in primary school and more than a third of these claimed the main reason they stopped was because their friends were no longer playing.
“At Lidl we are dedicated in supporting the phenomenal effort the LGFA players put in. It’s important to recognise their achievements and make people aware that the challenge for a level playing field is an ongoing one. Both teams featured in the ads are St Sylvester’s from Malahide and Robert Emmets from Perrystown, Co Dublin, and demonstrate how seriously they take the sport as we are passionate in supporting it,” said Lidl Ireland Deputy Marketing Head Fiona Fagan.
BBDO Account Director Sinéad Lee, who led the Lidl account, added: “We began working on this campaign over a year ago, just before the Covid-19 lockdown was put in place, so we are absolutely delighted to finally introduce it. We wanted to create something that really dramatised the challenges that LGFA players face and the mountain metaphor that the concept is based around does that in a visually powerful way.”
“We had always wanted to shoot the film for real, to capture the visceral nature of the ongoing struggle to level the playing field, a CGI representation of the game held no appeal for us,” said a joint statement by BBDO Art Director Rob Murray and Copywriter Des Kavanagh commenting on how the location drove the creative’s visual impact. “The Glendalough (Co Wicklow) location that Red Rage our production partners provided, worked perfectly. The hill was incredibly steep and the surrounding landscape was incredibly dramatic. This allowed us to not only portray the intense effort involved in fighting inequality but also to show how necessary and beautiful the end goal of equality is, for all the women and players involved. It was the perfect physical and metaphorical space.”
The campaign was created for Lidl Ireland Senior Project Manager Sarah-Jane Coogan, Senior Partnerships Manager Joe Mooney, Deputy Head Of Marketing Fiona Fagan and Head Of Communications & Marketing Aoife Clarke by BBDO Dublin.
The agency team included Creative Director Shane O’Brien, Copywriter Des Kavanagh, Art Director Rob Murray, Account Director Sinéad Lee, Account Manager Emma Blaney, Account Manager Elana Murphy, Producer Georgia Stevenson and Strategic/Planning Director Sarah Hughes.
The production company was Red Rage with Director Stevie Russell, Editor Rob Hegarty, DOP Piers McGrail, plus sound by Kevin Breathnach of Avondale, music by Jon Jon of Loud & Clear Music and post production was handled by Windmill Lane.
Comment:
This powerful new campaign continues Lidl Ireland’s role as a serious supporter of the LGFA since 2015 and since 2016 Lidl has invested more than €4m into its LGFA partnership.
During the partnership the profile of both the sport and the players has risen to previously unseen levels and yet the LGFA still faces uneven odds with comparatively fewer resources, less coverage and less recognition of their achievements compared to their male counterparts.
A long-time partner of Irish sport (other properties it has backed in recent years include the IRFU), the German owned super market chain uses sports sponsorship – typically national teams – in the Republic to consolidate and further entrench its local market relationship with Irish consumers.
A strategy it employs in other overseas markets such as in England with the FA.
Links:
Lidl Ireland
BBDO Dublin
LGFA
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