Sasol, an official sponsor of the South Africa Football Association (SAFA), has launched a new initiative called #Limitless aimed at driving participation and support for women’s football.
The objective of the #Limitless campaign is to garnering more support for women’s football in South Africa (including increasing the fanbase for the Banyana Banyana national team) and to inspire women and girls to play.
The energy and chemical company’s campaign, which was launched ahead of spiking football interest around Russia 2018 and qualifying for the Women’s Africa Cup Of Nations will run for the rest of 2018 and into 2019, consists of several parallel programmes all designed to shine a spotlight on the women’s game.
Developed with leading South African sports marketing agency Levergy (now part of the M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment Group), the multiple strands of the campaign range from television work and digital/social content, to music and the creation of blue #Limitless shoelaces, plus an influencer campaign and an internship programme.
The hero commercial was launched on 31 May
and is supported by social content across Sasol’s Twitter,
“Sasol is the proud sponsor of @Banyana_Banyana as well as the @SasolLeague and has been a supporter of #womensfootball for 10 years. We are immensely passionate about the game; we now want to imbue our passion into SA as a whole. That’s what #Limitless is about.” – @nozmlambo pic.twitter.com/46QxVRa8ib
— Sasol (@SasolSA) June 12, 2018
Banyana Banyana qualify for Nations Cup https://t.co/DppYkulxdC via @SAFA_net pic.twitter.com/nPlGaG8lol
— Sasol (@SasolSA) June 12, 2018
Instagram,
and Facebook pages with content showing the brand’s backing for the team and urging fans to show their support using the campaign’s #Limitless hashtag.
An additional strand of the campaign saw the creation of a campaign soundtrack with up-and-coming artist Rouge – who recently had a major hit at the local music awards.
Click here on the link to read the local news coverage of the story.
Sasol also created the campaign’s signature blue #Limitless shoelaces and the campaign challenges people across the nation to wear them as a symbol of their support for women’s football.
The laces aim to act as a personal symbol of support and as a manifestation of the initiative’s aim to get all of South Africa behind Banyana Banyana and the women’s game.
The nationwide initiative also aims to shining a spotlight on individuals involved in the women’s game (including several Banyana Banyana stars) and to serve as an illustration of the powerful and talented individuals selflessly giving of themselves to grow the game.
These people and players will act as aspirational role models to young girls and will work to illustrate how participation in sport teaches confidence, dedication, determination, and teamwork: all lessons that can translate into other areas of individuals’ lives.
This will be tied to a #Limitless internship programme which will initially offer two players the opportunity to gain valuable work experience at Sasol, the SAFA and at Levergy.
Thus #Limitless is using football as a positive catalyst in changing perceptions and behaviours for positive outcomes (whether it be the grassroots amateur game or a professional career).
“Sasol is the proud sponsor of Banyana Banyana as well as the Sasol Women’s League and has been a supporter of women’s football for 10 years,” commented Sasol Group Brand Marketing Manager Nozipho Mbatha.
“We are immensely passionate about the game; we now want to imbue our passion into South Africa as a whole. That’s what #Limitless is about, it is a mechanism to inspire both footballers and supporters of football and to assist us and our partners SAFA, in growing the game.”
While Banyana Banyana head-coach Desiree Ellis added: “Research across the board is showing that there are not enough women being active/playing sport and that people that are active see a number of physical and mental benefits that translate into all aspects of their life. Football not only gives you the chance to showcase your talent but enables you to make friends, it builds character and gives you opportunities outside of sport. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today without football. I urge all young girls to consider taking up football. #Limitless is an immensely exciting prospect from Sasol and SAFA, it mirrors all of my beliefs around football and I can’t wait to see its impact in the future.”
Fran Hilton-Smith, Assistant Technical Director at SAFA also said: “Banyana Banyana are currently one of the top performing national teams in South Africa and we continue to see growth in the Sasol League. We urge all South Africans to show their backing for women’s football and to give our players the support they deserve. #Limitless is definitely a step in the right direction in achieving greater exposure for the game. We look forward to seeing what we will achieve in this regard together with Sasol.”
Comment:
The Activative team feel that this is genuinely an exciting and meaningful piece of work.
The local, female empowerment factor is strongly and the work feels genuine and authentic, while the integration and commitment is impressive.
The early results thus far suggest that the target market agrees.
Within the first week the lead spot had racked up 170k on YouTube and more than 200k on Twitter.
The agency and brand teams will also measure the resulting engagement and PR data.
Sasol has been supporting the Banyana Banyana for the last decade and the brand is also the title partner of the Sasol League (the top tier women’s club league).
The initiative was developed from insights following research suggesting that not enough women in South Africa are sufficiently physically active and the obvious mental and physical benefits that come with this.
While the growth of women’s sports and women’s sports marketing has been accelerating in Europe and the USA, there has been less growth and development in Africa.
Sasol, the SAFA and Levergy are using the Banyana and #Limitless to start driving this change.
Links:
Sasol
https://www.facebook.com/SasolSACareers/
https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialSasol
https://www.instagram.com/sasolsa/
Levergy
SAFA
https://www.facebook.com/southafricanfootballassociation/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ZfYI1YgVodNu8kihU86vA/featured
