05 Aug 2022

Welcome to this month’s Agency Digest – we’re looking at how brands reacted to the Lionesses victory, and what this means for the marketing and partnerships world of women’s football moving forwards. Let us know what you think!

 

 

Brands have put their reactive marketing hats on after a remarkable victory from the lionesses to win the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022. From British staples right through to huge corporate names, we’ve seen some fantastic creative response to a landmark moment in women’s football. Here’s some of our favourites:

 

 

Royal Mail quite literally ‘posted’ their victory

 

 

Specsavers had their eyes on the prize

 

 

Walkers introduced their new victorious flavour with the help of our brilliant client The&Partnership. 

 

 

and Weetabix claim to have the breakfast of champions

 

 

So, this is all fun and games (pardon the pun) … but what does this mean for the marketing and partnerships world of women’s football moving forwards? 

 

Well, we know that England’s win over Germany amassed more than 17 million TV viewers, making it the most watched event of 2022 so far AND the most watched women’s football game in UK TV history. The England Women’s sponsor list already includes big names such as Nike, Barclays, Coca Cola and EE, having been shared sponsorships with the England men's team. 

 

Annie Panter, former Team GB hockey player, and now managing director at sports marketing agency Two Circles believes that rather than companies just wanting to be seen doing the right thing, women's football "now represents a powerful purpose-led sponsorship platform that generates genuine commercial return on investment for a brand." Others disagree, as Ex-England player and sports commentator Alex Scott says "If you’re not involved, you’ve missed the boat, you’ve missed the train. Because look at this… it has finally left the station and it is gathering speed.”

 

Adam Warner, PepsiCo’s senior director of global sports marketing spoke to PRWeek about their long term sponsorship, adding that the new found fame of the England women's team is "not to say brands and sponsors shouldn’t still get involved. And in doing so, they need to be prepared to get stuck in and understand the community to create authentic connections to the game.” 

 

Either way, we’ve seen brands capitalise on successes of other programmes and events, so we expect the sign-up sheet is filling up fast.