Don’t commit these 5 women’s sport sponsorship and marketing mistakes

Women’s sport is growing at an unprecedented rate and is providing an opportunity for right’s holders to attract fans in new ways and for sponsors to tell compelling stories that enhance brand love. While it can be a great space to be creative, push the boundaries and try new things, there are some things that are a no-go.

Don’t look like a women’s sport amateur by making any of these 5 mistakes

1. View women’s sport as a box-ticking exercise

Women’s sport is a powerful medium that can be leveraged to grow fans and ignite brand consideration with consumers. It’s not a token project or a CSR campaign to get involved with so you can include a picture in your annual report that ticks-a-box. Women's sport is on an exciting journey which sponsors and marketers can help shape but they have to be meaningful contributors in this partnership and add to the journey and wider ecosystem rather than detract from it.

DON'T: Use women’s sport as a box-ticking exercise
DO: View women’s sport as a powerful platform to engage consumers and be a meaningful partner that adds to and helps shape the trajectory of women’s sport

2. Compare to men’s sport

I’ve heard it all; ‘women’s tennis isn’t as exciting to watch as men’s tennis’ or ‘women’s soccer is like men’s soccer but as if they are playing under water’. Yes, versions of the game have different qualities i.e women’s tennis has longer rallies and women’s soccer has less fights and diving than men’s. Each game and version has different attributes and relatability which can be enjoyed by different people. These elements need to be celebrated rather than compared as who is to say what is ‘better’ or right to different fans. I for one enjoy watching women’s soccer over men’s.

“Women’s tennis isn’t as exciting to watch as men’s tennis”

DON’T: Compare the differences between men’s and women’s sport or allude to the women’s game as being inferior or sub-standard
DO: Appreciate men’s and women’s sports can have different qualities which should be celebrated and that each can appeal in different ways to fans

3. Try to replicate men’s sport or copy the traditional definition of what sport has previously been

Sport may have started out as being male dominated but don’t think the historical view of sport is how women’s sport should be portrayed or is the definition for sport in general. As well as some amazing traits, there can be some undesirable traits in the men’s game including toxic machoness, fights, racism or homophobia. The women’s game offers some extremely positive attributes over the men’s game like being inclusive, diverse and clean as well as having a different target audience being more family focused with a more even female to male audience split.

Celebrate and market this rather than follow the path that’s been set by the men’s game. For example, it’s not mandatory for a women’s athlete to be shown lined up against her competitors looking confrontational like she wants to start a fight in order to show her competitiveness just because this may be how a male athlete has been marketed in the past.

DON’T: Replicate the men’s game just because this has what’s been done in the past
DO: Approach women’s sport as having its own attributes and strengths and don’t be afraid if it’s different to what’s been done in sport before

4. Treat women’s sport as an after-thought

Don't become a sponsor of women’s sport if there isn’t a genuine desire or fit to be involved. Many sports have historically bundled the women’s game in as value-add to the men’s or forced sponsors to take on the women’s game in order to access the men’s equivalent.

Women’s sport should be considered on its own merits, fully planned out to maximize fan experience and return on investment and not be activated as an after-thought.

DON'T: Include women’s sport as an after-thought or activate it if it doesn’t fit
DO: Put women’s sport at the centre of your thinking and focus on how you can deliver a successful partnership for all parties

5. Focus on appearance or sex-appeal

An obvious one you would think but we better include it as a reminder after witnessing women's world footballer of the year, Ada Hegerberg be asked to Twerk when receiving the most prestigious award in football and more recently middle distance runner Eilish McColgan who was body shamed after stating that she was in the best shape of her life heading into the World Champs with trolls saying she was too skinny. She said she had always been that body shape and these type of comments were costing female athletes sponsorship opportunities.

Women’s sport is full of strong, powerful, resilient and inspiring athletes who spend their lives training and competing to win. They are not sex objects whose bodies, looks or anything else outside of their sporting ability is there to be judged or commented on. Female athletes are not manly, not weak, not fragile, not too big, not too muscular or too skinny or anything else other than just athletes. Even if it’s borderline just don’t even go there!

DON'T: Don’t sexualise women’s sport or comment on female athletes bodies (if in doubt, leave it out)
DO: View and treat female athletes as strong, competitive, powerful and inspiring sport heroes

Conclusion

With unprecedented growth and opportunity their are opportunities for women’s sport Right’s Holders and Sponsors like never before but don’t let all the effort and investment go to waste by making any of these 5 mistakes:

Use to tick-a-box or view as a CSR or charity project
Make comparisons to men’s sport or imply the women’s game is inferior
Be afraid of creating a definition for women’s sport that is different from what’s traditionally been set by men’s sport
Treat women’s sport as an after-thought or do a ‘token’ activation if there isn’t a genuine desire or fit to be involved
Focus on sex-appeal or appearance or view female athletes as anything other than strong, powerful, resilient and inspiring athletes

It’s an exciting time for brands to be a part of women’s sport so get creative, get inspired and avoid these amateur mistakes to produce some award winning campaigns that deliver for fans, the ecosystem and your business!

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Avoid These 5 Sponsorship & Marketing Mistakes