Three lionesses on the shirt: how the women’s game became a brand in its own right
Unless you’ve spent the last few weeks living under a rockyou can’t fail to have missed that one of the biggest sporting competitions in theworld has been taking place… and no I don’t mean Wimbledon.
I am, of course, talking about the FIFA Women’s World Cup2019. The tournament was pulling in an incredible number of UK viewers pergame until last week, when the England women’s team sadly crashed out of thesemi-finals with a 2-1 loss against team USA. But despite this, the game tippedthe scales during the semi-final with a whopping 11.7million viewers, making it not only the most watched game of women’sfootball in the UK ever, but the most watched British broadcast of the year sofar, full stop.
The fact that one in six people across the UK watched the game is an astonishing feat when you consider that the Women’s World Cup has been going since 1991 — which I’ll be honest was news to me — and had never before come close to achieving the level of interest that the 2019 tournament has attracted. In the past it came and went every four years with very little fanfare, but not this year. This year has felt different. This year, seemingly out of nowhere, we all seem to really really care.
The excitement is surprising to say the least when for thelast 28 years no one seems to have given two hoots about what was going on inthe world of women’s football. So, what on earth is suddenly going on and whythe change in attitude? Is it Brexit? Is there something in the water? Did weall collectively fall over, bump our heads and wake up in a world where there’sno such thing as the patriarchy?!
All interesting if not probable theories. But what’s much more likely is that a combination of a cracking PR campaign — played out through social media, broadcast and national press — modern technology, and a heightened interest in gender equalities (for example, #MeToo and the gender pay-gap issue) is behind our sudden attack of national pride.
A quick scan of the official Instagram feed @lionesses is a real eye opener,and quite frankly a bit of a game changer. It offers open access to playersthat many of us may not have been familiar with before. Putting names to faces,showing us who they are as people, how they feel about football, their fans andtheir world cup journey. Basically, giving a Meghan Markle worthy masterclasson how to use social media to its best advantage, crafting an image that leavesno one in any doubt that these women are in no way a poor man’s version of theboys’ team. And we as the audience are invited to feel all the emotion of a roller-coastertournament from a perspective that is radically different in a sport that isusually dominated by testosterone.
Technology was also used in other ways that helped make thisthe most accessible Women’s World Cup ever. Free fanzones meant fans across thecountry could enjoy all the excitement on big screens outside in the sunshine(please no jokes about the British summer) with their mates, Pimm’s in hand. Andin a sign of the times the young tech savvy players also got in on the action achievinga first when Lioness midfielder, Georgia Stanway, tweeted the Glastonbury festivalorganisers direct, and in 110 characters convinced them to broadcast the Englandvs Norway quarter final so that her brother who was at the festival could watch!The result was an endless stream of newsworthy images depicting happy cheering crowdsof united people. Which I think most would agree is pretty brilliant newscontent especially at time when Britain is better known for the things that wedisagree on rather than the things we celebrate together.
The success of this world cup tournament has been palpable.True, the England Lionesses didn’t win the cup, but boy did they win the PRwar. They have trended on Twitter, made the evening news, featured inendless news articles in print and online and enhanced the reputation of thewomen’s game in the UK beyond anything that could have been predicted; allwhile showing a whole generation of young girls exactly why a football isn’t justa boy’s toy. Now the only challenge left is to maintain the momentum createdusing all the tools that PR and technology combined can offer. And in a worldwhere we check our phones before saying good morning to our other halves,staying relevant and building on the legacy created over the last few weeksshould be a piece of cake.