ING misshaped ‘Goals for Equal Opportunities’ leverages KNVB sponsorship and highlights football inequality

KNVB and Dutch women’s football sponsor ING launched a gender equality activation  titled ‘Doelen voor Gelijke Kansen / Goals for Equal Opportunities’ leveraging spiking female football interest ahead of the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup.

ING’s campaign aims to put highlight the gender inequalities in the game and the challenges the Dutch women’s national team face through a creative concept built around unusually, mishaped football goals to drive home a message that ‘Women’s football deserves more.’

Developed in collaboration with creative shop TBWA\NEBOKO, PR outfit Coopr, media agency Initiative, and production studios Bandit and Czar the strangely and unevenly shaped crossbars, distinctive contours and odd goalposts are visual images acting as symbolic metaphors for the uneven state of the men’s and women’s game and act as unfair obstacles, prejudice and negative stereotyping that women have to work harder to overcome.

The multi-platform initiative spanned demonstration games, a media tour, ambassador appearances, TV work, outdoor ad displays, online platforms and social media content.

Launched on 28 June, a month ahead of the tournament kick-off, the activation launched with a demonstration match played at Jaarbeursplein in Utrecht on a pitch with uneven goals between two mixed teams from Creators FC.

After this demonstration launch game, the goals themselves embarked on a ‘summer tour’ around the Netherlands: including appearing at various amateur association events, Nations League matches, making media appearances on TV (featuring players like Lieke Martens and Aniek Nouwen in prominent roles and including being on high profile programmes such as ‘Oranjezomer’), as well as  being at the final ‘farewell match’ of the Orange Lionesses (the Dutch women’s national team) before flying out to Australia and New Zealand for the World Cup.

The promotional campaign was then spearheaded by a hero spot with a title that translate as ‘Fighting For Equality. Leave That To You’

The anchor ad and its supporting videos and social content all seek to drive viewers online to find out more about these challenges and what the bank is doing to help female footballers overcome these barriers at ing.nl/vrouwenvoetbalverdientmeer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsAAELFOuso

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4QWJOHc1nA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7WD0UGYUpo

The campaign emerged after ING research, carried out by Kien Onderzoek, found that 70% of Dutch people believe that women’s football still faces many disadvantages in comparison to the men’s game and the study also found that more than 60% of respondents feel that women’s football deserves greater media attention. 

 “It is our ambition as a partner of the KNVB and Dutch women’s football to contribute to equal opportunities for everyone on the playing field,” explained ING Netherlands Director Of Brand Experience, Marketing And Communication Yolanda van Die. “Since 2010, ING has been the main sponsor of both the Dutch men’s and women’s teams. In 2020, concrete agreements were also reached with the KNVB, aiming for a 25% growth in female KNVB members to reach 200,000, and a 25% increase in female executives at amateur clubs.” 

TBWA\NEBOKO Creatives Hannah Sterke and Nina Mispelblom Beijer added: “Through taking bites out of the goals, we bring visibility to the unequal opportunities that women face in the football world. This calls for swift change.”

“Regardless of one’s talent or ambition, the reality for girls and women remains challenging when faced with opposition or unequal opportunities,” commented Dutch Presenter, Radio DJ and amateur footballer Ouassima Tajmout. “I highly appreciate ING’s initiative in addressing this matter. Every girl and woman in the Netherlands should not only have the freedom to dream about a professional career as a football star, but also have the means to accomplish it!”

Comment

According to ING ‘women’s football deserves more’ as girls and women who play football still face prejudice, inequality, minimal media coverage and underfunding’.

The survey took place in a group of 1028 Dutch people – including 173 girls or women playing football – and its other findings included:

 >71.5% of the Dutch think that women’s football is disadvantaged compared to men’s football

 >63.5% state that girls and women who play football have fewer opportunities than boys/men

 >68% of women who play football say they are taken less seriously than men who play football

 >44% of women who play football say they have to work harder than the footballing men for their chances

 >40.9% of women who play indicate that they have fewer facilities than men and 44.4% indicate that they receive lower quality training than men

 The bank (and the Activative team) believe and hope these goals ‘Goals for equal opportunities’ will play a role in levelling the female football playing field.

This case study originally appeared on Activative: which offers clients creative and strategic intelligence to fuel game-changing sports and sponsorship marketing. www.activative.co.uk