Securing a bright future for girls in sport and beyond
In 2023, the LEGO Group set out on a mission to teach young girls how to recover from setbacks in order to help them achieve their full potential.
Wanting to bring this mission to life through football, the LEGO Group teamed up with SPORTFIVE to identify and work alongside three of the top Women’s Super League teams as well as four inspirational players for LEGO’s ‘Unstoppable FC’ campaign.
In this Success Story:
Challenge
In May 2023, the LEGO Group launched ‘Play Unstoppable’, a campaign focused on celebrating the endless potential of girls when they are given the opportunities to play without limits.
To help the LEGO Group contextualise this campaign, SPORTFIVE facilitated the inclusion of some of the biggest change makers in Women’s Football, as former USA Women’s team Captain Megan Rapinoe, the multi-talented Yūki Nagasato, world-class striker Sam Kerr and global superstar Asisat Oshoala joined the team in support of the movement.
Wanting to expand and adapt the ‘Play Unstoppable’ campaign to the UK market, the LEGO Group introduced the ‘Unstoppable FC’ programme, an initiative designed to empower young girls with the self-belief and resilience they need to help break down barriers to play, both on and off the pitch.
The programme saw the LEGO group once again team up with SPORTFIVE, as we were set the challenge of finding key stakeholders within UK women’s football who would identify with the campaign and champion the initiative.
Solution
Leveraging our extensive experience and knowledge of the women’s football market in the UK, SPORTFIVE brokered deals with three of the Women’s Super League’s (WSL) top clubs: Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea - as well as talent deals with LEGO Group ambassadors Sam Kerr, Lauren Hemp, Rachel Daly and Beth Mead.
Our in-house creative agency, Brave, helped bring the campaign to life as each ambassador filmed a digital content series, which highlighted their journey from being a young girl, to being a top-level footballer and all the barriers they’ve had to break down on the road to being unstoppable.
This was coupled with three ‘Play Workshops’, serving as dedicated coaching clinics with fun football drills and LEGO build challenges that have been specifically designed to teach young girls, aged 8-11, ‘Buildbackability, the art of bouncing back after setbacks.
To ensure the maximum success of the campaign, SPORTFIVE worked with the LEGO Group to manage the activation rights with each of the clubs and brand ambassadors.
Execution
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Understand
Wanting to ensure maximum results, the first step of the collaboration was to work closely with the LEGO Group to understand the campaign, its objectives and what was needed to achieve success.
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Identify
Key stakeholders within UK women’s football were then identified, with particular emphasis placed on incorporating both football clubs, with strong links to the community, as well as inspirational players who could champion the campaign’s message.
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Broker
Utilising our extensive experience with football clubs and talent, SPORTFIVE then brokered deals with three of the WSL’s top clubs: Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea, as well as star players: Sam Kerr, Lauren Hemp, Rachel Daly and Beth Mead.
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Produce
Our in-house creative agency, Brave, managed the campaign’s production phase, capturing the players’ Unstoppable stories through a digital content series, as well as supporting the branded elements of the ‘Play Workshops’.
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Activate
Finally, SPORTFIVE operated as a crucial link between the LEGO Group and the clubs and ambassadors, managing the activation rights throughout the campaign and ensuring that ‘Unstoppable FC’ was executed to its full potential.
Outcome
The ‘Unstoppable FC’ campaign served as an important tool in the LEGO Group’s aim to lift and celebrate the endless potential of young girls.
Over 200 girls attended the Play Workshops across the three partner clubs, with the dedicated time and coaching session with star players, Beth Mead, Sam Kerr and Rachel Daly inspiring the 'limitless play’ amongst the attendees.
The story of the Play Workshops and the accompanying social media campaign led to strong results amongst LEGO Group’s key consumer audience, reaching and engaging through both social media and traditional media channels.
8
Broadcast features, including BBC & ITV
+ 100
Coverage pieces, including Metro, Yahoo & Evening Standard
+ 200
Girls attending the Play Workshops
Things are improving, but there’s still a lot more to be done to create more unstoppable girls in the game. That’s why I’m working with The LEGO Group to support Unstoppable FC.
Beth Mead - England and Arsenal Women
Impressions from the Play Workshops
What's in it for you?
Whether you’re wanting to start a conversation, raise awareness or facilitate change, sport has the power to create a positive impact.
Meaningful activation
LEGO Group’s ‘Unstoppable FC’ campaign sought to celebrate the endless potential of girls, and aimed to shine a light on the stories behind their unstoppable role models.
Working with this aim, SPORTFIVE facilitated meaningful partnerships between LEGO Group and some of the biggest names in women’s football and produced a content series which went beyond surface level exposure to resonate with the audience.
The identification, brokerage, activation and creative production of these partnerships resulted in a widely successful campaign, reaching and engaging with the LEGO Group's key target audience and actively shaping the lives of over 200 young girls.
If you want to find out how we can help your organisation grow through sport, reach out to: [email protected]
