FCB Inferno debuts stirring rallying cry for Sport England’s This Girl Can

Creative agency FCB Inferno and Sport England have launched a rallying cry that encapsulates many of the challenges and judgments that women still face – and flies in the face of them with a message of strength, confidence, and empowerment.

The rallying cry can be seen in this week’s Stylist Magazine, alongside some of the stories of the women starring in the campaign. It was first released on This Girl Can’s social channels to commemorate International Women’s Day, and was supported and reshared by the likes of the UN Women’s UK account and Olympian Lizzie Simmonds.

The work is part of a push in 2020 to confront the ways society must change to ensure all women feel like they too can be active, and follows on from a triumphant return to TV and out of home in January.

This Girl Can hit its five-year mark in January 2020. The world has shifted dramatically in the last half a decade, as has the way that women are marketed to. But many of the original emotional, practical, and societal barriers the campaign sought to help women overcome in 2015 persist.

Simultaneously, there are many women – including the women of the campaign – who can bust past their barriers to exercise time and time again and, through the simple act of getting moving, encourage others to do the same.

For the first time, This Girl Can has created something that reflects the women of our campaign without showing them visually. Instead, we have created a rallying cry that draws from and is inspired by the women in our campaign and in our community.

Sharon Jiggins, EVP, FCB Inferno said: “This Girl Can has become known for showing women as they indeed are through our authentic and honest imagery and mantras. In 2020, we wanted to articulate women’s shared experiences in a new way, using our community as the inspiration for a rallying cry for all.

“This piece of prose touches upon unspoken truths and shared experiences that many women have in common, and embrace every ability, experience, and way of moving. We aim to be joyously inclusive while galvanizing the women of England to move through the world as they please, and unapologetically.”

Credits
Sharon Jiggins – Executive Vice President
Emily Whiteaway – Senior Account Director
Becky Glover – Account Manager
Laura Pirkis – Strategy Director
Tom Lindo – Senior Strategist
Nikki Chapman – Director of Production Hanna Davis – Creative Producer
Russ Mallows – Creative Producer Owen Lee – Chief Creative Officer
Al Young – Creative Partner
Sarah Lefkowith – Senior Copywriter Nicole Chen – Senior Art Director Jude Moore – Senior Editor
Richard Bagley – Head of Artwork
Sarni Strachan – Joint Design Lead
Max Fox – Designer
Animation Studio – Schultz Schultz Grafik

About Sport England
Sport England is a public body and invests up to £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport. It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active – like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.
About This Girl Can

Since 2015, Sport England has been working to address the significant gender gap found in sports and exercise, to build women’s confidence around being active, and help them meet the Chief Medical Officers’ guidance. The campaign was based on the insight that 75% of women say they want to do more sporting activities or exercise, but one of the unifying barriers found to be holding them back is a fear of judgement. This Girl Can’s objective is to encourage women to engage in physical activity regardless of shape, size, age or ability.