No matter what new challenges we may be facing, they can’t – and won’t – hold us back for long. We’re here to celebrate women getting active, no matter how they choose to do it.

Kate Dale, Campaign Lead for This Girl Can, said: “At the beginning of lockdown there was a sense there was a right way to do it. A feeling like we should all be starting new hobbies and getting very fit. But the reality for a lot of women is that we have more demands on our time and more financial and mental wellbeing challenges.

“We’re back with This Girl Can celebrating the fact that there’s no right way to get active – there never was. Like there’s no right way to do lockdown. We’re celebrating all the women getting active in the ways that work for them, no matter what life throws in their way. Saying it’s okay to do it when you want, how you want. The pandemic has given many of us a renewed appreciation for the benefits of mental and physical health, and we hope the film will inspire other women to want to feel that joy of moving, whether they’re jogging with their kids, squeezing in a HIIT session in between meetings or trying to walk instead of getting the bus to get their steps up.”

Sharon Jiggins, Chief Marketing Officer at FCB Inferno, said, “It has been remarkable hearing the inspiring stories that the This Girl Can community have been sharing about how they are managing to stay active despite lockdown throwing up a myriad more barriers. This film celebrates this and acts as a reminder that the barriers that were there before lockdown are still very much present during a lockdown and as we emerge from it. That’s why it is so important we keep talking about those topics such as menstruation and menopause to normalise the conversations around them.”
The stars of the This Girl Can film will also be appearing on the Instagram feeds of leading social influencers and commentators, including popular fitness YouTubers Lucy Wyndham-Read and Tally Rye, journalists Poorna Bell and Bryony Gordon, and comedienne and TV presenter Judi love, who have all given space within their channels to share the women’s stories and drive conversations around women’s experiences of keeping active during a lockdown.

Credits
Sharon Jiggins – Chief Marketing Officer
Emily Whiteaway – Senior Account Director
Laura Pirkis – Strategy Partner
Tom Lindo – Senior Strategist
Nikki Chapman – Director of Production
Hanna Davis – Broadcast 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 Production
Partizan Director – Ali Kurr
Producer – Rosie Litterick
Production Manager – Charlie Scannell
DOP – Ula Pontikos
Editing – Matt Nee @ Metal Edit
Post Production – Unit
Colourist – Nick Dalby Flame
VFX – Ian Baker and Rob Ellis
Audio – Chris Southwell
Producer – Tania De Sousa
Exec Producer – Darryl Bolton

This campaign is about:
Exercise, Workout, Fitness, Health, Girl, This Girl Can, Sport England, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Pandemic, The National Lottery

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.

The spot shows visual stories of women across varied age groups and ethnic identities finding their own way to workout and inspiring others to find theirs. So you can run around a garden while also giving your baby-in-the-pram a fun ride (but not too hasty), go hula hooping while cooking, and so on. The underlying message is clear – no exercise is unusual or unorthodox, just do it.

A part of the survey also states that women who fall into the lower salary rung are two times more likely to be lethargic than women who fall into the comparatively higher rungs of senior management or alike. These women also seem to undergo a blend of emotional pressures who are further demotivated when the media and TV portray exercise as a pricey commodity of sorts only to be enjoyed by those who can afford access to gyms, wear costly sports wears and so on. However, Sport England wants to help these women change their lifestyle by kicking inequality out and bringing exercise into their lives. And it doesn’t require one to shell out huge money or put on branded sports wears or go to gyms. All you need is an iron will.

Caroline, 36, who stars in the new film, comments: “As a full-time carer I rarely have time to myself and am often under a lot of pressure both emotionally and physically. At the end of the day, I always felt I was either too tired, didn’t have enough time or wasn’t motivated enough to exercise. But, one day I realised how important it was (for my mental and physical health) to spend some time on myself and, with the help of my friends and support groups in the community, I could see a way out! Rather than spending half an hour watching TV, I now get out to a dance class or over to the trampoline classes at the local community centre. With added daily pressures of work and family commitments, I completely understand how easy it is to get into a routine of not doing much exercise, but I feel so much happier and healthier from being more active. Even it’s a quick run up and down the garden it’s better than nothing!”

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 judgment. This Girl Can’s objective is to encourage women to engage in physical activity regardless of shape, size, age or ability. This Girl Can ‘Fit Got Real’ campaign was launched in response to women feeling that conventional exercise doesn’t represent them or their lives.

Partners supporting the campaign
There are a huge number of partners helping to support the campaign. From grassroots sports clubs and groups to County Sports Partnerships (CSPs) to many of the National Governing Bodies such as British Cycling and England Athletics as well as bodies such as Public Health England. They are supporting the campaign in many ways such as sharing the campaign with their audience to help create a huge ripple effect on launch as well as creating “on the ground” opportunities and experiences within their areas and sectors to help encourage women into regular exercise.

Film Credits
Product/Title – This Girl Can | Fit Got Real
Advertising Agency – FCB Inferno
Head Of Broadcast – Nikki Chapman
Agency Creative Producer – Bridie Scriven
Executive Vice President – Sharon Jiggins
Account Director – Alice Poole
Chief Strategy Officer – Vicki Holgate
Strategy Director – Laura Pirkis
Strategist – Tom Lindo
Executive Creative Director – Owen Lee
Creatives – Ali Dickinson & Jack Walker
Production Company – Skunk
Director – Georgi Banks-Davies
Dop – Todd Banhazl
Production Company Exec Producer – Kate Taylor
Production Company Producer – Cathy Green
Editor – Ellie Johnson
Edit Company – Tenthree
Colourist – Simone Grattarola @Time Based Arts
Post House – Unit
Audio – 750 Mph
Sound Engineers – Ben Gulvin

Tags:
Best digital campaign, Advertising Campaigns, Ad agency, Awareness, Women Fitness, Women Health