Leveraging FIFA’s 2023 Women’s World Cup, football magazine Panenka teamed up with Spanish footballers association FUTPRO and shin guard manufacturer Flekick on a project that shines a spotlight on motherhood and maternity regulations in women’s soccer called ‘Guard Your Rights’.
The initiative, developed in harness with Ogilvy Madrid, aims to leverage spiking soccer interest to encourage people to talk about football and motherhood through the lens of a bespoke set of shin guards which protect players and their babies.
The combined team worked with Flekick to develop, produce and promote a limited edition shin guard range to protect female players on and off the pitch. The bespoke set of shin guards carry important messaging and necessary clauses linked to lobbying football’s governing bodies to come to an agreement that regulates maternity in football.
The campaign primarily ran across social platforms supported by a PR push.
The project emerged after FUTPRO professional player research about maternity in the game which found that 46 % of female players admit to being concerned about getting pregnant due to the possible short tern employment problems and the long term consequences for their professional career.
The study also found that 60% of female players admit to being afraid that their contract will be curtailed if they became pregnant and 40% think they will be discriminated against when playing during pregnancy. Furthermore, 100% of those interviewed consider it important that governing bodies and clubs implement plans and measures to establish an agreed set of regulation around pregnancy, maternity and motherhood in professional football.
“The time has come for women’s football to take bigger steps on issues as important as motherhood and lay sustainable foundations that allow soccer players to have that peace of mind in such an important area for many women,” explained FUTPRO President Amanda Gutiérrez. “A woman’s body is not the same as a man’s. We need that gender perspective so that women’s football can reach its full potential. Actions like the one we have carried out together with Panenka and Flekick help us to give visibility to this problem that currently exists in the soccer industry, and brings the problem of the players closer to the public”,
“We have always been clear that the protagonists are the athletes,” said a PR statement from Flekick. “We revolutionized the world of shin guards, creating a unique product to protect players and through this project we want to go one step further seeking protection both on and off the pitch. Brands have an obligation to get involved in projects that help society.”
The ‘Guard Your Rights’ campaign was briefed in by a joint clients team at Panenka, Flekick, Futpro which included Álex López (Panenka) Lluis Valls (Flekick) and Amanda Gutiérrez (Futpro) by a group at Ogilvy led by CEO Marta Gutierrez, CCO Roberto Fara, ECDs Juan Pedro Moreno and Javier Senovilla and CDs Victor Vázquez and Marc Xifré.
Other members of the agency team who worked on the project were Creatives Lucia Moreno, Marta Galán, Maripaz Pascual, Elena Centeno, Antonio Capdevila, Luis Contreras, Pablo Hidalgo, Sonia Herraéz, Sandra García, Mateo López, Raquel García and Renata Ramos, plus Designer De Batista.
Production was handled by Mamma Team’s EP Claudia Mayer, Production Manager Andrea Gilirribó, Director Greta Grinite, DOP Noun and Editor Lluis Murua. Post was handled by The Metropolitan, music by Chaco Music House, sound by BeatMusic and PR and communication by Cristina Rodríguez and Christian Martínez.
Comment
Panenka has established a track record of admirable cause campaigns and its other notable recent initaitives have included 2021’s ‘Plant The Goals Of The Future’ sustainability initiative and 2019’s Covid-19 ‘Hospital Gowns’ cause campaign.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.