By now you will have heard the news that the Lionesses won their Women鈥檚 Euro鈥檚 final against Germany. We can finally say that football has come home! What you might not have seen are the creative ways in which their journey has been represented. Starting out with the official England team announcement illustrated by Kelly Anna, and even extending to their 鈥榙iamond inspired鈥� kits by Nike. The Women鈥檚 Euros marks a monumental moment for creativity around the football tournament. While football as a sport continues to expand, the Women’s Euros provided a platform for female athletes to gain the respect of the wider fanbase.
Contents
How Designers Styled Out The Women’s Euros
How Household Brands Vizualised The Women’s Euros
The Women’s Euros Sparked A Defining Moment For Creative Sports Marketing
How Designers Styled Out The Women’s Euros
The England squad announcement set the tone for what turned out to be an incredibly creative marketing approach to a sports event. illustrated a piece called 鈥楽he Shoots, We Score鈥� to announce the 23 player lineup, and England鈥檚 marketing team created a squad announcement video which showcased the design on the pitch and
The video plays on the community spirit that football evokes, as well as addressing women鈥檚 football and how much it’s growing in popularity. It鈥檚 got cameo鈥檚 from sporting celebrities and features Kelly Anna鈥檚 sticker pack design at the forefront, with everyone collecting and gathering their own perfect team.
The video concludes with an animation of Anna鈥檚 illustration that shifts into the final squad list announcement. To tie in with this, promotional materials were posted on social that link with Anna’s work. This was to push a new women鈥檚 England squad identity and link to their new iridescent uniforms, all relating back to the wider team brand.
To keep the themes of pride shown in Kelly Anna鈥檚 work, Nike created team uniforms that feature England鈥檚 first ever iridescent logos, alongside patterning which was inspired by diamonds, and apparently suggested by the players. Being only the second time a collection has been designed solely for the women鈥檚 team, this Euro鈥檚 kit also featured playful typefaces and hidden messages in the collar as a booster to the team.
The words 鈥榮end her victorious鈥� featured as a message to the 鈥榝ootball queens鈥� and the away kit features a daring red/orange color that鈥檚 supposedly a nod to Dutch coach, Sarina Wiegman.
How Household Brands Visualized The Women’s Euros
Both the pre-Euro鈥檚 marketing and the preview of the kits has gained traction online, building both the anticipation of the game and also providing a ground for discussion on women鈥檚 football.
With the kits being the second collection that鈥檚 been designed exclusively for the women鈥檚 team, it shows that women鈥檚 football has not only come into its own, but deserves its own creative stamp which is evident through Kelly Anna鈥檚 and Nike’s designs.
The creative marketing has only grown since England鈥檚 win at the Women’s Euros too, with well-known household names rushing to show support of the lionesses.
Where digital marketing seemed to be at the forefront of the the Women’s Euros advertising, other brands have chosen print and OOH marketing which can be highlighted online. Nike featured their updated swoosh after the final via a Metro cover wrap ad, showing the word 鈥榟ome鈥� instead of the standard 鈥楴ike鈥� in a patriotic red, contrasting on white to make up England鈥檚 key colors and the names of the squad on the back. This effort was simple, but very effective for the kit sponsors who decided size mattered over complexity.
Royal Mail followed suit, keeping their ad simple and clean. Using a wrapped football, ready for postage with the address marked out as 鈥楬OME鈥�, playing on everyone鈥檚 favorite key phrase 鈥渋t鈥檚 coming home鈥� and evoking that celebratory spirit across social media.
Amazon kept their ad to social media, but went for a slightly more fun approach, using their parcel tracking visual to represent the trophy making its way home.
Walkers went for a full page press ad, using a ready salted crisp to mark the occasion via a medal and successfully steered clear of the 鈥淚t鈥檚 Coming Home鈥� phrase that opposing brands have used.
Other companies have taken a more traditional approach, using OOH in different ways, including Specsavers, GRW and even Sainsbury鈥檚.
Specsavers went for their classic sight test billboards with one amendment on the text and a play on 鈥淚t鈥檚 Coming Home鈥� to create their 鈥淚t鈥檚 ACTUALLY Coming Home鈥� billboard. GRW took a different approach on the 鈥淚t鈥檚 Come Home鈥� phrase, featuring an illustration for the Lionesses and the phrase on the side of their Intercity Express train 800316 that the Women’s Euro’s attendees would see.
Sainsbury鈥檚 however may have won the creative OOH category, developing one of the best ads at the 2022 Women’s Euros. They used a series of posters and billboards that combined both the Sainsbury鈥檚 business and the Lionesses anthem 鈥楽weet Caroline鈥� with imagery of a swede, a carrot and a lime, and the tagline 鈥淪ing it for the Lionesses鈥�.
EE was one of the only companies to use TV ads at the Women’s Euros. These ads also featured on social media as well as utilizing a full page print ad to tackle the topic of sexist abuse aimed at women in football.
Even design agencies ended up getting involved, with the agency Homeground visualizing the Lionesses style as a series of everyday – but completely made up – products. The brand used player’s unique skills and abilities to create personalized products such as Alessia Russo as a Zippo lighter and Sarina Wiegman as a stamp showcasing her 鈥榓bility to deliver鈥�.
The Women’s Euros Sparked A Defining Moment For Creative Sports Marketing
This years Women’s Euros has opened up creative boundaries, and pushed creative advertising further in the field of sport than its been before. It鈥檚 been able to showcase an ability to bring people together, and has created an incredibly strong team presence through branding. This is something we鈥檝e never really seen before, especially for women鈥檚 football. It would be nice to see a continuation of this, even into wider events like the Commonwealth Games, which has given the city of Birmingham a complete makeover to match its identity, but also on social media where ads can be more creative and interactive to really draw people into the game.
Digital advertising for the England team has integrated people into the Women鈥檚 Euros in an immersive way. It has pushed for interaction and given people a visualization for the women鈥檚 team that they can associate with themselves.
The squad announcement gave communities a link to the game, showcasing how widespread support for women鈥檚 football has become, and fans have been able to share their support during and after the win on social media by sharing creative ads. England won at the Women’s Euros, whilst brands broke ground and paved the way for future digital design to entice followers around sporting events that will hopefully continue.
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