“Damn right I look hot.” “I kick balls. Deal with it”. “This Girl Can”. With these mantras, FCB Inferno is reconfiguring how women feel about sport.

The campaign was created by FCB for government agency, Sport England, to encourage more women to exercise.

“There is a real issue here about judgment. We judge ourselves, we think men judge us and we think other women judge us,” Sport England chief executive officer, Jennie Price, noted at the campaign’s launch.

The TVCs, OOH and digital executions feature real women of all sizes and ages as they exercise. They have real bodies, real aptitude for sport (or not) and feisty, confident attitudes underscored by (their) mantra-like statements such as, “I jiggle therefore I am.”

The film’s oomph comes from the direction of Kim Gehrig and song, Get Your Freak On, by girl power’s poster woman, Missy Elliot.

The campaign has all four essentials to get women over the exercise hump: humour, empathy, courage and a woman’s voice.

Jennie Price outlined the thinking behind the campaign: “The figures on participation are crystal clear. There is a significant gender gap, with two million more men than women exercising or playing sport regularly. I believe we can tackle this gap, because our research shows that 75% of women would like to do more.

“Before we began this campaign, we looked very carefully at what women were saying about why they felt sport and exercise was not for them. Some of the issues, like time and cost, were familiar, but one of the strongest themes was a fear of judgement. Worries about being judged for being the wrong size, not fit enough and not skilled enough came up time and again. Every single woman I have talked to about this campaign – and that is now hundreds – has identified with this, and it is that fear of not being ‘good enough’ in some way, and the fear that you are the only one who feels like that, that we want to address.

“In This Girl Can we want to tell the real story of women who exercise and play sport. They come in all shapes and sizes and all levels of ability. They have a myriad of reasons for doing what they do. If you are wondering if you should join them – or carry on – this campaign says it really doesn’t matter if you are a bit rubbish or completely brilliant, the main thing is that you are a woman and you are doing something, and that deserves to be celebrated.”

FCB Inferno managing director, Sharon Jiggins, added, “The challenge for the campaign was to resonate with women from 14 – 40 and for our content to be endlessly adaptable, for all channels and by multiple partners. This Girl Can does just that. The message is clear – it doesn’t matter how you do it, the brilliant thing is that you are doing it. Initial response is so encouraging and we’re excited to see a new attitude among women be adopted nationwide: less judgement, more confidence. This Girl Can will eventually be owned by women themselves.”

The campaign began in October with media and celebrity partnerships, social media and events. The full campaign includes the 90 second TVC broadcast now as 60 second and 30 second edits across TV and digital channels, digital and static OOH tailored to regions, and online banners and VOD, with PR support by Blue Rubicon.

Campaign credits:

Agency:  FCB Inferno

Managing director:  Sharon Jiggins

Creative director:  Bryn Attewell

Art director:  Raymond Chan

Copywriter:  Simon Cenamor

Planning director:  Vicki Holgate

Senior Account Director:  Hollie Loxley

Producer:  Ally Mee

Media Company:  Carat

Production company : Somesuch  

Executive producer: Tim Nash

Director:  Kim Gehrig [represented in Australia by Revolver]

DoP: David Procter

Producer:  Lee Groombridge

Editor:  Tom Lindsay @ Trim

Post-production:  Andrew McLintock and Adam Sergant

@ Framestore

Audio post-production:  Wave Sound Studios

Music Company/Sound Design:  Soundtree