Disney UK and The Football Association (The FA) have launched a multi-platform campaign in support of FA Girls’ Football Week as part of a three-year partnership to increase the role of football in girls’ lives up and down the country.
FA Girls’ Football Week, which runs April 23rd-29th 2018, aims to encourage girls of all experiences and abilities to take part in football, get active and raise the profile of the female game. Disney and The FA’s objective for this year’s event is to exceed 2017’s participation figures of 60,000 girls taking part in over 1,400 sessions delivered in schools, universities, colleges, clubs, community groups and other organisations across the country.
This year’s FA Girls’ Football Week will be supported by a multi-platform marketing campaign including a 30” film, made by Disney’s in-house creative team, which features three young female players from Coalville Town Football Club playing football interspersed with clips from three well-loved female characters from Walt Disney Animation Studio films Moana, Tangled and Zootropolis.
The 30” film, which focuses on the elements of fun, friendship and camaraderie that FA Girls’ Football Week provides, will feature in cinemas, across kids’ TV channels, prime time terrestrial TV and on Disney’s owned platforms from Monday, March 19th. The campaign aims to reach 5.7m parents and kids in the UK to drive fame, sign ups and exposure of FA Girls’ Football Week as well as educating the public about the wider Disney and FA partnership.
The film assets are also at the heart of a bespoke social campaign, predominantly targeting mums and dads, which will feature on Disney’s Facebook, YouTube and Instagram channels.
To further inspire a new generation of girls and parents to take an interest in football, Disney is introducing storytelling to the football resources created by The FA for Girls’ Football Week. Disney-inspired drills from Rapunzel from Disney’s Tangled, Moana from Disney’s Moana, and Judy Hopps from Disney’s Zootropolis – all strong, determined and mould-breaking individuals who take their destiny into their own hands and follow their dreams – will feature in the packs being distributed to schools, clubs and homes from April 9th, encouraging a new wave of fans to try out the sport.
During the week, each FA Girls’ Football Week session will give girls an introduction to the fundamentals of football, build key social skills and offer fun team-building exercises for girls aged 5 – 11 to get involved, get motivated and get active.
As well as getting the chance to play, girls that sign-up to take part will be provided with an official FA and Disney participation certificate and a 20 per cent discount voucher to use in Disney Stores.
Anna Hill, Chief Marketing Officer, Disney UK and Ireland, said: “This campaign highlights how by using Disney’s storytelling and characters, we can help The FA attract new audiences to FA Girls’ Football Week and showcase that there are opportunities for girls of all ages and experience to take part; from those who have never kicked a ball before, to those who play regularly. This is another great example of Disney’s healthy living commitment in action, where we use Disney’s characters and IP to encourage families and children to be more active together, and at the same time empowering girls and building their self- confidence.”
Marzena Bogdanowicz, The FA’s head of commercial and marketing for women’s football, said: “We’re delighted to see our partnership with Disney continue to gather momentum, FA Girls’ Football Week is already the biggest celebration of female football but this year working in collaboration with Disney will ensure it is bigger than ever. Both The FA and Disney share a vision to inspire a generation of girls and their families to be active and develop a life-long interest in football and we’re sure that by working together we will help showcase female football and inspire even more new players and organisers.”
In March 2017, The FA revealed its new strategy for women and girls’ football, Gameplan for Growth, with the three main targets being to double participation, double the number of fans by 2020 and achieve success on the world stage by 2023. The partnership with Disney is integral to driving an increase in participation.
Disney has a long-standing global commitment to healthy living and has launched a raft of inspirational campaigns in the UK since 2014, including its partnership with Public Health England and the ’10 Minute Shake Up’ campaign, which has seen over 2 million kids get active with over 100 million extra minutes of physical activity being completed. Disney uses the power of its brands, stories and characters to help and inspire the whole family to be happier and healthier by eating better and being more active together.
The first initiative as part of the Disney and FA partnership was the #DreamBigPrincess campaign in the summer of 2017, which saw the England women’s football team challenge the clichés of what it means to be a modern Princess in an effort to promote and inspire girls to fulfil their potential.