After 9 million people watched the US Women’s National Soccer Team win a gold medal last year, and with NWSL viewership up almost 300% year over year, it’s probably safe to say people know how to tune into women’s soccer. But without icons like Alex Morgan and Kelley O’Hara playing in the NWSL this season, some might not know who to watch.
The league’s third annual marketing campaign, called “Just Watch,” which rolled out ahead of kickoff last week, is meant to help with that, according to Julie Haddon, the NWSL’s chief marketing and commercial officer. The lead ad in the campaign is composed of action shots of stars like Olympic standouts Trinity Rodman and Sophia Wilson, reigning NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga, and Brazilian soccer legend Marta, as well as younger players like Alyssa Thompson and Ally Sentnor.
Just don’t call it a women’s soccer ad, Haddon said.
“We’re focusing on the game, and it just happens to be played by women,” she told Marketing Brew. “We’re not making a women’s ad. We’re making a soccer ad that is showing the best in the world…but it’s not a women’s soccer ad.”
Dare you
The spot is narrated by hip-hop artist and entrepreneur Latashá and features a reinterpretation of her song “Who I Am.” During the ad, Latashá tells the audience to “watch us move,” “fly,” “break,” “burn,” “rise,” and “rule” over cuts of the players on the pitch. “Just you watch,” she says ahead of the end card.
The NWSL selected Latashá for the music and voice-over because of her track record of “knocking down barriers,” Haddon said; according to the NWSL, she was the first woman rapper to distribute her music on the blockchain, and was the first independent artist to auction off “music visuals” at Sotheby’s.
The league is similarly looking to “break some glass as we show up,” Haddon said, adding that Latashá’s narration is meant to be “sort of like a command” for people to engage with the NWSL’s 13th season. The ad is set to run on digital, broadcast, and social channels, and Times Square billboards of players will be on display through April 6.
“You’ll see some of the best in our league on the stage they deserve,” Haddon said.
The lifestyle
It’s not just the campaign that’s new this season. The NWSL has brought on new sponsors, including e.l.f. Cosmetics and Alex Cooper’s Unwell Hydration. Both brands are popular with Gen Z and other younger consumers, Haddon said, which aligns with her years-long mission to tie the league to culture and lifestyle.
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Like Latashá, e.l.f., which is now the presenting sponsor of the NWSL Challenge Cup, has a track record of breaking the status quo in its marketing, Haddon said. And working with Unwell Hydration is already paying off, Haddon said. Earlier this month, Cooper’s audience “showed up in droves” to the Challenge Cup, its annual, single-match game ahead of the season, she told us.
Beyond partnering with buzzy brands, Haddon is working to continue positioning the NWSL as a cultural pillar by keeping the spotlight on the players both on and off the pitch. The league recently debuted a docuseries called For the Win: NWSL with Prime Video, one of its broadcast partners, and it brought on photographer Brigitte Lacombe to shoot high-fashion-style shots of the players during media day to show them in a “different light,” Haddon said.
Players serving as influencers have helped elevate the league on social, where followers increased by 102% and engagement was up 56% last year, she said.
“Their play tells the story,” she said. “It’s my job to shine the spotlight on that…All we have to do is point the camera at such goodness. There’s so many exciting things happening with our players on and off the field. They’re just incredible influencers.”
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