The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Women in Sport Brand Purpose March Madness

Buick lifts up female athletes for Women’s History Month

Author

By Webb Wright, NY Reporter

March 8, 2022 | 4 min read

Over 40% of athletes are female, yet they receive less than 10% of total media coverage. This statistic is the foundation of a new ad campaign from Buick, which celebrates female college athletes and some of the most amazing moments from women’s NCAA athletics.

Image

According to Buick, over 40% of all athletes are female, but they receive less than 10% of total media coverage

In observance of International Women’s Day, and also the beginning of the NCAA’s March Madness, Buick is launching a new ad campaign titled ‘See Her Greatness.’ It highlights some of the most jaw-dropping moments in the history of women’s collegiate sports. Those moments, as the ad points out, have been overlooked by many of us – not because they’re any less incredible than those of their male counterparts, but because women’s athletics receive such a disproportionately small amount of media attention.

How small, exactly? According to Buick, over 40% of all athletes are female, but they receive less than 10% of total media coverage. That means that roughly nine out of every 10 cameras are turned towards male athletes, leaving only a tiny portion of attention focused on women. In this latest campaign, Buick – which is a partner and the official SUV of the NCAA – aims to draw attention to that disheartening media disparity while also promoting some notable moments from NCAA women’s sports. The first set of ads will focus on women’s collegiate basketball, swimming and hockey.

The campaign, which will be rolled out across a number of platforms and in-person events, is being launched on March 12 – the middle of Women’s History Month and the day before the start of March Madness. This year is also the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX, a historic piece of legislation that prohibited gender-based discrimination in education – and, by extension, collegiate sports.

Buick isn’t the only major car company to celebrate International Women’s Day with a new ad. Earlier today, Honda also unveiled a new campaign that encourages young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM).

“What is important to our customers is important to Buick as the brand with the largest percentage share of female buyers, and we are committed to inclusivity and equality for women,” says Molly Peck, marketing vice-president, Buick and GMC. “These remarkable female athletes have demonstrated the dedication, teamwork and leadership skills that can be used on and off the playing field, and we believe her greatness should be seen.”

Here’s the kicker: rather than actually showing the footage of these incredible moments in its new ads, Buick has opted to tease viewers with just the audio, overlaid with a black screen and a few lines of text. The point? To underscore the fact that these moments, and these athletes, are largely being ignored by the media. A small QR code appears in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen towards the end of the ads, leading to Buick’s website and the footage of the play that was teased in the ad.

The new campaign was developed in collaboration with Togethxr, a media company founded and run by female sports superstars Simone Manuel, Sue Bird, Alex Morgan and Chloe Kim. “Togethxr is on a mission to showcase and build business with and for the amazing diverse women changing the world through sports and activism,” says Jessica Robertson, chief content officer at Togethxr. “We’re excited to work with Buick, which shares our mission to increase the visibility of women’s sports.”

In its communications about the new campaign, Buick has also emphasized the fact that it will be placing an equal number of paid ads throughout the men’s and women’s 2022 March Madness tournaments.

For more, sign up for The Drum’s daily US newsletter here.

Women in Sport Brand Purpose March Madness

More from Women in Sport

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +