Sport England Takes 'This Girl Can' Campaign Australia To Start Int'l Outreach

Sport England "teamed up" with VicHealth, a health foundation based in Victoria, Australia, for a three-year partnership aimed at "reducing the gender gap in physical activity and helping women overcome their fear of judgment," according to Brittaney Kiefer of CAMPAIGN LIVE. VicHealth will create a campaign called "This girl can Victoria" by sourcing stories of "real women doing sport and exercise." It will launch on national media in February with a new TV ad featuring Victorian women, "as well as online advertising, posters, radio and social media." Research by VicHealth found that more than 41% of Victorian women over the age of 25 are "too embarrassed to exercise in public, with one in five doing no physical activity during a typical week." Three in five Australian women participate in less than 30 minutes of physical activity on four or more days a week. Kate Dale, the strategic lead of "This girl can" for Sport England, said that the Australian campaign would not be a "carbon copy" of the original because the idea "relies on showing 'women like me.'" The new ad will depict local women participating in local activities in an Australian setting. Dale said that Sport England was "surprised" by how much the "This girl can" message resonated internationally. The organization is "looking to expand" the campaign with more int'l partnerships beyond Australia (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 7/26). The ABC reported the original '15 video attracted more than 16 million views on YouTube and Facebook and "featured women of all ages and sizes jogging, jumping, sweating and playing sport." Sport England estimated the campaign inspired 2.8 million British women to "get more active" and "hopes a partnership with VicHealth in Australia can produce similar results" (ABC, 7/24).