Media visibility is a key issue for women’s sport. Globally, just 4% of sports coverage is dedicated to women’s sport. Guinness has a proud history of sponsoring rugby and was the first Official Partner of the Women’s Six Nations (W6N), so it was perfectly placed – as a brand with strong credibility in rugby – to start the catalyst for change. It aimed to do so through an innovative campaign called ‘Never Settle’ – highlighting the issues around visibility in women’s rugby and addressing the lack of media coverage.
The 2021 W6N was a stand-alone Championship, providing an opportunity to bring new allies to women’s sport and create exciting collaborations. Due to the historic lack of media coverage, women’s players are not as well-known as men’s players, so we collaborated with Twitter to get women’s players verified to raise their profile, and partnered with Wikipedia to write history as 124 player profiles were updated or created.
We used both current and ex-players as ambassadors, conducting media interviews to raise awareness of these collaborations and build excitement for the Championship.
We also hosted a series of Facebook and Instagram Lives using high profile personalities, which brought new allies to the sport, connecting the W6N with a wider rugby demographic.
Never Settle is not finished. It is a pledge to positively impact diversity and inclusion in sport and wider society. Guinness plans to build on this campaign over the coming years, as they will never settle until everyone belongs.
