Brand Aid
At its core writing is the use of words to share information. The artistry comes from what words you decide to include or omit.
The same is true for brands. Good branding crafts a company narrative by collecting and avoiding the right pieces of content. Every public statement, ad, or vouch of support is a conscious choice in how they want to be perceived.
In both cases, creating a decent portfolio takes time. Brands and authors work like empires - the more history, the more riches there are to curate. Moreover, your success lies in the opinion of the people.
Women's sports is just beginning to build their empire.The WNBA, in my opinion, is leading the charge is developing a brand with serious potential. In a few years I imagine they'll be flooded with sponsorships and good press, but that hasn't always been the case. The NBA bet on the future of women to help facilitate that growth.
While more and more companies have been showing support female athletes, others are still dismissive in a way that damages credibility. Some use athletes as tools to sell products while ignoring actual issues, others keep meaningful titles out of reach to seem more prestigious.
Without existing brands buying in, amassing a kingdom takes that much longer.
Giphy
Cha Cha Cha Changes!
Last summer I wrote about the blatant hypocrisy in Nike’s “Dream Crazier” ad campaign. While they were outwardly marketing sport to young girls, behind the scenes multiple women were speaking out about Nike's treatment of pregnant women.
Maternity leave has been a long standing hurdle for female athletes. Men have robust family lives on the sidelines, but often childbirth is the kiss of death for women in sport. Runners, for example, don't have the security of league. Instead they're paid through competition prizes and sponsorships, meaning they need to maintain performance to earn a living.
Talk about pressure.
Shit happens, so sponsors like Nike are quick to accommodate time off and financial support for injuries. That same courtesy was not extended, however, to pregnancy. In fact, up until last year all of Nike's contracts allowed for a reduction in athlete's pay for any dip in performance surrounding childbirth.
Most runners backed by the brand had no choice but to train up-until and immediately after childbirth to avoid losing their salaries. Alysia Montaño famously competed while eight months pregnant to keep her income. Allyson Felix, who presently holds the record for the most gold medals at the World Championships, blatantly asked Nike to amend her contract with maternity leave.
They declined.
Similar horror stories happen throughout professional sports. Living legend Serena Williams, who won the Australian Open while eight weeks pregnant, saw her tennis ranking plummet from #1 to #451 before her return.
In 2019 Nike faced a congressional inquiry about workplace discrimination, and they've since revamped their pregnancy policy to protect athletes from pay reductions for 18 months surrounding pregnancy. Other companies and leagues followed suit. The Women’s Tennis Association is now protecting rankings for pregnancy-related time off. Likewise, last January the WNBA announced salary increases and a fully paid maternity leave.
Now, in 2021, Nike has come out with a new maternity line and campaign geared toward expecting mothers:
Have they ever made a bad ad?
This video is an indication that brands are evolving to support athletes who are mothers. That said, it’s hard not read as disingenuous. We can forgive, but we can't forget that Nike was making life harder for pregnant athletes up until last year. I'm glad to see them making strides for women, but it's weird to watch Nike preach about the support they were forced to give.
The campaign is even more bittersweet for those women who pioneered the change.
Allyson Felix was quick to point out that, while a celebration of motherhood, the ad failed to acknowledge “the struggle it took to get to this point.” She called it both "beautiful and heartbreaking," noting that it was missing a nod to the women who pushed for reform in the first place.
Alysia Montaño had a harsher view. She adds “We DO NOT WANT [Nike] to use our women to make money and....post advertisements as a way of sweeping their struggles under the rug.”
Shots fired.
In my mind this ad counts as a win. Progress is not linear, and, though Nike is not without faults, I respect their adaptability. Within two years they've completely changed their tune surrounding pregnancy.
Maybe it's just a good brand strategy, but I'll take what I can get.
Giphy
Weight a Minute
The news of the week was the inequality in March Madness. If you missed it Sedona Prince, my new favourite athlete, posted a video showing the glaring differences between the men and women's weight rooms at the NCAA tournament. The men were given a vast space filled to the brim with squat racks, and (I can only assume) the scent of prestige. The women, on the other hand, were left with a single weight set and a table covered in yoga mats.
As a response, an NCAA VP initially cited “limited space” as the reason the weight rooms were so mismatched. Immediately Prince fired back with videos showing extensive space beside the sad mat table and went on to compare the men and women’s food - think airplane meal vs. family barbecue. As the social media flurry began, more images surfaced depicting men and women's "swag bags" with completely different values.
The controversy quickly went viral with fans, pro athletes, and companies chiming in to voice their frustration. Orangetheory quickly stepped up and offered a solution:
“Orangetheory will make its studios available for private sessions with any team, or we will bring water rowers and a full range of floor and weight equipment to any central location,” they tweeted "We see you. We hear you. We want to help."
Other fitness companies like Tonal and Dick’s Sporting Goods also offered to provide equipment to the women's teams.
Enough pressure on social media eventually turned that pathetic NCAA response into an apology, and a weight room was established within days.
The story has a happy ending, but one piece still bugs me. That 'limited space' statement was total horse shit, and the NCAA didn't seem to mind lying through their teeth. Without up-and-coming icon Sedona Prince fighting back, the NCAA was fine to short straw the women's teams out of training space. And for what?
Remember, NCAA basketball is a publicly funded program. Under Title IX male and female NCAA programs are to be treated equally. This includes (but is not limited to): equipment and supplies, scheduling of games and practice times, locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities, housing and dining facilities and services, and publicity and promotions.
Something isn't adding up, and I think it's purely based on respect. Imagine using that flimsy excuse to get out building two change rooms in a school. It's the "dog ate my homework" equivalent of college sports, and I'm annoyed. All I can say is that our eyes will be on them next year.
Giphy
Say My Name, Say My Name
People are quick to point out that the NCAA men's teams generate more money than women's teams. The discrepancy in swag bags, for example, can directly be linked to the amount of sponsors who want to be involved with the women's vs. men's tournament.
It's a valid point; however, it's forgetting a few key reasons why men's sports (in general) are more financially viable than women's.
1. They're put on TV.
2. They get massive promotional budgets
3. They've amassed their audiences over generations.
To compare women's sports to men's sports is to compare 1998 Britney to 1998 Madonna: maybe she'll become equally as famous, but she needs time, support, and a killer brand to get there.
Whether or not you're a basketball fan, it’s likely you've heard about March Madness. The tournament is a fully developed and recognizable brand for Div 1 college basketball. That is, unless you’re a women.
The women’s tournament happens alongside the men’s tournament. It is, in effect, the same tournament. Except it’s called the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. You might as well call it "The Don't Bother Caring About This Tournament" tournament, which is an interesting approach considering the Title IX regulations surrounding equal promotion...
Withholding the “March Madness” brand from the women’s college basketball tournament is an intentional exclusion that damages the credibility of female athletes. It inherently makes them seem lesser than the men and eliminates any potential they'd have to capitalize on the famous brand.
I get frustrated (clearly) hearing the same few arguments about women’s sports and why we don't watch. Ultimately it's a chicken and egg situation - we can't be fans of something we can't see, and we cite the lack of fans as a reason they shouldn't be put on television. In actuality the problem is that women's leagues haven’t had a chance to grow as much as the men's leagues have.
When we think about famous tennis players and gymnasts, women always come to mind first. Those are sports with a more level playing field. How fair is it to say that sports like women's basketball are less successful if they've never had the same shot?
Just for fun, if we replace the men's tournament with the women's entirely, and I bet the ratings would stay pretty consistent....
Giphy
Just Do It… But Better
We can look at these instances as individual anomalies - an oversight by the NCAA, a lack of understanding about pregnancy - but the fact the matter is that there will always be these kinds of excuses until women's sport is seen as equal. The change starts with women speaking up and continues with companies admitting their mistakes.
The unsung heroes of this article are the companies like Orangetheory who are going out of their way to vouch for equality. I'll leave you with this tweet from Ellen Latham, the founder of Orangetheory:
“As a female pioneer in the fitness industry, I have experienced firsthand the challenges that women face as they pave the way. Reading about the disparities that the NCAA female athletes are experiencing broke my heart, and the brand knew that we had to do whatever was in our power to rectify the situation. We hope that by offering our studio spaces and equipment the women of NCAA basketball are able to train properly and, most importantly, feel supported."
More brands like this, please and thanks.
