Women’s football was hitting the mainstream in some markets, but global cultural acceptance and support was still on a journey.

Despite record-breaking viewership and sold-out legendary stadiums, the women’s game still struggled with global exposure. Some audiences weren’t giving it a chance – stuck in the prevailing mentality that ‘no one watches women’s sports’ or ‘female football players just aren’t as good men’.

The idea was simple, we gave the game what it deserved : a showcase of impossible to ignore skills that would get all eyes on the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Which wasn’t too hard with a powerhouse roster featuring Alessia Russo, Lena Oberdorf and Mary Fowler.

We put their skills on display with football legends and advocates of women’s football, like Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Leon Goretzka, Ian Wright and Jenna Ortega, coming out in full support to amplify our message.

We didn’t just celebrate players’ skills, we also celebrated everything the game has achieved, highlighting the obstacles that stood in the way of women’s football throughout history. Hiding easter eggs, a 1970 cap to allude to the first international women’s football tournament – one that wasn’t officially recognized. Or teacups in a claw machine as a reminder of a time when women were given teasets for winning European Championships.

We knew we didn’t want to give critics of the women’s game a platform or compare it to the men’s game. Instead we needed to focus a positive lens on our players, partners and allies. The 2023 Women’s World Cup is a celebration of the unbelievable skill of female footballers, not to be overshadowed by the baseless negativity.

We needed to get those who ignore women’s football to celebrate the Women’s World Cup by making it impossible to ignore.

adidas captured 285M viewers and was the most talked about brand of the tournament, getting +8% more PR buzz than Nike. Our audience sought us out with an 18.7% increase in “adidas football” searches during the Women’s World Cup event period. But our biggest win was being part of the many brands and fans who came out to support and celebrate the 2023 Women’s World’s Cup; making it the biggest sporting event of the year, getting more eyeballs on women’s football than ever before.