Compared to other countries in the EU, the Netherlands have a pretty even playing field when it comes to gender equality. For the most part, that attitude is also reflected in sports. Though, football stands as an exception and is still generally regarded as a man's sport.

Through our research we found women who play football have significantly less opportunity, facilities, media exposure and resources, leading to lower participation numbers. One interviewee even mentioned needing to have her dad had to step in as a referee because the referee didn’t show.

UEFA set out to change this during the EURO 2017 Women’s Tournament with a massive initiative aiming to make football the number one participation sport for girls and women in Europe by 2022. This, coupled with the growing talent and energy of the Netherland’s women team, helped provide a strong kicking off point for our crest change.

For 46 years, the Netherlands Women’s National Football Team have been known as ‘de Oranje Leeuwinnen’ - the Orange Lionesses. It’s what they’re called by the press, by their fans and by themselves. But for 46 years, they’d worn a lion as their crest. We worked in partnership with Nike and the KNVB (The Royal Dutch Football Association) to change the national team’s crest from a lion to a lioness.

We unveiled the crest change with a large manifesto in Dam Square in front of the Dutch Royal Palace. We invited 250 fans to the event and offered an exclusive Q&A with athletes.

In the days leading up to the first match, we leveraged the voices of local Dutch influencers, the KNVB and the national football team to spread our messaging and unbox special influencers kits with the new crest.

Throughout the tournament, we took over social feeds through athlete and victory tacticals. We also had on-the-ground presence in key cities like Amsterdam and Utrecht.

To cap off the campaign and celebrate the team’s epic win, we changed all Leeuwenstraats (Lion Streets) in the Netherlands to Leeuwinnenstraats (Lioness Streets).

The campaign saw success across press, engagement metrics, product demand and, most importantly, the culture:

- Press described the design as “simple, brilliant and empowering” with coverage from the likes of Buzzfeed, Its Nice That, and DeZeen.

- Campaign events were attended by 360+ fans and media and the film’s completion rate was highest among our target audience, reaching 1.1M.

- Demand for Women’s Football product on Nike.com is up 360% vs. last year.

- The work had significant cultural impact, with the crest being unveiled in front of the Dutch Royal Palace and minted onto official coins & stamps.

- The energy was contagious - the Dutch-hosted UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 saw a new record set for attendance of a women’s football match in the Netherlands (+21K) and was the the most watched Women’s Euro in history.

During the Women’s EURO 2017 tournament, Nike wanted to put women’s football in the spotlight for the first time and provide young Dutch female athletes (13-17 year olds) with a message to rally behind.

To further understand our audience, we interviewed 20 Dutch females between the ages 13-16 about their perception on women in sports in the Netherlands, the culture of football in the Netherlands and barriers to the sport. From the interviews, we learned Dutch women have a distinct mindset and attitude (bikkel - a word used to define someone with grit and will), which ultimately led to our strategic point of view and creative platform.

Dutch football may be experiencing it’s darkest times, well at least the men’s team. The women’s team, however, has been experiencing an upswell of energy and excitement. And without any real support or exposure.

This environment has fostered a unique mindset in women’s football in the Netherlands - especially among young girls. A mindset forged away from shiny stadiums, spotlights and endorsements. A mindset of girls who have pure love for the game.

With Netherlands hosting the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017, Nike wanted to celebrate this unique mindset, elevate women’s football, and inspire all Dutch female athletes.

The project’s budget was around €150k and ran across all of The Netherlands.