The Allianz Squared Ball was created to address the issue of financial inequality for women in football, starting a vital conversation, which we hope will ultimately lead to change.

The unusual design of the ball provides a powerful visual representation of how much harder the game of football is for women than men. With the inequality of the game physically there for all to see, the ball earned attention and opened doors for conversation about gender inequality and financial inequality within sports.

Financial services provider Allianz believes in the importance of financial literacy.

In Allianz recent financial literacy survey, 62% of women across Germany, the UK and US said that financial barriers stopped them from pursuing their dream careers. This is especially true for those considering professional sports as their path.

With with FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 around the corner, Allianz asked us to create visibility for the financial barriers young female football players are facing - which hinder them from pursuing their passion.

Allianz wanted to reshape how people see the brand. Instead of being seen as a transactional insurance brand, it wants to be seen as a brand that contributes positively to society, not only through its products on an individual level but by dedicating its resources for positive change.

Interest in women’s football has increased over the past 5-10 years, giving the impression that we are further forward in our progress towards equality than we are.

The truth is that once the big tournaments on a world stage are over and the flood lights go off, women are not ‘playing the same game’ as their male counterparts – in fact, far from it.

Amongst other things, it is known that:

• 25% of female football players are not considered ‘Professional athletes’

• 12% of female football players do not even receive a salary

• 62 % of women across Germany, the UK and US say that financial barriers stopped them from pursuing their dream careers

The financial barriers holding women back from continuing or pursuing professional sporting careers need to be addressed. As a big sponsor of male and female football, Financial services provider Allianz wants to help tackle these barriers by making the problem tangible and impossible to go unseen.

Every 4 years, female football players are celebrated like their male counterparts. But when they leave the pitch, their reality looks vastly different.

25% of female football players aren't considered ‘professional athletes’ and 12% don't even receive a salary. They face so many additional problems compared to male athletes, its almost like they’re playing a different sport...

To convey the differences that female players face, we took the most recognisable symbol of the game and reimagined it, creating the world’s first Squared Ball.

Designed with the look feel and weight of a regular football but with one key difference – a difference that makes everything more challenging.

We identified two separate audiences:

1. Young women who are interested in following their passion for sports as a career or who have just made the first step into professional sports.

2. A broader public audience that is generally open to the topic.

We identified two separate audiences:

1. Young women who are interested in following their passion for sports as a career or who have just made the first step into professional sports.

2. A broader public audience that is generally open to the topic.

Using our hero film and influencer content we built a paid media campaign focusing on YouTube and Instagram in Germany, US, UK, Australia, Italy Spain and Switzerland. This content was aimed at the female athlete audience and linked to the Allianz website where its financial literacy hub and ‘Ready Coach’ coaching tools and programme were available.

The broader public was addressed through comprehensive media outreach. We focused on German sports and lifestyle media for the launch event, and directly followed up with a global rollout across target media in Allianz key markets.

A paid LinkedIn campaign complemented this outreach, targeting key journalists and industry stakeholders.

THE BALL: Together with a production company, we prototyped, iterated and invented the world’s first Squared Ball that stood up to FIFA regulation. Producing a first batch of 150 Squared Balls, each one was imprinted with the hard facts of financial inequality of female football players that served as conversation starter in different contexts.

THE LAUNCH:

Right before the kickoff of the World Cup, we revealed the Squared Ball at a press conference together with credible voices on the topic of women football and financial literacy, bringing together different perspectives that female football players are facing on an individual and on a collective level.

THE DISTRIBUTION: We amplified the Squared Ball across multiple countries with earned media outreach, interviews, owned and Paid Channels. We also sent the ball to media outlets and key opinion leaders.

ATTENTION

196M+ earned impressions across key Allianz markets

24M+ Paid reach

402M+ reach for the campaign and financial literacy survey combined

62% view-through rate on YouTube (twice the average platform benchmarks)

50K+ visitors to campaign landing page

ATTITUDE

Post campaign:

+124% believe “Allianz is a positive force in society by fostering gender equality” (+26 points)

+100% “trust Allianz to narrow the gender equality gap by making people more financially secure” (+20 points)

59% of people “now think differently about inequality in football”

16% increase in awareness of the need for basic financial knowledge to combat inequalities

50% want to learn more about the topic and follow up on Allianz’s dedicated financial literacy website

66% of people say that the Squared Ball made them think more positively about Allianz

35% increase in brand consideration for Allianz

Purchase intent increase by 28%

Net Promoter Score increased overall from 18 to 27.