CRIT: Feedback on Brief and how to move forward

Comments/ ideas on development:
In order to further my initial research I gained feedback on my initial brief and how to portray the issues identified during my initial research:

• Look at football as a whole
• Female football presenters 
• Female fans 
• Look into those areas of football cultures 
• Where interest sparks up 
• Branding is important as these changes will happen on a commercial contexts 
• Responsibility of brands to promote these things 
• Show some willing in instil positive change 
• Brands need to be responsible fro promoting social changes in respects to sports brands, actively promote female participants in the main stream media, showing images, how women work within the FA 
• Could look at existing brand that already plays part in football, renewing strategies to include female football brand 
• Specific football brands 
• Highlighting ways the communication isn't evenly balance and even them off
• Not just about female footballers but all those involved in football
• Particular approaches to typography, editorial thats too bold uppercase masculine  
• VISUAL RESEARCH: 
• how football is communicated by top brands 

COP Practical Research: Kick It Out

Kick It Out is an organisation that works with football organisations, clubs and players in order to remove all forms of discrimination of the game including issues such as equality, racism and sexism. The organisation works within all levels of the sport from professionals to the local community to ensure everyone has the opportunity to get involved. The organisation was established in 1997 after the 1993 Lets Kick Racism Out of Football after a call for clubs, players and fans to tackle racism within the sport. Internationally the organisation has ties with multiple organisation such as Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Union of European Football Association (UEFA), and Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE). 

Aims:

• Promote awareness of the benefits of equality, inclusion, diversity policies and practices in football.
• Expose and challenge all aspects of discrimination and unfair practices and conduct at all levels of football.
• Share information about good practices being pursued to achieve equality and fair outcomes.
• Support individuals, groups, clubs, and authorities to effect actions themselves to achieve equality and fair outcomes.
• Develop a wider awareness and acceptance of Kick It Out’s activities and its enabling and facilitating roles as a contributory force for good in football.

The organisation as a whole has had significant support and engagement with many professional football clubs who are interested in tackling discrimination within the game as racist slurs and incidents still occur in the game today. However multiple campaigns and education has reduced issues such as racism within the game, however other common issues such as sexism are still prominent as a common attitude amongst fans and players is that female footballers are not as good or aren't worth watching. This attitudes results in more funding and recognition going towards the male side of the support. However if a campaign could be implemented that would gain the support of male professional players and major clubs this issue could be reduced in the same way as racism. 

Study Task 6: Writing a Brief

Brief:
Highlight the differences between female and male professional football in order to increase awareness and recognition for women in the sport.

Research focus/Background considerations:

• Explore how far women's football has progressed to identify if much has changes, compare rate of progression with male football. 
• Explore pay gap between male and female professional footballers 
• Counter stereotypes considered with women in football and change the perception of female football. 

Deliverables:

• series of posters to be placed in public and areas relating to football such as practise pitches and grounds to communicate the message to existing football fans as well as those who may not be as interested.
• document development on blog 
• x6 design boards documenting design process

Mandatory Requirements:

• Highlight identified issues/difference found during research 
• Final product should be finished to a professional standard so that it could be easily visualise/put into place within desired settings 
• Context should show an understanding of the target audience 

Research References :

• Initial Practical Research:
• Bajkowski, S. (2017). How much do women footballers earn? WSL salaries explained. [online] Manchester Evening News. Available at: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/how-much-women-footballers-earn-1114748 [Accessed 3 Dec. 2017].
• Wigmore, T. (2017). Sport’s gender pay gap: why are women still paid less than men?. [online] Newstatesman.com. Available at: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/sport/2016/08/sport-s-gender-pay-gap-why-are-women-still-paid-less-men [Accessed 3 Dec. 2017].
• Kessel, A. (2017). English football: when women ruled the pitch. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/sep/10/england-womens-football-team [Accessed 3 Dec. 2017].

• Essay:

•  Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (2003). Marketing management. 14th ed. pp.242-243.
• Clifton, R. and Ahmad, S. (2009). Brands and branding. New York: Bloomberg Press, pp.16-19.
• Aaker, J. (1997). Dimensions of Brand Personality. SSRN Electronic Journal, pp.347-348.
• Frieden, L. (2013). The role of consumer gender identity and brand concept consistency in evaluating cross gender brand extension. Post Graduate. University of South Florida.
• Grohmann, B. (2009). Gender Dimensions of Brand Personality. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(1), pp.105-119.
• Bem, S. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42(2), pp.155-162.
• Ye, L. (2008). The impact of gender effects on consumers' perceptions of brand equity: a cross-cultural investigation. University if North Texas.
• Berntson, A. (2006). Branding and Gender: how adidas communicate gender values. Post Graduate. Karlstad University.
• Costa, E. (2003). How the world changed social media. UCL Press, pp.114-115.
• Cohan, J. (2001). Towards a New Paradigm in the Ethics of Women's Advertising. Journal of Business Ethics, 33, pp.323-337. 
• Grow, J. (2017). The Gender of Branding: Antenarrative Resistance in Early Nike Women's Advertising. [ebook] Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=comm_fac [Accessed 22 Nov. 2017].

#wecanplay Campaign

The #wecanplay campaign aims to get rid of the preconception that girls and women can't play football and boost participation and was launched in 2015. The FA says despite football being the largest team sport for girls and women in the country peer pressure, gender stereotyping and derogatory internet searches all contribute to a perpetuation of a distorted image of the women's game. Furthermore the FA states that in a recent survey four out of five young girls who play football don't feel confident doing so. This could be due to the attitude of parents as mum's and dads are less likely to encourage their daughters to play football than their sons. The aim of the campaign according to FA is to gain the support of 100,000 girls and parents as part of its drive to boost participation. The only issue with this campaign is that since it launch in 2015 I personally haven't see an advert or poster relating to the campaign. I only found the campaign when I started to research about women's football which is a huge problem, as a football fan you expect the FA to target existing fans as well as the wider community in order to build a successful campaign and encourage more women and girls to participate as lots of young girls and women watch/like football but feel unconfident to actually participate in the sport. 

In relation to the campaign itself its quite successful in highlighting and debunking common stereotypes about women in football by showing athletes alongside these stereotypes. However the implementation of the campaign fails to fully communicate the aim which is to encourage girls to participate in football due to its lack of distribution with mainstream football media. The combination of a video and still ads create a consistant campaign (see figures 1-3) that portrays a defiant message to those who believe women and girls can't play football. However I personally think the problems surrounding women's football are mainly due to the in-balance between the male and female version of the sport rather than participation, as if women's football was given more recognition within mainstream sports media. That in itself would boost participation as it would become more acceptable and normal for women and girls to play football as it would be more widely recognised and seen.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3