Sports and fitness brands have pushed inclusive marketing forward, representing experiences and identities that other sectors have taken longer to address. And this shouldn’t be a surprise. When you’re in the business of progress you have the perfect platform to launch the kind of spine-tingling campaigns that make audiences actually enjoy adverts. You’re playing in a highly emotionally-charged territory that’s overflowing with cultural and social relevance. Whether you’re hawking trainers, football boots, kettlebells or fitness watches, the fact people (or their heroes) can wear your products as they take on some kind of virtuous challenge is a creative goldmine.

But with so many brands using social-responsibility as a marketing tactic and tonnes of campaigns relying on cause-led messaging (often without embedding purpose deeper within the organisation) we’ve ended up with a proliferation of samey, and at times performative, campaigns that consumers are tiring of. The more that brands are expected to do good, the harder it becomes for a well-meaning effort to get noticed – a kind of inclusionflation for want of a term that should probably never be used again.

So now that everyone’s seemingly in on the purpose game, from the supermarkets to insurance companies, how can sports brands stay ahead? With more legitimacy than most to speak to issues people care about, how can these brands take advantage of this privileged position? How is this more than a representation play? And how can we continue to develop work that not only makes people feel included, but inspired too?

Having worked through these questions for Nike, Arsenal FC and Gymshark here are some ideas for 2023. A heads up: pushing the inclusion agenda forwards means focusing behind the scenes. But these thoughts aren’t just about doing the right thing, they’re about maximising creativity too. Because the more embedded a brand’s good values are within its wider business, the more credibility and authority that brand has to communicate them in new ways. And with purpose-fatigue a real concern, the world definitely needs funnier, happier, sillier, scarier, sadder and crazier ways to talk about doing the right thing.

• Support grassroots sports quietly, shout louder later: If you’re going to speak about a cause or marginalised community in a campaign, get digging and do the groundwork. Show the love to grassroots sports teams and clubs. Work humbly, grow credibility and invest at the edges of the culture, not just in big athletes and partnerships. When it’s time to use the conversation to drive business impact you’ll have greater licence to speak louder and more creatively, and a bunch of strong connections to amplify your message. With budgets tightening, those big names might even be more interested too.
• Inclusive-marketing includes your team: If your brand has a physical retail presence don’t underestimate the power of retail staff to communicate your values. Apply consumer marketing thinking to the world of employee training so your staff are advocates and relatable representatives. What’s more, it’s hollow to spotlight the under-represented if the team that interacts face-to-face with consumers is monolithic. You’ll be less likely to get called out for being performative, if you’re not being performative.
• Think about body positivity alongside gender-equality: Whether it’s the fact that gyms have a long way to go to becoming safe for the trans community, or the lack of attention paid to a growing body-image crisis amongst men, powerful gender-based fitness stereotypes persist. Embracing different types of body is about so much more than shape and size. There’s still much work to be done here in the stories we tell and the people we cast.
• Sports culture isn’t youth culture: Our industry is obsessed with youth and, by virtue of physical fitness, the world of sport isn’t much different, but don’t ignore older fans and athletes. On a recent project we realised we’d previously failed to represent older female sports fans in enough of our work, so we street cast talent we couldn’t have found through our usual partners and network.
• Make accessibility a priority: it feels ingenuine to speak about inclusion if much of your audience can’t receive the message. Think about everyone’s potential accessibility needs and then resist a temptation to lower your creative ambition. Up the ante, think of alt-text as poetry, have fun with audio-description.
• World Cup fever isn’t over: just a heads up that the FIFA Women’s World Cup is half a year away. Last year proved just how exciting and distinct the culture around women’s football is. What will you be doing in July and August this year?