A look inside the FIFA Women's World Cup event marketing campaign

FIFA’s mission is on a mission to organise the biggest FIFA Women’s World Cup in history.

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FIFA’s mission is to organise the biggest FIFA Women’s World Cup (FWWC23) in history.

Australia and New Zealand are the host nations and so far around 650,000 tickets have been sold.

FIFA are anticipating:

• 1.5m total attendees across the tournament

• 2b global viewership

• The Matildas opener against Ireland to set a world record attendance for a standalone women’s world cup - it has been rescheduled from Allianz Stadium to Accor stadium (capacity 83,500) to accommodate up 40,000 more fans

There is a genuine buzz around women’s football at the moment, and FIFA appear to be on track to achieve there lofty goals.

Here’s a look at how FIFA, alongside governments and brands have started to build hype around this historic event.

The winning pitch

Australia and New Zealand’s commitment to women’s soccer has been evident from the beginning… An activation that is reserved for cultural significance, the iconic Sydney Opera House was lit in the final hours leading up to the announcement of the winning bid. The projections highlighted the heritage of women’s football, the fans and showcased the iconic image of Sam Kerr’s backflip. New Zealand did the same with their Sky Tower.

View the media conference here.

Unveiling the brand identity

“Beyond Greatness” is the official slogan of the tournament and represents:

“pushing yourself to go beyond your limits, beyond what you think is possible, beyond your doubts and expectations”

…and is designed to spark a new era of women’s football.

The slogan was announced alongside a new official emblem featuring bright and bold colours, and a nod to the indigenous cultures of Australia and New Zealand.

The squares surrounding the ball are a representation of the 32 countries competing.

The unveiling drew mass attention - Check out the official brand identity announcement here

Introducing Tazuni - The Official Mascot

Tazuni is the fun, football-loving official mascot of the tournament who captures the spirit of the event and beyond greatness theme. Her names comes from a fusion of:

• Her home - the Tasman Sea

• Unity - a key value of the event

Since being introduced to the world, she has been a strong feature in many FWWC23 media and PR events.

The biggest ever women’s Trophy Tour

In February, FIFA and Visit Victoria hosted the launch of the trophy tour. A global tour that will visit all 32 participating countries - more than ever before.

The trophy tour provides a key tentpole moment for governments and football bodies around the world to build hype for their team’s participation in the tournament, so trophy tour visits are always accompanied by a wave of PR and media activity.

In addition to being able to view the trophy up close, selected women and girls are given the opportunity to participate in skills sessions and meet FIFA legends and local team stars. Here’s a glimpse in to the tour visits to Zambia, Nigeria, Shanghai, Argentina and USA.

To further amplify the tour and engage young soccer players around the globe, Female Football Freestyle world champion, Lia Lewis has teamed up with FIFA to become the dedicated skills coach. Lewis forms a key part of the trophy tour and has:

• 4m+ TikTok followers

• Almost 500k Instagram followers

Unity Pitch

The Unity Pitch is an eye-catching, outdoor futsal-sized pitch that showcases the FWWC23’s vibrant brand identity, and reflects the cultures of Australia and New Zealand. It was also launched in February in Melbourne, alongside the Trophy Tour and is scheduled to visit all nine host cities. The presence of the Unity Pitch provides a key platform for a more localised approach to generating interest and buzz for the upcoming tournament through media and PR activities.

Official poster unveiling - International Women’s Day

In time for International Women’s Day, a pop-up-style outdoor gallery was unveiled earlier this year to showcase the official poster of the tournament which encapsulated the “Beyond Greatness” theme.

100 days to go! PR push

With only 100 days to go until the iconic tournament begins, FIFA launched a major PR-push that involved a media event at Allianz Stadium.

At the event, the “Unity Beat” was launched - the official chant of FWWC23 and a chant that will be a sound and symbol that celebrates greatness throughout the tournament.

The PR event was also featured on Channel 7’s Sunrise - click below to view footage

Australia’s state politicians were also getting behind the PR push…

Brands have also been getting involved

Not long ago, adidas conducted a PR-stunt, using a helicopter to fly a giant replica of the official match ball of the FWWC23 through the skies of Sydney’s Harbour and iconic Bondi Beach.

The Walt Disney Company have just released a trailer for the new docuseries titled “Matildas: The World at our feet”. It will premier on Disney+ Wed 26 April

The Nike pacific team launched the national team kits.

The Commonwealth Bank became the official bank supporter

The flow-on effect

There’s no doubt that FIFA are viewing the FWWC23 as the “Firestarter” for women’s football globally.

Locally, according to data from Futures Sport and Entertainment, the Matildas have become the fourth most popular national sports team, overtaking the Wallabies earlier this year.

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