Despite women making up close to half of overall sports viewership, women are rarely seen as the target audience for adverts and sponsorship in these sports. The exception? The Beauty Industry and Women’s sports. As Charlotte Tilbury announces a new partnership with F1 Academy, the beauty brand is just one example of a growing trend of investment in women’s sport.
Women’s sport is on the rise. Growing viewers and awareness of the athletes involved provides an increasingly attractive market for advertisers. This is not news to the beauty industry. In fact, the industry has long been a trendsetter in its support of women’s sport. Following the formation of the WNBA in 1996, L’Oreal became earlier backers in the league with a partnership in 1998. The company remains involved in the league to this day with L’Oreal owned NYX a sponsor for New York Liberty.
Perhaps the biggest growth in sponsorship from the beauty industry comes in women’s football. In 2017 Avon were unveiled as Liverpool Women’s shirt sponsor to become the first brand to exclusively sponsor a women’s football team in the UK top-flight. The investment was a sign of things to come. In 2022 Arsenal Women’s team signed a commercial deal with Il Makiage, while Katie Zelem partnered with Mylee to test the durability of their nail polish throughout the 2023 World Cup.
So what makes women’s sports so appealing to beauty companies?
While viewership is on the rise for women’s sports, the numbers are not yet on the level of their male counterparts. Despite this, the market still looks to be more appealing for the beauty industry.
One key reason for this is the relatability of the female athletes to beauty brands target audience. Young girls are able to see themselves in female athletes in a way they cannot with male athletes. Women’s sports offer a platform not just for advertising a product but also for showcasing it. This is especially key for personal brand endorsements. NCAA record holder Masai Russell regularly posts on her Youtube channel. The videos are mixed in content focusing on track meets, training and more personal videos including those on skincare and other beauty products. The videos do not come across as advertisements but instead casual recommendations from an athlete at the top of her game. Her case isn’t unique. Sports women are becoming more and more visible across all forms of social media. Tiktok in particular has allowed athletes to see a rise in visibility.
Smart Advertising or reinforcement of gender roles?
For some, the growing influence of the beauty industry in women’s sports poses a concern. Some worry about the message being sent to young fans: even in sport women still have to be beautiful. While there is logic in the worry, the counter is just as valid. Girls shouldn’t have to choose between sport and embracing beauty. Athletes such as Ella Toone have talked about the philosophy of ‘look good, feel good’ and the idea that feeling confident about their appearance can lead to better performances. Research by Dove found the number 1 reason for girls quitting sport was low body confidence. By promoting a healthy relationship between sport and beauty, the sponsorship of beauty brands could be crucial in helping lower this drop out rate.
In fact, beauty brands have already gone beyond just sponsoring women’s sports. Instead they have set out to make and achieve change. Unilever’s beauty brand LUX led the ‘Change the Angle’ campaign alongside Volleyball South Africa. The campaign focused on the choice of camera angles during the coverage of these games with angles often focusing on different body parts when covering women’s volleyball compared to men’s. The campaign was very successful with 4.7 billion impressions and most crucially success in seeing change with the South African Broadcasting Corporation adopting the “Change The Angle” guidelines.
Of course, the beauty industry cannot be the only source of sponsorship in these sports. The diversity within fan bases must be appreciated with the knowledge that no sponsor can be a one-fits-all. It is unfair to say that girls cannot be interested in both sport and beauty it is equally unfair to say they must be interested in both. However, so long as the brands form part of a diverse group of sponsors to seek to limit their involvement would be a huge step backwards for an industry at the forefront of women’s sport.
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