#FollowInHerFootsteps

Client

LinkedIn

Date

05/07/2022

LinkedIn highlights the importance of female role models in new UEFA Women's EURO 2022 campaign

 As part of its national sponsorship of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, LinkedIn - the world’s largest professional network - has launched a new campaign to spotlight the importance of role models that inspire future generations on and off the pitch. The sponsorship is the latest in a series of campaigns and initiatives from LinkedIn focused on ‘making work work for women’, designed to address the issues women face professionally and build a more equitable world of work for all. 

LinkedIn has teamed up with Carol Thomas BEM, the first captain to lead England to a Women’s EURO in 1984, to encourage others to ‘Follow in Her Footsteps’. Carol will retrace her historic steps in a 30-mile walk on July 4th and 5th from Crewe’s Mornflake Stadium (the site of the first Women’s EURO game in 1984), to Old Trafford where this year’s tournament will kick off on July 6th in front of a sold out crowd. 

Carol will be joined on the walk by other trailblazers and role models from the world of football, including professional player for Crystal Palace F.C., ambassador, and qualified lawyer Chloe Morgan; first captain of the Somali Women’s National Team and Director of Women’s Football at Hilltop Football Club, Iqra Ismail; former England footballer (gaining 129 caps) Rachel Yankey, and retired Swedish Captain and Carol’s former opponent, Anette Borjesson. LinkedIn’s UK Country Manager, Janine Chamberlin, will also join Carol for the duration of the walk.

The campaign was inspired by new research commissioned by LinkedIn, which reveals that nearly half (43%) of professional women believe they would be more successful if they had a role model in the workplace, with more than half of women surveyed (55%) agreeing that there are still a lack of relatable role models in the workplace, and 76% of them believing that relatable role models should be more visible. They feel strongly about this lack of visibility, with 57% believing that having a relatable role model is crucial to achieving career success and 70% agreeing it’s easier to be like someone you can see.

Darain Faraz, International Brand Marketing Director at LinkedIn comments: “At LinkedIn we’re championing an equitable world of work that’s diverse and inclusive - the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 epitomises and celebrates these values. This sponsorship follows LinkedIn’s global partnership earlier this year with International Women’s Day  – where our campaign sought to break biases around career flexibility. Sponsoring what is set to be the largest women’s European sporting event in history felt like a natural next step in our sustained commitment to making the world of work work for women.

We want to spotlight and celebrate inspirational women across LinkedIn’s community of 32+ million UK professionals through this campaign. Seeing people from all walks of life achieve success encourages others to follow in their footsteps and this is key to achieving an equitable workplace for all. Ultimately, it’s easier to be what you can see!”

Matt Lloyd, Deputy Executive Creative Director at VCCP added: 

“We were inspired by LinkedIn’s mission to make female role models more visible and our team went in search of a way to bring this to life that would demonstrate the power of the platform. We unearthed the story of the first Women’s EURO Championships in 1984 and England’s captain, Carol Thomas, and were astounded that so little was known about it. We knew straight away this was the story we had to tell, it was the perfect demonstration of a relatable role model that needed to become more visible. Carol was really excited to get involved and totally up for the challenge of the 30-mile walk. This inspired everyone else to get involved in the walk and the campaign, from our other famous role models to UEFA and the full production team.”

Created in partnership with creative agency of record VCCP London and PR agency Brands2Life, the fully integrated campaign was produced by Girl&Bear and will be supported with earned and paid media across OOH and digital channels, including LinkedIn, and a paid media partnership with Telegraph Women’s Sport. As part of the campaign, LinkedIn is encouraging influencers, creators, and its community to champion and celebrate the female role models who have inspired them throughout their career, using the #FollowInHerFootsteps hashtag.  

The campaign will run for 4 weeks on LinkedIn and other social and digital channels, and across OOH. Join the conversation on LinkedIn with #FollowInHerFootsteps. A video has also been created to celebrate the campaign, featuring rare archival footage of women’s football through the generations, which can be viewed here.

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