A driving force in Golf #FOREeveryone

Golf’s Global Governing Body, The R&A, launched its Women in Golf Charter in 2018 created to inspire an industry-wide commitment and conversation with the goal of enabling more women and girls to maximise their potential at all levels of the sport.

Through signing the charter, The R&A sought commitment from stakeholders from across the landscape of golf, each signatory being asked to commit to a self-declared set of principles which would support promotion of the game for women and girls.  

In 2020 The R&A engaged 54 to give greater meaning to its Women in Golf Charter, raising awareness of the ambitions of the initiative through a cross-platform campaign, while also helping to establish conditions within the GB&I golf market that would make golf a more welcoming place for females.  

Although the brief was to create a consumer campaign to raise awareness of the charter and, subsequently, to increase participation among women and girls, 54 identified a greater requirement for improvements at an earlier stage of the consumer journey than a traditional marketing campaign could hope to influence.  

Through extensive experience of the golf market, we identified systemic issues within the landscape of golf at several consumer touchpoints which caused a barrier to entry, particularly for women and girls, both as participants and as a career choice.  

The #FOREeveryone campaign, therefore, assumed a highly market-orientated approach in alignment with all national governing bodies for golf in the UK and the Professional Golfers Association, first looking to educate on the wide-ranging benefits of creating optimal conditions for women and girls within the industry of golf, before beginning to activate a consumer campaign.  

The initial phase of industry education included the development of practical toolkits to advise on potential operational changes owners and operators could make within their own facilities or brands, as well as a series of seminars and communications geared towards change.  

Alongside the creation of the industry toolkit, 54 was responsible for the campaign creative and content creation which encompassed specific industry case study videos, and inspiring golf imagery to build out the #FOREeveryone Campaign asset bank, presenting the opportunity that greater female participation presents to both golf clubs and the wider industry.  

Companies which were encouraged to become a charter signatory were provided with these creative assets, which would allow them to begin advertising their commitment.  

Industry entities were engaged directly and urged to lend their support for the #FOREeveryone campaign. 54 supported with outreach to industry organisations, encouraging attendance to a virtual Women’s Leadership Forum hosted in conjunction with The R&A and Mastercard at The Women’s Open. #FOREeveryone campaign messaging was integrated into this forum to enhance visibility and raise awareness within the industry.  

Following the success of this initial phase, 54 spearheaded the consumer awareness campaign, leveraging a mix of marketing activity across several high engagement platforms to create a foundation of national awareness, focused on attracting new and returning women and girls to the sport. This required activation across the following:  

• Content strategy focussing on telling ‘real-world success stories’
• Press communications
• Influencer engagement with celebrity figures to raise awareness through use of campaign assets
• Targeted digital advertising  
• Event amplification at The AIG Women’s Open  
• Development of the #FOREeveryone microsite