The One Show
The One Show is the world's most prestigious award show in advertising and design. For over 50 years, the Gold Pencil has been regarded as one of the top prizes in the creative industry. The One Show has a rich legacy of honoring some of the most groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.
Category
Non-traditional & Guerrilla Marketing
Annual ID
OS23_DM105M
About the Work
BACKGROUND
The sports world focuses on male athletes as the default and female athletes as secondary. This disparity is part of a systemic problem affecting representation, world records, media coverage, pay equity, and opportunity for female athletes. As sport continues to make female athletes less visible, girls struggle to find role models they can look up to.
OPPORTUNITY
As an advocate for gender equity, the YWCA leveraged the issue of gender inequity in a culturally powerful space, like sport, to start a conversation that could extend beyond it.
INSIGHT
Why are men’s sports just called sports - like the NBA - when women’s sports are called women’s sports - like the WNBA? The answer: because men’s sports are the default, leaving women to be considered second…if they’re even included at all.
EXECUTION
We took the most iconic men's sports league logos and did a simple redesign. We added the M to match the W, which often serves as an asterisk marking women’s sports as separate, different, and less worthy.
We recruited key sports figures who were known for being vocal about gender equity, like Christine Sinclair, Blake Murphy, Jennifer Hedger, Tara Slone, and Donnovan Bennett.
The campaign was launched on YWCA social channels with OLV, which our supporters shared on their channels to amplify the message. We pitched the story to media outlets to further the conversation.
Then we created multiple ways for people to spread the word, from sweaters and stickers to free downloadable “M” badges which allowed everyone to hack sports logos on Instagram.
This was all tied together with the rallying cry #addtheM.
RESULTS
We started a conversation with absolutely no paid media support behind it, achieving an earned media value of over 46,000% above our investment. Add The M made headlines across the globe in over 170 publications, achieving a total overall reach of over 102 million earned impressions at the time of writing.
Soon, people around the world started to add the M to more league logos - the Women’s Football Fan Collective, for example, added the M to the English Premier League, as well as other leagues and cups.
2023 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
Rethink
Client / Brand
YWCA Metro / Vancouver
Music / Sound Production Company
Grayson Music / Toronto
Art Director
Skye Deluz
Hayley Hinkley
Copywriter
Jacquelyn Parent
Chief Creative Officer
Aaron Starkman
Creative Director
Leia Rogers
Editor
Tyler Erdelac
Thomas McKeen
Executive Creative Director
Mike Dubrick
Producer
Teresa Bayley
Kyle Hicks
Account Director
Kennedy Crawford
Associate Creative Director
Skye Deluz
Hayley Hinkley
Jacquelyn Parent
Developer
Brad Stapleton
Steve Lam
Account Manager
Nicole Kerrigan
Jessie Durand
Director, Advocacy & Communications
Amy Juschka
Editorial Lead
Lianne George
Group Account Director
Kat McKeen
HEAD OF ART
Joel Holtby
PR / Account Director
Sara Lemmermeyer
PR Coordinator
Kaitlyn Vian
Studio Artist
Todd Bennett
Studio Director
Brad Kumar
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