10 Years Of This Girl Can – What’s Next For The Iconic Campaign

In 2015, a movement began when Sport England sought to close the gender gap in physical activity – at the time, around two million fewer women than men were regularly active. The result was This Girl Can (TGC), a powerful, behaviour-change campaign that has since inspired more than four million women and girls across the UK to get active on their own terms. Now, a decade on, the campaign enters its next chapter with 23red leading the strategy and creative for the new phase, building on the legacy of inclusivity and empowerment that has defined TGC since its inception.  

It would go on to positively impact the lives of more than three million women and girls across the UK, as they were spurred to get active by the behaviour-change campaign. The message of the now-iconic TGC statement still resonates with audiences, having inspired a generation.

Increasing the confidence of eight in ten women since its launch a decade ago, TGC has also developed a vibrant online community of more than 810,000 women who follow the movement on Facebook, Instagram, and X, while supporting each other in their journey to stay active.

That year, it won the Grand Prix for Good and the inaugural Glass Lion at Cannes Lions, as well as the Graphite Pencil and White Pencil in Creativity for Good / Advertising and Marketing Communications – Brand at D&AD, among many other accolades.

Over the years, the campaign has also forged partnerships with major brands such as Sure, Disney, Strava, British Cycling, the National Lottery, and Global Media to spread the message and encourage women and girls to start or continue their journeys, potentially saving lives in the process.

“It started with truly listening to women about what they had to say and needed. We didn’t talk at them, but with them,” says Kate Dale, Sport England’s strategic lead for campaigns, who founded and still leads the movement. She believes that from the very first frame of the first ad, where a woman walks towards a swimming pool and snaps the elastic on her bikini bottoms to check they’re secure, they knew they were onto something honest that resonated.

“We have consistently represented women of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, and abilities. There's more we need to do, and that’s what we’re doing now, but I think we’ve been consistent in that approach,” adds Dale. Together with media agency EssenceMediacom and current creative agency 23Red, working as 'The TGC Collective', they are set to produce the next campaign, due for release this autumn.

10 Years On

This year, for the first time, the campaign has secured three years of funding from the National Lottery, moving away from the previous year-by-year model. This enables longer-term planning and greater investment in paid and above-the-line media from September onwards.

Dale sees the timing as fortuitous, as women and girls continue to seek positive role models in a world increasingly dominated by a toxic culture. Yet the ultimate success of TGC, that it would no longer need to exist, remains a distant hope.

“Ten years on, despite everything we’ve achieved, I’d hoped society would be in a better place. It’s hard not to feel that things have gone backwards. But there is hope in the ongoing discussion about how we need to support women and girls,” Dale admits. She also recognises the need for broader inclusion of non-binary people, men and boys too.

Despite this, the campaign remains rooted in research among women and girls, half of whom say they are aware of it.

The Media Approach

This continued recognition is seen as a success by Dale, who notes that there has been no paid media behind the campaign for four years. Still, she is not satisfied and is now actively targeting women and girls less likely to be active. These include women on lower incomes, from Black, Asian and Muslim communities, those who are pregnant or mothers of children under one, and women aged 55 and above.

Nicola Evans, associate director at EssenceMediacom, says the challenge intensifies when identities intersect. Just one in ten women feel a true sense of belonging in physical activity.

“In this next chapter, TGC is unapologetically focused on our women—those who’ve been unseen, unheard, and excluded. It’s time to change that. Not just so they feel included, but so they know they belong. The feeling of exclusion is real, 66 per cent of women agree they feel excluded from the world of exercise,” says Sharon Jiggins, managing partner of 23red.

However, what worked a decade ago is unlikely to succeed in today’s fragmented media landscape, where inequalities and consumption patterns extend beyond gender.

The media strategy must evolve to meet women where they are, through a changing landscape, shifting behaviours and deep-rooted inequalities that limit the impact of traditional advertising.

“We’re in a whole new communication economy. With new routes to market, converging platform capabilities, shifts in consumer behaviour and an explosion of data, we must maximise every touchpoint in the consumer ecosystem to effect behaviour change,” says Evans. “The ‘Celebrate It’ phase of the TGC campaign will use paid media to champion and celebrate what belonging looks and feels like, through new stories that inspire.”

The strategy is built on three strategic pillars to deliver inclusive, relevant messaging and reach women in their communities, recognising that engagement with underrepresented groups is rarely linear.

These are:

• Scaled relevance: Broad-reaching paid media to challenge public perceptions and change private attitudes. Motivation remains the top barrier to physical activity, and the campaign’s visibility aims to re-ignite engagement.

• Community relevance: Trust over reach, working with community partners to co-create culturally relevant content using trusted channels and voices. Representation matters—women want to see role models in advertising who reflect different ages, body types and backgrounds.

• Actionable relevance: Targeted media spend at local and hyperlocal levels to support habit formation through relevant, timely messaging.

The goal is to reach target audiences while promoting engagement, action and momentum. To achieve this, EssenceMediacom has placed Inclusive Planning at the heart of the campaign, ensuring deep, authentic connections with often-marginalised audiences.

Channels that build trust and foster community will be prioritised, through local and hyperlocal activations that reach women when and where they need the most support.

“While targeting all women and girls in the UK, we’ll focus on those facing the biggest barriers to activity. We’ll champion relatable role models and use community-owned platforms and safe spaces, like local hubs and women-only venues, to reach women where they spend their time,” Evans adds.

The campaign will include video on demand, linear TV, out-of-home advertising, influencers and social media.

While influencer marketing was in its infancy a decade ago, Dale now sees it as a powerful way to amplify the message. “To use creators who resonate with different age groups, communities, mindsets and life stages is going to be really exciting. That’s also a bit terrifying for us to find and trust the right voices,” she says.

Sport England’s social media team has been working with EssenceMediacom to identify and recommend creators from within the community who can engage, empower and carry the campaign forward in their own authentic way.

After a decade of empowering women to get active, it’s clear that this campaign still can.