Case Study: ThisGirlCan increases social engagement and motivates women to get active with Crimson Hexagon social insights

Social Insights Challenge Women to Rethink Traditional Attitudes to Sport

Sport England, a government-funded initiative committed to creating lifelong sporting habits, partnered with social analytics firm Crimson Hexagon to tackle a persistent gender gap in UK sport participation. Their challenge was to engage women and girls aged 14–40 and change the way they think and feel about exercise, addressing barriers from body image and motherhood guilt to fears about ability.

Using Crimson Hexagon’s social media analysis, the team mapped over 10 million 2014 posts to identify three key audience pillars and the tone that would resonate — empathetic, non-patronising encouragement — which informed a multi-channel campaign anchored by a high-profile TV spot and active social engagement. The result was a clamorous social reception and broad reach (7.5m watched the launch), measurable behaviour change (over 1 in 3 women who saw the campaign reported increased activity), a rise in women talking about Sport England (female mentions up from 31% to 45%), and increases in conversations about playing and training in sport.

ThisGirlCan