Dove and Nike Are Teaming Up on ‘Body Confident Sport’ to Encourage Girls to Stay in Sport
According to new research from the Dove Self-Esteem project and Nike, 41% of teenage girls in the USA are dropping out of sports because of body confidence issues - that’s twice the rate of boys the same age. Over half say they dropped out of sport because they were mocked, criticised and bullied because of their size.That’s why the Unilever brand has partnered with Nike to launch Body Confident Sport - a coaching programme with online tools. These tools have been clinically tested with over 1,200 girls between 11 and 17 years of age and have been shown to boost self-esteem and body confidence. Tennis star Venus Williams has joined the mission too and will be helping to raise awareness of the tools.
Leandro Barreto, senior vice president at the global Dove masterbrand discusses why this scheme is so important to the brand and why reaching beyond the self care product category to partner with Nike has been so transformative.
LBB> Self esteem has been part of Dove’s DNA for many years - can you give our readers some context around the self esteem journey Dove has been on and how the brand has become ‘the world’s largest provider of self-esteem and body confidence education’?
Leandro> Developed in 2004, the Dove Self-Esteem Project’s mission is to encourage a positive relationship with beauty for the next generation and help increase their self-esteem to ensure they have the confidence to meet their full potential. Working with world renowned body image experts and leading universities, the Dove Self-Esteem Project offers evidence-based and academically validated educational tools for schools, youth leaders, parents, and youth organisations. To date, we’re proud to have positively impacted the lives of more than 100 million young people across 153 countries as the largest provider of evidence-based body confidence and self-esteem in the world.
LBB> Unilever has been really active in the sporting space, particularly with initiatives around girls sport. I’ve seen a lot of activity around the Women’s World Cup, and helping girls, particularly POC, to access soccer. How has this association with sport opened up the conversation about self esteem for Dove?
Leandro> Unilever has a proud heritage of promoting inclusion, health and wellbeing for all members of society, and has a continued global ambition to drive positive change and ensure that people and the planet can thrive together. Like Unilever, Dove knows that sports are really important for kids, as sports can help them to feel strong and confident in themselves and empowered by what their bodies can accomplish. It’s clear from research commissioned by Dove and Nike that girls who participate in sports - and stay with it through their teenage years - are more likely to have higher body confidence and experience benefits throughout their lives as a result. This project is part of our longstanding commitment as a brand to address issues which impact the body confidence and self-esteem of women and girls through the Dove Self-Esteem Project.
LBB> The research was really eye-opening - for you, what were the most shocking or surprising insights to come out of the research?
Leandro> The research commissioned by Dove and Nike focused on girls dropping out of sports to help showcase the reality of girls’ experience in sports and the impact it has on their body confidence, as well as the drivers behind girls dropping out and potential solutions. The most surprising insight our research showed was that body confidence and self-esteem issues are the main reasons girls are dropping out of sports between the ages of 11-17, with 45% of teenage girls globally dropping out of sports - at twice the rate of boys. As the world’s largest provider of self-esteem and body confidence education, we knew we had to take action by teaming up with Nike – the biggest champion of sports – to support young female athletes across the globe.
LBB> Can you tell me about the online tools that are part of the Body Confident programme - how do they work to help girls boost their self esteem and why was it important to subject those tools to clinical trials?
Leandro> The Body Confident Sport program is an online resource available to anyone - including experienced and first-time coaches - with the materials they need to tailor their coaching to inspire body confidence and keep girls from dropping out of sport. These new online tools, comprised of five educational modules, were scientifically proven in clinical trials to reduce self-objectification and increase body-esteem. All Dove Self-Esteem Project tools are developed to be evidence-based and academically validated educational tools. More information and links to the tools can be accessed for free at dove.com/confidentsports.
LBB> The PR roll out includes both Venus Williams as well as young girls speaking out about their struggles - why was it important to take that double-pronged approach of working with an elite athlete and young girls playing at a grassroots level?
Leandro> Dove partnered with tennis champion and entrepreneur, Venus Williams because she shares the view that body confidence shouldn’t be an issue for girls when playing sports, and she is committed to empowering teenage girls so they keep playing the sports that they love. She is an incredible role model.
Continuing Dove’s legacy of elevating the real voices of women and girls, we enlisted a few young athletes to support this campaign and hopefully connect to other girls who are suffering from self-esteem and body-confidence issues so they know that staying in sport is possible. We hope that by showcasing real young athletes in this campaign, we help teenage girls to have the confidence to reach their full potential when playing sports.
LBB> How else are you planning to make sure the Body Confident Sport platform reaches and engages its intended audience?
Leandro> With Body Confident Sport, we aim to reach as many young people as possible - at least 1 million within the first year, through widely accessible resources for coaches across the world. Targeting our intended audience, these tools will be delivered through a global network of organisations in schools and sports clubs, and our close collaboration with Nike on this project means that 11–17-year-old girls across the world will be able to build their body confidence for sports and beyond. Additionally, the tool is adaptable for girls’ sports teams and co-ed teams, to make sure that we reach young people across a wide variety of sports.
LBB> Obviously Dove and Nike operate in very different product categories, but I’m curious to know what you and your team learned from collaborating with the Nike team?
Leandro> Dove is the largest self-esteem education provider in the world and Nike is the one of the biggest champions of athletes and sports. Both brands have long standing commitments to supporting girls, share the view that body confidence shouldn’t be an issue for kids when playing sports, and are both committed to empowering teenage girls so that they keep playing the sports that they love. The partnership was a no-brainer for us when we decided to create a tool related to sports.
We co-developed the tool over two years, and also brought together world-renowned experts including the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) and the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport. Coming together, as Dove and Nike, helps to ensure the program reaches as many kids as possible.
LBB> What advice do you have for brands looking to reach out and partner with other brands, particularly around big social issues which are too big for any one entity to solve alone?
Leandro> Shared values and common goals are essential for authentic collaborations. If the social cause is part of both of your brands’ purposes, collaborating with other like-minded partners can help make the change you want to see. To drive change, we need collective action to raise awareness of the issues and make them relevant. Talking about the issues sheds light on them and it motivates other brands, companies and individuals to do more.
LBB> Do you have a long term vision for the Body Confident Sport platform and collaboration with Nike?
Leandro> We’re thrilled to be diversifying our Dove Self-Esteem Project tools further with the addition of Body Confident Sport so we can meet the needs of more kids. This multi-year partnership is part of our longstanding commitment as a brand to address issues which impact the body confidence and self-esteem of women and girls through the Dove Self-Esteem Project. With the Body Confident Sport toolkit alone, we aim to reach 1 million kids this year. To-date, the Dove Self-Esteem Project has reached 100 million young people across 153 countries with a goal of reaching 250 million by 2030.
Photo by Jyotirmoy Gupta on Unsplash
