Intersport Germany is underlining the enormous social importance of sports with a new brand campaign. The sporting goods retailer has already been campaigning to increase access to sports for years. Now, the group is launching “Einmal Sport. Intersport.“ (a pun on “Once sport. Always sport”), a highly emotional and polarizing brand campaign, together with its approximately 900 retailers and several prominent testimonials.
The centerpiece of the new campaign is a short film showing a gloomy future world without sport and its implications. Ambassadors who support the Intersport brand and its new German campaign with their individual stories in various target groups and communities are national soccer player Alexandra Popp, e-sports athlete and FIFA World Champion MoAuba and ex-wheelchair basketball player and influencer Leeroy Matata. In addition, Berlin rapper Sero provides the film soundtrack with the song “Low,” which was written especially for the campaign and already premiered on Oct. 14.
“Our business is to move people and inspire them to live better lives with our love of sports,“ commented Dr. Alexander von Preen, CEO of Intersport Deutschland eG. “We are firmly convinced that sports, health and maintaining good health cannot be separated and are highly relevant to society. We need to break down barriers and make it possible for people to access sports and exercise. With the campaign message, we underline our conviction.”
Here is the (German-language) 10-minute short film of the new brand campaign:
For 74% of all Germans, barriers exist in sports
Together with the market research company Appinio, Intersport Germany conducted a representative survey as part of the campaign, asking people about their sports behavior: Although 50 percent of the German population plays sports at least once a week, 74 percent said that barriers exist that limit them in their sports behavior and ensure that they do not practice their sport as they would like to. The reasons for this are diverse: just under one in ten exercises less frequently or not at all because of discrimination. One-third also faces barriers in the gym. A quarter of all women, in turn, see financial barriers as preventing them from exercising more regularly or at all. Young people, in particular, are also afraid of sexual harassment in sports: for 10 percent, this is a factor, while for a quarter of the 16 to 34-year-olds, psychological barriers such as depression or social anxiety are reasons for doing sports less often or not at all. One in five parents also says they have too few sports options in the area.
Intersport Sportreport: Sport and exercise highly relevant to society
The new Intersport Sportreport also underlines how essential sport and exercise are for a healthy and positive life. The sports retailer conducted the report to analyze the effects of the Covid pandemic on the Germans’ propensity to exercise. For this purpose, Germans aged 16 to 69 were asked about their sports and health behavior in a representative online survey last June. The results show that the pandemic has made respondents more aware of sports, exercise and health. Sport and exercise also have a positive connotation and bring joy, relaxation and peace of mind. Nevertheless, the physical condition of the respondents has declined. Intersport is addressing this contrary development and is helping to break down barriers in sports and create access to sports and more exercise with initiatives such as “Intersport bewegt“ (“Intersport moves“)and campaigns such as #Notbadforagirl, #IRunVRYou or #Keeptheworldrunning. Beyond these initiatives and campaigns, Intersport has also been actively promoting the social value of sports for years. Because the high relevance of sports and exercise in society is also shown by the Intersport Sportreport: Around three-quarters of those surveyed agree that more sports and exercise would lead to savings in the healthcare system.
