Submitted by Pitch Marketing GroupAgency IPI Score 41/100

Sports Direct Equal View

PR & Communications

Sports Direct and Pitch released a free Getty Images library of 75 diverse football photographs around the 2023 Women's World Cup, so media and brands could show the game as it really looks.

£9.7MPR value
445MEstimated reach
89%Key message inclusion
19Pieces of media coverage

About the campaign

Football's visual record has not kept up with who actually plays and watches the game, leaving women, grassroots players and fans outside traditional markets underrepresented in the imagery that brands and media rely on. Sports Direct wanted to act on that gap rather than restate support for it, and Pitch Marketing Group worked from a practical insight: publishers and brands will change their visual output if diverse imagery is made free, professionally shot, and available inside the workflow they already use, with an SEO benefit as an added commercial reason to adopt it.

The answer was Equal View, a free Getty Images library of 75 diverse football photographs released around the 2023 Women's World Cup. Pitch ran the campaign in two phases. Phase one gifted influencers and media a tournament pack and secured interviews with Sports Direct advocate Fara Williams during the tournament. Phase two released the Getty library after the event, with contracted influencers promoting the imagery on social and Frasers Group CMO Beckie Stanion giving earned interviews that tied the work to the brand's wider direction.

Hosting the library on Getty Images placed the imagery inside the picture desks' existing workflow, lowering the friction of adoption, while the two-phase structure used the tournament for attention and let the asset outlive the event. No platforms are specified for the social activity. Every detail here comes from Pitch Marketing Group's own case-study page; the agency reports no quantitative metrics on reach, adoption or effect, and no independent source verified the account.

Case in 60 seconds

Mainstream football photography has historically underrepresented women, grassroots players, and fans from outside traditional markets, and Sports Direct wanted to act on that gap rather than just talk about it.

Publishers and brands will change their visual output if diverse imagery is made free, professionally shot, and available inside the workflow they already use, with an SEO benefit as an added commercial reason.

Equal View: partner with Getty Images to release a free library of 75 diverse football photographs, timed around the 2023 Women's World Cup, so anyone could show what football actually looks like in 2023.

Phase one gifted influencers and media a tournament pack and ran interviews with Sports Direct advocate Fara Williams; phase two released the Getty library, with contracted influencers promoting the imagery on social and Frasers Group CMO Beckie Stanion giving interviews.

The agency reports a freely available 75-image library distributed via Getty Images and coverage across multiple sectors after the post-tournament announcement; no quantitative metrics were published and the account is not independently verified.

Strategy Breakdown

The primary strategy-learning section — interpretation, not a press-release summary.

Two audiences at once: media, publishers and brands who source football imagery and could adopt the library, and football fans following the 2023 Women's World Cup who gave the campaign its cultural moment.
Football's visual record has not kept up with who actually plays and watches the game; women, grassroots players, and fans outside traditional markets are underrepresented in the imagery brands and media rely on.
Sports retail purpose campaigns often stop at statements. Sports Direct needed something tangible that third parties could act on, not another declaration of support.
Sports Direct acted as the fixer of a supply problem, funding and distributing the inclusive imagery the market lacked and making it free for anyone to use.
Removing cost and friction changes behaviour faster than persuasion. Hosting free imagery on Getty Images, where picture desks already work, and framing fresh free images as an SEO gain gave adopters a practical reason to switch.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Free Getty Images library of 75 diverse football photographs
  • Influencer and media tournament gift packs
  • Social posts from gifted and contracted influencers (platforms not specified)
  • Earned media interviews with Fara Williams and Frasers Group CMO Beckie Stanion

Partners

  • Pitch Marketing Group (lead agency, self-reported)
  • Getty Images (image library host and distribution partner)
  • Fara Williams (Sports Direct advocate)

Participation mechanic

  • Media and brands could download and use the 75-image library at no cost
  • Influencers shared their own perspectives on what an equal view of football means

Creator role

  • Phase one: gifted influencers and media amplified the tournament pack
  • Phase two: contracted influencers promoted the image library on social

Why Pitch Marketing Group's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Turning a purpose message into a free, usable asset gives third parties a way to act, which travels further than a statement alone.

  2. 2

    Hosting the library on Getty Images placed the imagery inside the workflow picture desks and brand teams already use, lowering the friction of adoption.

  3. 3

    Framing free fresh imagery as an SEO benefit gave publishers a commercial reason to adopt it, extending uptake beyond sympathetic audiences.

  4. 4

    The two-phase structure used the Women's World Cup to build attention, then released the asset after the tournament so the campaign outlived the event window.

  5. 5

    Named spokespeople, Fara Williams and Frasers Group CMO Beckie Stanion, anchored the story in real voices and tied it to the brand's wider marketing direction.

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