Nike Says Yes to Women in Sport

SA surfer Roxy Louw says Yes to Nike Women’s Here I Am campaign, during the influencer launch in Cape Town on 19 February 2008.

In addition to the physical benefits, playing sport improves your mental and emotional strength, it enhances self-esteem and provides a social platform amongst friends. These are some of the insights from an independent consumer research by Nike. 

The participating young women between 18 and 22 years of age expressed a more positive self-image as a result of playing sport, than those who do not. Nike is celebrating women who play sport, their confidence, their strength and their beauty to enjoy the moment.

477 young South African women were interviewed across three South African university campuses and only 1.68 percent indicated not participating in sport. For the remaining 471 women netball (33.54%) ranked the highest played sport, followed by tennis (16.77%), hockey (14.88%), volleyball (11.74%) and dance (9.85%).

The survey conducted by an independent research agency upon the request of Nike, illustrates that outdoor activities are a growing popularity amongst our young women. Hiking (23.27%), water-skiing (11.53%) and mountain biking (7.97%) are considered sporting activities.

Says Ashika Kalyan, Marketing Director, Nike South Africa: "The primary reason our young women participate in sport is to socialize with their friends, and to become stronger mentally and physically. Girls who play sport are stronger in body and mind. People are often not aware of the fact that playing sport adds mental strength in addition to the purely physical aspect."

The survey, forming a fundamental element of the new Nike Women campaign, ‘Here I Am’, was conducted to confirm Nike’s point of view that women who play sport are stronger in body and mind. 55.77 percent of our young women say that strength is how strong you are mentally. 23.99 percent say they play sport to calm them and reduce their stress levels caused by studying and part-time work.

The ‘Here I Am’ campaign was launched to inspire the participation of a new generation of women in sport. This campaign is designed to create awareness amongst young girls and women, on the diverse and enormous power of sport.

For the average female consumer, sport is something she has to do, not something she likes to do. She does not enjoy the journey because she often fails to see the goal, and when she does, it’s about losing weight.

"The current lack of appreciation of women in sport – knowing that girls often see it as an obligation – is something Nike wants to challenge. We should celebrate girls who play sport. Celebrate their confidence, their strength and their beauty to enjoy the moment", concludes Kalyan.

Aside from the mental, emotional and physical strength gained from playing sport, our research also suggested that while traditional values pervade the persona of our young South African women, they have a strong individuality. They express their liberation through various lifestyle habits.

Based on the results of the survey, it is not hard to conclude that South African women between the ages of 18 and 22 years are self-confident. 89.10 percent of the women who participated in the research are not interested in having plastic surgery.