Women's sport has been on a sky-high trajectory over the past few years, leading the industry down a path of labelling it a 'movement', whilst forgetting the most important thing in sports - the 'moment'.

The brilliant sporting moments that captivate our imagination is what drives sports fandom forwards.

The anticipation, the excitement, the thrill, the hope, the heartache.

Labelling women's sports as a movement dilutes the moments and turns fans into activists when they never asked to be - they just love sport, whoever plays it.

To celebrate one month to go until the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, MKTG welcomed guests from across the industry for a panel event focused on changing the way we think about women's football, and to enjoy the moments not movements in the women's game today.

Our all-female panel featured 4 special guests from across the sector - influential voices and pioneers who are at the vanguard of women's football partnerships.

We asked our panellists their thoughts and opinions on multiple topics from working with talent to World Cup predictions.

Working with the right talent and signing ambassadors for your brand is extremely important. What is your process and approach to working with talent?

Hayleigh Curtis, Mondelez:

"It's really important that it's the right ambassador that's got the right approach and that it's a true collaboration. Otherwise you run the risk of having a partnership that comes across as inauthentic."

Aaliyah Mitchell, MKTG Sports + Entertainment:

"When we think about our selection process for our clients we think about the brand messaging - however I think sometimes brands just look to partner with the biggest names. With Ally Financial we wanted to approach talent who are also having financial challenges who can speak authentically to the product. We understand the follower count matters, but engagements are much more important, you want talent who are taking the time to really interact with their fans in a way where they're building a fandom around themselves."

Utilising insights from dentsu Sports Analytics, we asked our panel their thoughts on our findings from our recent fan study (FanSpeed) and industry study (Frontier).

Professional female athletes are more likely to be perceived as good role models, honest, inspirational, likeable and trustworthy, whilst their male counterparts are more likely to be seen as high performing, respected, skilful and charismatic. What are you thoughts on these findings?

Aaliyah Mitchell, MKTG Sports + Entertainment:

"The attributes the fans have associated with female athletes isn't necessarily a bad thing - being likeable and trustworthy means brands can leverage those personalities in a similar fashion to how they work with social media influencers, whilst retaining the marketability of their male athlete counterparts. Although the attributes fans have associated with female athletes are positive, we must ensure that we market them as athletes first and lean into messaging that highlights their strengths as athletes more than anything else."

Liseli Sitali, Expedia Group:

"There are existing preconceptions around women's sport in that it has to be worthy in order for it to be respected and have space. Look at what has happened in tennis - Novak Djokovic reached the incredible feat of winning 23 Grand Slam titles - the most won by any other male tennis player. However, Serena Williams achieved her 23rd Grand Slam title – and her record for the most Grand Slam singles titles won (open era) – 6 years before Djokovic reached that number. Nobody was talking about how much of a great feat that was and then suddenly Djokovic reaches 23 and it's the best thing since sliced bread! She had that for six years before he reached it, why for six years was that not the pinnacle of sport?"

Note from dentsu Sports Analytics:

It's important to note that the attributes fans have associated on the image above are not exclusive to either male or female athletes, and the gap is closing in. We are seeing trends in our research that shows female athlete images evolving to become more like their male counterparts.

2 in 3 UK sports fans think that brands who partner with women's sports are 'ticking a box' on their equality strategy. How do you feel about this statement?

Liseli Sitali, Expedia Group:

"Authenticity has to sit at the heart of the partnership - it's not enough just to sponsor a property, get your logo on there and be done with it. Brands have to be intentional about actually helping to improve the sport they're partnering with. You need to help solve their challenges and then make it as easy as possible for consumers to be ingrained in it."

To watch the full panel discussion, CLICK HERE