International financial services provider Allianz, a partner of the Olympic and Paralympic movements, has begun an initiative to encourage more young people with disabilities to take up sports through the introduction of a digital training series led by paralympic athletes.
The global “Day 1 Done” campaign, created by R/GA London, is part of Allianz’s MoveNow program created in partnership with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The campaign includes daily motivational calendar tips and audio messages of encouragement from athletes, including Nico Langmann (Para tennis), Fleur Jong (long jump), Mary Fitzgerald (shot put) and Guido Bonsen, coach of Team Para Atletiek.
The strategy of this campaign was formed around the insight that people, especially the younger generation, moved significantly less due to the pandemic, which led to the creation of the MoveNow program.
Another insight, which led to the creation of this latest aspect of the initiative, was that the hardest part for athletes was getting started. This meant the development of films hosted on a microsite would aim to educate and inspire the next generation through the sharing of personal sporting journeys.
More than half of the film crew working on the campaign had disabilities themselves, the agency said.
Eike Bürgel, global head of Olympic and Paralympic program management at Allianz, explained: “There is an increasing gap when it comes to inclusivity and accessibility in sports and beyond. Through our partnership with the IPC, we will continue to get behind the hopes, challenges and needs of the Para athlete community by creating a pathway of participation for people with disabilities and inspire young people to get active.”
The digital training series will also be broadcast live from Thailand at the United Through Sport festival Sunday as it aims to encourage thousands of kids to get into sport.
Key markets for the campaign include Australia, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Italy.
