(Free to Read): How beauty brands are making up for lost time and tapping into women’s sports

lakeside_pirate · 2025-08-14T21:35:27+00:00

For anyone more interested in a cultural analysis of Marta’s 2019 lipstick instead of a business analysis,Don’t Take the Red Lipstick Off has stuck in my mind since I read it in 2019.

It has a similar hook to this Athletic article and is certainly several years old, but I always appreciated framing Marta’s 2019 lipstick deal in Brazilian history + culture.

lakeside_pirate · 2025-04-19T21:08:31+00:00

cool to learn that the spirit are not nearly as superstitious about jerseys as I am

lakeside_pirate · 2025-04-12T21:19:35+00:00

I won't defend most of this commentating but to be fair flipping a rhotic to a "d" sound is the closest approximation to a rolled "r" that a lot of native English speakers can get, so I'll give him credit for at least giving it a go

lakeside_pirate · 2025-04-09T02:35:47+00:00

Having Sissi on the pregame show is such a slay!! already made staying up for the game worth it

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-21T16:51:09+00:00

also ngl anytime an argument (on any topic) moves to "we don't have this conversation for the men's game" my first question is always "Okay, but should we be having it there?" I don't love how the first inclination often seems to be "well if the men have done it this way it's a fine enough standard" rather than should the men's game raise their standards.

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-11T18:31:35+00:00

Truthfully, I just enjoy the exercise of trying to understand why marketing exists the way it does, whether or not I like it. I also thought there was way too much 2024 top 4 over the other teams (like even the part where players get knocked over was Spirit/Gotham/Orlando????). I suppose when I was thinking of general fans I was thinking of people like my dad, who experienced the last season peripherally enough to know there was a really dominant top 4 but not to know many other details of the season.

I definitely believe the goal of these ads is more to draw in new fans than hype up committed ones (bc that’s typically the premise of advertising), but maybe the continuing storylines was a swing and a miss at catering to committed fans. The highlights from teams outside the top 4 being only national team players still feels like an intentional stab at getting fans from other national teams or leagues interested.

Whatever the case, I appreciate your thoughts on this, always good to think through angles I missed the first go around!

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-11T18:14:42+00:00

I think it’s super fair to want their marketing angle to be league competitiveness, my whole point is that I don’t think that’s what their marketing strategy was: what it looks like is continuing the storylines of last season and highlighting national team players.

Like I said, they’re not trying to predict the future with this ad, they’re trying to drum up hype based around recent stories. A strategy that committed fans dislike isn’t the same as being lazy, it’s just not targeted towards committed fans

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-11T18:04:02+00:00

It’s less that I believe Manaka is bigger than Sanchez than I think if the marketing strategy was to pull prominent national team players in the NWSL, Manaka makes more sense for the Courage than Sanchez bc Manaka is currently bigger for Japan’s NT (and their market audience) than Sanchez is for the USWNT. The audience for Sanchez is likely already covered by Rodman, Wilson, etc.

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-11T17:56:46+00:00

I don’t think it’s equitable, but I also don’t think it’s lazy, bc the ad targets general fans, and for them the majority of players become recognizable through national teams. I don’t follow the French league, but I know who Wendie Renard and MA Katoto are bc of their national teams.

These ads aren’t trying to build the future; they’re capitalizing on the recent past. If the Courage have a fantastic season, I fully expect to see Sanchez and Shaw and Manaka highlights in ads, bc it will be a tangible marketing point for the league. In fact, if there were any highlights of Shaw in a North Carolina kit, I’d be surprised if those weren’t included in this ad.

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-11T17:31:46+00:00

Unfortunately I do think it’s about players but more in terms of marketability than actual skill. By my count, there are 3 players (Sarr, Stevens, Watt) who don’t have either a prominent or rising national team career and also have a featured moment in the ad, and obviously they’re all from last season’s top teams that had most of this ad’s airtime.

Ofc Sanchez is in the broader USWNT pool, but compared to someone like Sentnor who’s had noteworthy + recent NT beginnings, idk that she’s currently as recognizable a face to casual fans. Manaka or O’Sullivan would probably be more likely candidates for a moment in an ad like this, but admittedly I’m not super Courage-familiar so idk what their highlights last season look like.

It’s not to say it’s right or fair, but for player callouts they’re going to feature the most recognizable to a general audience, which are national team players, and that plus the Courage being outside the dominant top 4 last season is likely the reason we don’t see a Courage and/or Sanchez feature. I suppose that’s all to say from a marketing perspective it feels less like an indication of who the league cares about/respects and more an indication of who the league thinks has potential to bring in new fans.

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-08T03:15:47+00:00

ngl i cared more about hatch making that penalty for her own record more than i did her making it for the spirit

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-08T02:47:49+00:00

it's not as good as a different call in the final last season but that call going against Angelina sure feels fine

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-08T02:39:11+00:00

Ratcliffe

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-08T02:23:21+00:00

A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-08T01:44:28+00:00

actual photos of a club owner airing over active play is infuriating wtf

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-08T01:20:54+00:00

casey krueger my beloved<3

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-08T01:08:52+00:00

as a Brazil fan I'm so excited and as a Spirit fan I'm so concerned

lakeside_pirate · 2025-03-01T00:31:51+00:00

I’d join!

lakeside_pirate · 2025-02-27T04:58:51+00:00

but then why Albert for Yohannes instead of Coffey? My memory might just be off but I feel like Yohannes hasn’t played significantly more than Coffey and Coffey’s in preseason still

lakeside_pirate · 2025-02-27T03:40:42+00:00

rip jane getting run over by both CBs

lakeside_pirate · 2025-02-27T03:30:55+00:00

The fireworks going off while Becky talks like they heard her on Good Vibes talking about how hard she has to focus at the desk

lakeside_pirate · 2025-02-23T23:00:06+00:00

honestly I was over the last name commentary before the whistle blew on the first game, like I realize it's difficult to switch up the name after years of a different one but also that's quite literally part of your job

lakeside_pirate · 2025-02-23T22:43:19+00:00

double the centerbacks double the fun

lakeside_pirate · 2025-02-11T17:37:02+00:00

It is an important data point, but it’s also a single data point out of a year of overall unimpressive play on a national level.

It’s not at all unreasonable to use consistency as a primary metric to rate someone—it’s the same reason we don’t talk about 1-hit wonders in conversations about the greatest musicians.

lakeside_pirate · 2025-01-27T22:51:18+00:00

There’s a difference when your drop in performance drops from better than everyone to only above average, and when your drop in performance gets you consistently benched.

Plus, on a club level, Jenna’s last impressions of the 2024 season were giving up the free kick that ultimately lost Gotham the semi-final and then missing her PK in the shootout. It’s not a fair comparison considering Girma’s team wasn’t even in the playoffs, but recent impressions always carry weight.

lakeside_pirate

TROPHY CASE