Sports marketing news: Esther Vergeer new muse in the Calvé campaign: ‘Want to make the unusual ordinary’ | SPORTNEXT

Esther Vergeer new face of the Calvé campaign: ‘Want to make the unusual ordinary’

Esther Vergeer stars in Calvé’s new “Who Didn’t Grow Up With” campaign. This makes the young version of Esther the sixth athlete to be seen in the series. Vergeer, a 44-time Grand Slam winner and Paralympic Games Chef de Mission, wants to give children with disabilities a stage through his collaboration with the peanut butter brand. They still lack too many motivational models. “Success stories and visibility can ensure that all children dare to dream big,” says Vergeer.

Recent research confirms that success stories can do a lot to make children feel seen and motivated: more than half of people with disabilities (53%) say they see too few people with disabilities on TV and in the media , and 56% indicate that this under-representation of sports role models influences their own sports activities. Vergeer, who has created his own foundation to make sport accessible to people with physical disabilities, has entered into a partnership with Calvé to show sportsmen with disabilities more often and give them more media coverage. The campaign now visible on television is therefore the start of a multi-year collaboration.

Thijs Sleddering, Marketing Director Food at Calvé: “About four years ago, we realized that the attention paid to top athletes was not always evenly distributed: after all, some athletes are much more under the projectors than others. With Lieke Martens we chose it then, so as not to do another one usual suspect to focus on, but a sporting hero whose perseverance, in our opinion, hasn’t yielded enough podiums yet. With the choice of Esther Vergeer, we are continuing this line. Her unprecedented sporting achievements make her a role model for all children to see, that nothing should stand in the way of achieving their greatest dreams.

Although Calvé sticks to its concept of a trust campaign, the brand is now more aware of its social responsibility. Sleddering: “We don’t have the illusion that we will normalize sport with a disability by ourselves. But as the brand of peanut butter that sits on the dining table of millions of homes, we can help. That’s why Esther reacted enthusiastically when we approached her: “I want to make the unusual ordinary,” she says. “And Calvé can help with that.”