By Victoria Renwick, Partner, 360PR+

This isn’t a fleeting moment, and it isn’t merely a trend: Women in sports, from collegiate to Olympic to professional, are finally getting the recognition they deserve. The value system has shifted: female athletes are drawing more fans, more airtime, more endorsements and, in many sports, more pay. There’s no doubt there’s more progress to be made to create equity with their male counterparts, but it’s undeniably an exciting time for women athletes.

As marketers, we’re in a unique position to make the flywheel turn faster by including female athletes in our communications playbooks. Female athletes can bring new, valuable perspectives and visibility to campaigns spanning a variety of products, services and missions—not just sports and athletic apparel.

Exemplifying health and wellness, female athletes bring immediate interest to a product’s potential nutritional benefits, of course, but we can peel the layers further, too. These athletes are pushing boundaries and breaking stereotypes—speaking to complex topics such as mental health, for example—all while being incredible ambassadors of their sport, good teammates, sometimes busy moms and more.

Recently, our team at 360PR+ had tremendous success working with WNBA player Aaliyah Edwards as the voice of a campaign for client Nasoya tofu. Called The Power of 9, our premise was that much like female athletes can be underestimated, so too is tofu. Even though it contains all nine essential amino acids, which makes it a complete protein—the same as any animal-based protein—tofu and plant-based diets are often dismissed as not robust enough for athletes and the rest of us, especially women.

Our spokesperson criteria included a professional athlete committed to a plant-based diet. While plenty of plant-based male athletes are at the top of their games, we believed that working with a female athlete who’s breaking stereotypes added the emotional resonance we wanted.

It’s also worth mentioning that this new generation of female athletes grew up in the age of social media, living public lives and sharing their experiences with their followers. They’re natural storytellers, remarkably open and engaged with fans and receive an outpouring of support in return. This two-way street of engagement is an added benefit for brands who partner with female athletes.

With Power of 9, Aaliyah authentically shared how tofu fuels her high-octane life. For example, we timed her social content with the inaugural Unrivaled tournament, which is helping extend the reach of women’s basketball. Her “day-in-the-life” style posts, which included everything from morning yoga to her skills in the kitchen were exceptionally engaging and well-received.

This article was first published by O’Dwyer’s PR.