Most campaigns about girls leaving sport focus on motivation. They encourage young women to feel more confident, remain active or push through the barriers in front of them.
Golin Ketchum and GUT Toronto took a more useful approach for ASICS. They asked a simple question: what if the problem isn’t the girls, but the kit they’re expected to wear?
Launched in August 2025, The Undropped Kit explored how uncomfortable and impractical PE clothing can discourage teenage girls from taking part in sport. The campaign turned an overlooked piece of school uniform into a product, a national conversation and a platform for policy change.
The Problem Hidden in Plain Sight
Research commissioned by ASICS found that 64% of girls in the UK stop playing sport before they turn 16.
There are many reasons for that decline, but PE kit is one of the most immediate. Girls involved in the research described uncomfortable fabrics, shapeless designs, limited choice and clothing that wasn’t suitable for different weather conditions.
Sweat visibility and anxiety about period leaks created additional barriers.
Nearly 70% of the girls surveyed said they would be more likely to participate in PE if their kit felt more comfortable. Another 74% believed better clothing would make PE more enjoyable.
The insight was clear: if girls feel exposed or embarrassed by what they’re forced to wear, another motivational slogan isn’t going to solve the problem.
Fixing the kit might.
The Golin Ketchum and GUT Toronto Partnership
The campaign brought together the complementary strengths of Golin Ketchum London and creative agency GUT Toronto. Golin helped turn the issue into a public conversation, connecting the research and product development with media coverage, advocacy and the wider debate around girls’ participation in sport.
GUT Toronto helped shape the creative platform and transform the PE kit itself into a simple, memorable campaign idea. Working together meant the agencies could go beyond raising awareness. The partnership connected product design, storytelling and policy influence, giving ASICS a campaign that worked across PR, creative, experiential and social channels without feeling fragmented.
Designing With Girls, Not Just for Them
Rather than guessing what teenage girls needed, ASICS and its agency partners involved them in creating the answer.
The brand worked with more than 2,000 girls across the UK, alongside mental health charity Mind, Inclusive Sportswear and its founder, Team GB hockey player Tess Howard MBE. Girls aged 14 to 16 contributed through research, focus groups, design sessions and product testing.
The result was The Undropped Kit, a flexible PE clothing concept built around comfort, choice and adaptability.
Instead of forcing every pupil into the same garment, the kit offered different combinations for varying body shapes, personal preferences and weather conditions. It addressed details traditional PE uniforms often overlook, including breathable materials, suitable coverage, period concerns and the visibility of sweat or leaks.
Crucially, girls weren’t simply featured in the advertising. They helped shape the product.
Testing the Kit in the Real World
The concept was trialled at Burnley High School, located in a region identified as having one of the UK’s lowest levels of female PE participation.
This gave the campaign real weight. The clothing wasn’t simply presented through polished photography or a carefully edited launch film. It was worn and tested by the pupils it had been designed to help.
That created something more persuasive than a conventional brand promise. ASICS, Golin Ketchum and GUT Toronto could demonstrate both the problem and a credible solution.
Outdoor advertising in Burnley brought the story into the local community. Media coverage and social content then carried it into the wider conversation around girls’ sport, mental wellbeing and school uniform policy.
When the Product Becomes the PR Campaign
The smartest part of The Undropped Kit is that the product and the campaign are essentially the same thing.
ASICS didn’t release an advert about inclusivity and attach a new sports kit to it afterwards. The research, collaboration, design and school trial created the story. Each stage produced another reason for journalists, teachers, parents and policymakers to pay attention.
It also gave ASICS a credible place in the discussion. As a sportswear company, the brand had the experience and technical knowledge needed to improve the clothing itself. Its involvement felt relevant rather than forced.
The campaign fitted naturally within ASICS’ wider “Sound Mind, Sound Body” positioning. However, the brand didn’t attempt to dominate the story. The girls, teachers and campaigners closest to the issue remained its most important voices.
Moving Beyond Media Coverage
Many purpose-led PR campaigns generate a brief rush of attention before disappearing. The Undropped Kit was designed to lead somewhere.
ASICS supported Inclusive Sportswear’s push for more inclusive PE clothing policies in UK schools. Parents and teachers were directed towards practical guidance, training and resources that could help them introduce change in their own communities.
The policy context continued to move. Department for Education guidance was revised in November 2025 and again in July 2026; it now tells schools to engage pupils and parents, consider comfort and allow sensible adaptations. From September 2026, schools must also limit compulsory branded uniform and PE-kit items.
The work later received industry recognition, including a Silver Lion in Health & Wellness and a Bronze Lion in Design at the 2026 Cannes Lions festival.
Why the Campaign Worked
The Undropped Kit worked because it began with a specific, recognisable barrier.
“Empowering girls through sport” might sound positive, but it’s broad and easy to ignore. An uncomfortable PE kit that makes girls want to avoid exercise is tangible. Most people can picture the problem immediately.
The campaign also offered a practical response. It didn’t just publish a worrying statistic or tell the public to care. It showed what a better kit could look like, tested the idea with real pupils and used the result to challenge outdated guidance.
That is what makes The Undropped Kit such a strong PR campaign. Golin Ketchum and GUT Toronto helped ASICS create attention, but attention was never the final objective.
The campaign gave people a clear problem, a workable solution and something worth fighting for. Sometimes changing an entire system begins with changing something as ordinary as a school PE kit.