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What we do
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We provide an extensive range of cutting-edge research solutions which enable clients to make informed and successful business decisions.
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| Client case studies — ATP Tour |
The requirement – Brand positioning research
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) was formed in 1972 to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has been responsible for organising the principal worldwide tennis tour for men, comprising 63 tournaments in total.
The ATP recognised that despite their prominence, their public profile was in need of a strong boost. However, before embarking on a branding campaign, the company decided to commission Comperio Research to help them understand general attitudes towards men’s professional tennis, as well as attitudes towards the ATP and it’s brand identity. The objective being, to gain access to strategic intelligence which would inform the new brand positioning strategy, and identify how to make tennis appeal to more people.
The solution
In order to understand the issues on a global basis, Comperio designed a two phase research programme which was conducted across several key markets. The first stage involved undertaking focus groups in the UK, Spain and America, amongst four target demographics:
light tennis users in the 18-39 age group
light tennis users in the 40-64 age group
heavy tennis users in the 18-39 age group
heavy tennis users in the 40-64 age group
For the purposes of this research, heavy users were defined as true tennis enthusiasts, whilst lights users were those with some interest in the game, who sometimes watch tennis on television, but seldom attend live matches and are unlikely to subscribe to tennis magazines.
The focus groups were followed by an online survey which was carried out amongst a wider sample across the UK, USA, Spain, Australia and China. This second quantitative stage was designed to further investigate the issues already identified in the focus groups, and to validate the branding approach through the testing of several concepts.
When analysing the data, Comperio used segmentation modelling to distinguish how opinions, behaviours and awareness differs across the various regions and age groups, and between light versus heavy users.
The business
benefit
The research programme gave ATP an understanding of:
- General perceptions of tennis as a sport
- The key drivers and barriers to engaging with tennis as a sport and the role ATP plays in this
- The strengths and weaknesses of the ATP brand
It was particularly revealing to discover that there is a general lack of understanding of the ATP structure and ranking system, and recognition of the ATP brand is clearly poor. People did not seem to understand the link between events on the ATP tour, nor did they understand why players choose to participate in certain tournaments as opposed to others. And the overriding view was that ATP need to strengthen and step up their communications strategy.
As a result of the insight delivered, Comperio’s study was instrumental in the design of ATP’s aggressive global marketing campaign, which has been launched in a bid to raise ATP’s profile and increase the value of its events to both sponsors and broadcasters.
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