Tackling perceptions to turn engagement into action

After an initial lift in summer 2020, UK participation in tennis dropped to a five-year low due to intermittent lockdowns, especially among casual tennis players. In 2022, our first lockdown-free year since the pandemic, LTA wanted to create a communications campaign to reverse the decline in tennis participation and return to levels seen in 2019.  

To help LTA increase UK adult participation in tennis to over 4m and drive 24,000 court bookings, we needed to act differently to change perceptions and make tennis more accessible, avoiding channels used by other governing bodies like TV, print and display, and showing up in new, audience-led environments.  

What we did

Working closely with creative and PR teams, we integrated owned, earned, shared, and paid media to put tennis in unexpected places and use the standout creative to change perceptions.Tik Tok was at the heart of our plan, whilst Twitch was used to engage young gamers and encourage them to get out and play. Our Digital OOH activity was live in shopping centres and fly-posted near urban high streets showcasing people wearing bright clothes on the court instead of tennis whites.

Partner agency The&Partnership created a social influencer campaign to extend our reach on social, tapping into the culture of fashion and lifestyle influencers. Their brief aligned to the #YourCourtYourRules positioning to show young 'Active Regulars' that people like them were playing tennis and there were no rules on the court.

Finally, our performance media closed the loop; high-reaching Meta campaigns drove traffic to LTA's booking platform to book the nearest tennis court. Paid search captured demand throughout the summer and ensured people could find a court, turning engagement into action.

Results