Year
2023
Client
Arizona State
Category
Grassroots Campaign
Product Duration
2 Weeks
SCOPE
Arizona State Women's Tennis held a top-25 ranking and one of the longest active NCAA Tournament streaks in the country, but home matches drew fewer than 50 fans. A grassroots campaign was built across three channels in a two-week production window.
SOLUTIONS
The SuperFan Competition punch card was the campaign's backbone, applying the goal gradient effect (Kivetz et al., 2006): motivation to complete a goal increases as progress accumulates. Every match attended was a punch toward a $1,000+ grand prize, fundraised at zero cost through local partnerships. Supporting tactics layered on top: in-match bingo cards, free giveaways, food at every home match, and the Crowd the Courts ticket promotion.
RESULTS
Attendance records broke multiple times, with crowds exceeding 250 (5x the previous baseline). The "Tennis in Paradise" graphic became the most-liked post in the team's Instagram history.
Crowd the Courts targeted specific ASU student clubs using donated music festival tickets (M3F and Phoenix Lights) as attendance incentive. Distribution ran through student leader networks, social campaigns, and physical flyers in key campus centers. The promotion filled the stands with Greek life and produced the loudest match atmospheres of the season against ranked opponents Arkansas and Oklahoma State.
The social strategy focused on educating casual tennis fans on the caliber of the program. Over 20 new graphics were produced for pinned posts and story highlights, the full highlights system was overhauled, and posts were targeted to community tennis leaders across the Phoenix area. The "Tennis in Paradise" graphic became the most-liked post in the team's Instagram history.
The SuperFan Competition was the attendance engine. A punch card tracked fan visits across the season, with the fan holding the most punches at season's end winning a $1,000+ prize package, fundraised entirely through local partnerships at zero cost to the program. In-match bingo cards, free giveaways, and food at every home match reinforced the return trip. The competition was promoted across social media, email, phone outreach, and physical print.
