Hearts & Minds

HEARTS & MINDS
SYNDICATED RESEARCH
Greater understanding
of attitudes to sport
and physical activity

The opportunity
The focus of the sports industry is changing, with the
Government and Sport England emphasising the
importance of putting the customer at the heart of
everything they do. The goal is a lofty one, as explained by
Tracey Crouch MP in the foreword of Sport England’s new
strategy:
“to put the customer first, focus on those least active
and transform how sport is delivered across the
country”.
2017 sees the first publication of Sport England’s Active
Lives profile of physical activity in England. This will be
hugely helpful in showing us:
• participation levels across all sports
• the profile of participants in each
• the interrelationship between the sports in which
people participate
• the sport by sport profile of participants
• some of the other leisure and lifestyle choices of
sports participants
We welcome Active Lives for the greater understanding
that it will bring and the opportunity arising for NGB’s to
work together to mutual benefit rather than in
competition. But Active Lives is not intended to provide
all the answers required for a customer-centric
transformation.
Hearts & Minds | Syndicated Research

What is Hearts & Minds?
Hearts & Minds is a syndicated research tracking study
offering participating businesses and NGB’s the
opportunity to fill the knowledge gaps from Active Lives,
digging deeper into the ‘how’s’, the ‘why’s’ and the ‘why
not’s’.
Our aim is to inform and empower our clients to take the
right decisions to improve the position of the sports with
which they are involved.
As a syndicated study, co-funded by several organisations,
it will facilitate the sharing of knowledge and possible
joint initiatives, and will do so without breaking the bank.
Hearts & Minds is a nationally representative study to be
published twice yearly in April and October and will
address the gaps in knowledge identified by participating
partners including:
• why people think and behave as they do in relation to
sports participation
• the key influences on participation decisions
• how to overcome barriers to engagement with sport
and physical activity
• the impact of particular initiatives and campaigns
• how people engage with sport and how and why they
move between sports
Greater understanding of attitudes to sport and physical activity

What Hearts & Minds will deliver
Partner organisations will gain an in-depth
understanding of the thoughts and behaviour of
key target markets and specific sub groups of
interest such as:
• participants in other complementary sports
• demographic groups which are priority targets
• existing participants about whom additional
strategic information is required
• people within a targeted geographical area
• hard to reach groups where sporting activity
levels are low - minorities, economically
deprived, people with disabilities etc.
Subscribing to Hearts & Minds will provide an
understanding of existing and potential
participants in your sport and how to engage with
them.
This insight will enable you to create targeted
campaigns that address and change behaviours
and evaluate their effectiveness over time.
Hearts & Minds | Syndicated Research

Key Milestones
In order to deliver the Hearts & Minds study we
need to consult with our subscribers and potential
subscribers on the size and shape of our study. We
are already in discussion with Sport England
reviewing what we propose to complement Active
Lives to ensure that we are ready to go shortly
after the initial data from Active Lives has been
delivered. With that in mind we are working to the
following time plan:
January
• Initial consultation with subscribers/potential
subscribers
By mid February
• Review of Active Lives and consultation on
information gaps
Early March
• Informal agreement in principle to participate
Mid March
• Formal proposals and costs confirmed
Early to mid April
• Fieldwork
Early May
• Results
Greater understanding of attitudes to sport and physical activity

FAQs
Common questions which have arisen so far are:
Q What is syndicated research programme?
A. A study which several partners co-fund.
Q. Why do you propose a syndicated approach? What
are the benefits
A. A syndicated approach offers:
• common metrics to afford objective comparison
between sports
• shared costs resulting in far lower costs to each
partner than from their own bespoke study
• shared information between partners which will be
helpful to each and in seeking to better understand
the crossover between sports.
Q. Can we input into the design of the survey
A. Yes. Each partner will be a key contributor to decisions
on what the survey addresses.
Q. Will the survey pick up my target groups?
A. Our survey is designed to be nationally representative
and we will be able to report on all key population
demographics: by age, gender, social class, region,
ethnicity & life stage. We will pick up participation levels
for each sport by these key demographics. If you have a
niche target e.g. a specific subgroup or geographic area,
we can provide you with a targeted boost to ensure we
have robust coverage of your target market.
Q. Can we survey our own members?
We can work with you to address some or all of the
questions with your databases. We will host the survey
for you and provide the findings from the members and
compare these with the main study.
Hearts & Minds | Syndicated Research

Next steps
We will call to discuss and get your feedback on
what we are proposing. If in the meantime, you
would like more details please get in touch with us
paul@roberts-sports.com
michael@sportmr.co.uk
jack@sportmr.co.uk
Greater understanding of attitudes to sport and physical activity