Blog.

While I’m still recovering from the drama of Alistair Cook’s final test match and a 10 hour T20 Blast finals day TV marathon, a new format of cricket is readying itself for inclusion in the English cricketing summer. Last year the ECB, in an effort to widen the appeal of cricket, went back to the […]

Rugby Union. A sport steeped in history and tradition. However it could be this tradition that has held the game back. In terms of club sizes, pay packages and TV viewing figures, it significantly lags behind other mainstream UK sports such as football, tennis or cricket. The game only turned professional in 1995 and some […]

I love golf. I’m not alone. There are loads of us – it’s the eighth most popular sport in the world, after all. That’s why it was so disappointing to see one of the game’s great events – the US PGA Championship – mired in broadcasting controversy. Some might consider it the lesser of the […]

Historically Test cricket has been the pinnacle of the sport. However in recent years the game has failed to engage younger fans in the same way white ball cricket has. Having worked at Lords myself, I’ve witnessed the sell-out T20 Blast matches in comparison to the nearly empty county championship matches. The viewership figures for […]

At Performance, we pride ourselves on creating insight-driven content. Typically our focus is on delivering this content for our clients rather than ourselves. Sometimes, however, we do create videos to highlight our work or write a blog on subjects about which we’re passionate – normally sport and cars. By publishing interesting and engaging content, we […]

Known for rolling out algorithms, makeovers and new features on a regular basis, Instagram (the Gok Wan of the social media landscape) has finally got it right. Well, for brands anyway. Last month, Instagram introduced the new explore page to select users and has since rolled it out to everyone. The new page sees everything […]

In the past 12-18 months, we have seen an increase in the level of attention paid to the subject of brand purpose. However, ‘purpose’ has almost become one of those words that everybody uses and yet nobody really understands. And nobody dares to admit it. But I had to. I have recently started working with […]

We regularly use a host of insight tools when planning our campaigns but this week, I wanted to use Google Trends to track the rise – and fall – of interest in the England football team. In the past 48 hours, interest in the World Cup came to an abrupt end for England fans. Meanwhile […]

So England is out of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. But we came close and there are a lot of positives we can take from the tournament. There are plenty of pundits giving their opinion on England’s on-pitch performance but this article looks at how the team and the FA performed off the pitch, from […]

Stop sniggering in the back…As the old adage goes, it’s what you do with it that counts. Especially when it comes to influencers. There are many ways to judge the importance, or influence, of an individual, be they on Instagram, Twitter or a newspaper. If you remember the 3R’s then you will be much better […]

At Performance we have the full spectrum of F1 fans. From the full-on watch-every-weekend addicts to those who probably couldn’t name more than two drivers (and this is probably more down to Lewis Hamilton’s latest haircut or social media gaff than his driving). But what do they make of this season so far? We take […]

For decades, businesses have refreshed logos, straplines and more recently websites. Sporting teams have done it too over the years, some to greater success than others. However sport evokes a passion in people that most companies can only dream of. So from something as simple as redesigning a club badge to changing a club name, […]

8th March was International Women’s Day. Some brands saw it as a way to do something that would empower and inspire women while some saw it as an opportunity to do something to get attention, no matter what. Some, like Mattel with its Inspiring Women collection, did it to great success. Others, like Brew Dog to […]

The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games have now finished but it’s not all over as the Paralympics kick off on 9th March. I love watching the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. I first got the bug eight years ago when I was lucky enough to go to Vancouver 2010 with my former employer and global Olympic […]

In the last week, the Performance office has been awash with sweat, shower gel and the whiff of competition. Between Monday January 8 and Friday January 12, the 46 members of our UK office have, collectively, cycled the 874 miles between Land’s End and John O’Groats on an exercise bike situated on one of our […]

There’s no getting around it any more – influencer marketing is here, it’s here to stay and it’s taking over. Gone are the days when a brand mention in The Guardian or on Mail Online was the holy-grail for companies. The media landscape has shifted in the last ten years and brands are standing up […]

Having a brand ambassador can bring a myriad of benefits – awareness, engagement and favourability to name a few. Over the past 15 years, we have brokered deals with a range of ambassadors (including Margot Robbie and David Millar) for our clients. But it can be expensive. If you can’t afford the top tier of talent, we […]

The first time I heard this phrase, many months ago, I rolled my eyes at the industry’s Next Big Issue. Measurement. Virtual Reality. AI. Organic reach. I’d heard it all before. However a few weeks ago I attended the Festival of Marketing. By the time I got to the end of my first day, I […]

London’s Social Media Week, they came, they saw, they conquered. Our note-pads and Apple Macs bursting with stats, buzzwords and us? Well, a relief that our brands weren’t highlighted as one of the ‘not so great’ examples. Below are my key highlights from an action packed week. Influencers and advocates rule the social media world […]

Argentina and Portugal left it late but they qualified for the World Cup 2018 and you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief. Not from the millions of Argentinian and Portuguese fans but from the sponsors of FIFA, the national teams and their biggest stars, Messi and Ronaldo. As you were probably aware two […]

Politics and sport have long been bed fellows, but often uncomfortably so. Cast your mind back – or Google it, as I did – and history is punctuated by athletes, teams, fans and entire nations using sport to take a political stance for the causes in which they believe. Needless to say, sporting individuals who […]