Company Description

We research experiences!

As the world’s most experienced research firm focused on experiential marketing and fan engagement, we believe the key to maximizing impact is to dig deep, go beyond a dashboard of big data and artificial intelligence, and "humanize" the connections brands, sports, entertainment events, associations, and NPO’s are making.

With 4 decades of global experiential research and over 100 leading brands and rights holders as clients, we can guide you to the deepest layers of audience passion points, pain points, and emotional triggers to build stronger, more meaningful, and lasting connections.

These are our lanes

Brand Partnerships

Performance Research is the sponsorship research pioneer. We literally wrote the book on sponsorship impact and brand loyalty, pushing the industry forward to prove its value with rigorous research and measurement. We help brands find the sweet spot where a partnership and activation align, making experiential marketing more meaningful and memorable. Whether pre-testing partnerships or tracking success, our framework is holistic - we don't just measure ROI, we explore further to understand ROR: Return on Relationship.

Sports Properties

Sports properties have two parallel goals: create the most compelling experience for fans and transfer that feeling into lasting relationships. We have worked with the world's leading sports organizations to create actionable intelligence around those dual goals. Our work includes naming rights research, sponsorship retention insights, fan engagement and "lost fan" re-engagement, ticketing strategies, pricing and more.

Festivals and Arts

From film festivals to concert tours, theme parks to art museums, we research what makes or breaks the single day experiences from the human perspective, and help clients strategically build partnerships that will enhance attendee experiences in the future.

Youth Sports

Youth sports are significant life experiences, building camaraderie, confidence, and community. While kids are the centerpiece, parents steer the decisions, making marketing a complex task. From youth soccer to girls tackle football, our research has created roadmaps for our clients to optimize connections with their stakeholders: athletes, parents, partners and sponsors, coaches and the community. We have helped youth sports programs across the country maximize engagement and build more positive experiences for lasting impact.

NGBs

NGBs must build their respective sport, drive competitive excellence, and set high ethical standards. But with diverse stakeholders, multiple programs, and finite resources, the hurdles can be high. Solid research gives NGBs the data and insights they need to set priorities, enhance program effectiveness, optimize member engagement, boost revenue, and ultimately expand reach and impact.

NPO’s and Education

We know that "doing good" is the mission, but research gives NPO’s the insight to harness and amplify that good.  We work with leading non-profits, universities, health organizations, public broadcasting, and social advocacy groups to understand brand image, communication platforms, and action plans, all to maximize public support and mission impact.

ProSocial Impact

What is your Return on Purpose? Our breakthrough measurement framework, ProSocial Valuation®, uses rigorous research and economic algorithms to identify outcomes of social programs and the dollar value they return to society.

Research we love to do 

• Sponsorship Impact and Tracking
• Fan and Audience Feedback
• Audience Segmentation
• Economic Impact Analyses
• Re-engaging Lost and Lapsed Fans
• Niche Markets
• Ticket Price Optimization
• Venue Naming Rights

We go deep and wide in research methods to reveal the whole "human" story and insights: Signposts of success, opportunities for growth, and always the pure truth.