I led the situational analysis and SWOT analysis for this project. The situational analysis examined USTA's current positioning, messaging, and existing outreach efforts. The SWOT analysis identified a core tension: USTA had reach and resources, but its brand image carried associations with exclusivity that directly undermined the goal of increasing participation among students who had little prior exposure to the sport.
I also led the content analysis, which looked at how USTA was showing up on social media and whether that presence reflected the audience they were trying to reach. It did not. The representation gap between USTA's content and the lived experience of college students of color was one of the clearest findings in the research and became a core driver of the strategy.
The research pointed to three things: storytelling, representation, and campus presence. Students in this demographic discover new activities through people who look like them, in spaces they already occupy. The proposal recommended a student-led social media campaign and on-campus activations at HBCUs, HSIs, and urban universities, reframing tennis as social and accessible rather than elite and distant.
The proposal outlines clear objectives, measurable goals, and actionable tactics, including a student-led social media campaign and on-campus activations at HBCUs, HSIs, and urban universities. The strategy reframes tennis as accessible, social, and identity-driven rather than elite or distant. This project reflects my approach to strategy: people first, research-led, and rooted in cultural awareness.