How we turned audience insight into digital strategy and commercial advantage for one of sport’s most complex portfolios.
The challenge
The International Cycling Union (UCI), cycling’s world governing body, oversees a diverse portfolio of disciplines, each with its own unique fan profile, growth curve and market maturity.
To future-proof its digital strategy and unlock untapped commercial potential, UCI asked: Who exactly are we speaking to – and where should we grow next?
They needed clarity on:
- discipline-specific audiences
- regional engagement patterns
- monetisable growth opportunities
Our approach
We launched a global audience research programme grounded in data, segmentation and commercial foresight.
This included:
- a multilingual survey to profile UCI’s current and potential audiences
- outreach via UCI digital channels to fans, amateur riders, professionals and National Federations (NFs)
- audience segmentation by demographic, psychographic and behavioural traits
- additional inputs from a global research panel and Redtorch’s proprietary audience growth model
We focused on answering three key questions:
- who are UCI’s digital audiences (by discipline and by region)?
- where are the high-potential growth markets and are there any gaps in the market?
- what content and engagement strategies drive retention and revenue?
The outcome
- 2,000+ qualified responses generated by the survey
- delivery of a detailed, insight-rich audience segmentation model across all UCI disciplines
- identification of new engagement strategies tailored to fan archetypes and market maturity
- presentation of findings to internal teams and sponsors to inform sponsorship retention and new partnership strategy
The result? UCI now has a first-party audience intelligence framework that guides content planning, brand positioning and commercial activation.
