CMO of USA Pickleball on marketing the fastest-growing sport in a $65Bn category

Jose Moreno, the CMO of USA Pickleball, joins us in this episode to share USA Pickeball’s journey from a small governing body (with just 4-5 employees a few years ago), to now leading the charge as the fastest-growing sport in America. How did they do this? - By building a strong sense of community around the sport. Jose emphasized the importance of constant listening and adapting to authentically 'build credibility' with their player base, instead of simply dictating from the top down.

The brand built credibility in the niche through strategic partnerships with brands from other industries, like Fortune Tires and Skechers. Additionally, Jose shared insights on the challenges of prioritizing and executing as a small marketing team to keep up with the surging demand, cautioning against trying to be "all things to everybody". The conversation is full of useful tips and insights from USA Pickleball's journey to becoming the top contender in the rapidly growing pickleball world, highlighting the significance of community, authenticity, and strategic prioritization.

Watch the video version of this podcast on YouTube 📺: https://youtu.be/yxN4dLvYJBM

Mentioned in the show 🖊️:

Challenger brand: North face 

📚Chapters:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:04:10 - Favourite challenger brand 👊

00:06:10 - What is Pickleball 🎾

00:17:36 - Positioning of the Pickleball Brand

00:21:11 - How to do More with Less 🤏

00:24:46 - A Typical Week for the Pickleball Team 

00:29:57 - Product Innovation from Customer Feedback  - Pickleball’s version

00:38: 40 Lightning Round ⚡

00:38:50 First Marketing Job 🧑‍💼

00:39:50 - Best Career Advice for Marketers 

00:40:49 - Best Brand Campaign

00:41:50 - Pet Peeve of Marketing 

00:42:38 - Best Marketing Tool ⚒️

00:43:01 - What should people do differently after this episode?

Find Rival online at www.wearerival.com, LinkedIn, Twitter. 

Find Jose on LinkedIn .

Find Eric on LinkedIn and tweet him @efulwiler. 

Say hi at [email protected], we’d love to hear from you.

Rival is a marketing consultancy for brands that want to challenge convention in their category. We’re on a mission to understand what challenger brands do differently to grow in categories that are being disrupted, and use a challenger playbook to deliver outsized impact through an integrated, tech-enabled approach. Past guests include CMOs from Mastercard, GE, Shell, Hyperloop, Adobe, PepsiCo, and Papa Johns.

If you’re interested in learning more about marketing from successful CMOs, we compiled a list of the top 5 CMO podcasts to listen to in 2024; check it out here 🔗  https://www.wearerival.com/content-hub-articles/cmo-podcasts-you-cannot-afford-to-miss-in-2024