MTM Agency’s Michelle Cross says sport should sell lifestyle before rules

Michelle Cross of MTM Agency argues that sports bodies trying to attract newcomers should lead with emotion and identity rather than rules, equipment and technique, using the agency's work for England Golf as a case study.

Many governing bodies, she says, struggle with whole audiences who believe a sport ‘isn't for people like me’. Golf has battled for decades with stereotypes that it is too formal, too expensive, too male-dominated or too exclusive.

MTM Agency has spent the past two years supporting England Golf's national ‘Get into Golf’ campaign. Cross says it quickly became clear that removing barriers to taking part meant presenting golf as a lifestyle that mirrors people's identities and the lives they want to lead, not promoting the mechanics of the game.

She argues that lifestyle-led storytelling breaks down stereotypes faster than factual marketing. The brief was to reach new audiences and show that golf is open to all kinds of people, which the agency did by showing how it could fit into people's lives and make them feel, rather than telling them golf had changed.

Golf was recast as low-impact exercise, a wellbeing ritual, a social activity, something for families and a personal challenge that builds confidence. Instead of actors or slick adverts, the campaign filmed real golfers, including women, families and young couples, talking candidly about what the sport had given them: chiefly extra energy, headspace and fun, and more time with each other.

Emotion beats information

Cross says sports marketers miss an opportunity when they rely too much on rational messages about health, cost, kit and rules, because emotion and identity are what change behaviour.

Research backed by conversations with PGA professional Emma Booth found that people were not rejecting golf itself but what they believed it said about them. Women did not see players like themselves, disabled people were absent, families felt unwelcome and couples did not know how to begin.

The creative strategy was built on four pillars: belonging (‘people like me play golf’), self-image (‘golf fits my life, my values, my vibe’), ease (‘I don't need to know the rules to try it’) and emotion (‘Golf makes me feel good’). In Cross's view, when audiences feel understood rather than lectured, participation follows.

Surrounding the audience

Each channel had to contribute to one connected story, with social media at the centre. Candid films on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook showed golf as energetic, diverse, fun and achievable.

With a tight paid media budget, the team did not try to do everything, instead boosting the best-performing assets featuring real people. Cross says engagement stayed high and costs stayed well below industry benchmarks.

For PR, the agency worked with golfer Caz Grant to tell the story of how she came to the sport, backed by its own consumer research into the public's misconceptions about golf and its appetite to try something new. Combining a personal story with data helped the campaign spread quickly, reaching 2.85 million listeners organically across 25 radio stations.

The awareness work built towards Get into Golf Week, a national event designed to make it as easy as possible for first-timers to try the game. Hundreds of clubs took part and reported a significant rise in enquiries from people who had never thought about playing.

The campaign delivered an 87% increase in Instagram engagement and 2.5m paid media impressions, but Cross says the real success was reaching people who had never imagined holding a golf club and were now keen to try.

Lead with people

Her advice to other sports is to sell the lifestyle they open up. That means leading with people rather than the sport, showing the emotions and identities it supports, making content aspirational but achievable and letting real participants tell the story.

Every touchpoint should reinforce one message, ‘This is for you’, followed by a moment that prompts action, such as an activation week or national event, to turn curiosity into participation.

Cross argues the same applies to cycling, cricket, running or climbing: people join a community, an identity and a feeling rather than a sport. Marketing sport as a source of joy, connection, confidence and wellbeing, she says, opens the door to people who have been left wondering whether they belong.