Session 4B  Marketing Bridge & Conference Round-Up

Thursday 1 July 2021

Live Presentation & Focus Groups

Developing a Marketing Strategy for Mindsport: Bridging Insights and Motivations

Esme Nicholson and Christina Ballinger (Bridge 2 Bridge) and Jordan Maclean (BAMSA)

This interactive session will discuss types of potential mindsport players and the factors that could motivate them to take up bridge. The session includes live opinion polling and focus groups. Data collected during the session will be used in the Bridging Insights research project.

Conference Round-Up

Future Research and Implications for Bridge

Professor Samantha Punch (BAMSA), Dr Tihana Brkljačić (Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Zagreb, and Catholic University of Croatia) and Dr Marek Malysa (Chair of the Council, Bridge to the People Foundation, Poland)

To close the conference, the research team Bridge: A MindSport for All (BAMSA) and members of the project steering group will summarise the previous eight sessions and reflect on how emerging themes will influence BAMSA’s ongoing research agenda.

Advance Recorded Presentations

(Click green arrows to view recordings)

Thinking Outside the ‘Bidding Box’: Marketing Bridge to New Players   

Esme Nicholson, Christina Ballinger and Professor Maurice Biriotti (Bridge 2 Bridge) and Jordan Maclean and Professor Samantha Punch (BAMSA)

As a complex game of many aspects, bridge appeals to different people in different ways. The presenters propose four distinct types of players, each with their own reasons for playing, and ask: to what extent does each type of player require a different marketing strategy?

Serious Leisure Experience in A Mindsport: Elite Player Motivations and Participation in Tournament Bridge   

Zoe Russell and Professor Samantha Punch (Bridge: A MindSport for All)

This presentation considers factors that motivate bridge players at the highest level of tournament bridge. Based on interviews with 52 elite bridge players, the BAMSA study gives insights into the serious leisure experience and the ways in which social interaction and interpersonal dynamics influence the participation of both professionals and amateurs within the mindsport.

ACES & KNAVES: Images of Bridge   

Jackie Paré (Filmmaker, USA) in conversation with BAMSA and bridge legend Zia Mahmood (USA)

ACES & KNAVES is a classy, well-regarded documentary about the best and the worst of bridge, but to what extent will it alter the popular perception that bridge is a dull game for older people? This discussion of the documentary considers the role of film and television in changing minds and challenging stereotypes.

Refreshing the ACBL Brand   

Mary Stratton (Director of Marketing, American Contract Bridge League)

With an eye on injecting new vitality to the ACBL, exploring a brand refresh began in 2019. An independent study informed a decision to enhance ACBL’s identity and personality through a new logo, website and collateral. Mary Stratton will share a brief overview of the revised branding and its implementation.

Marketing Challenges facing Bridge after Covid    

Peter Cox (Head of Marketing, Australian Bridge Federation)

Covid was a tipping point for bridge around the world with an ageing cohort, growing attrition, competitive leisure market, declining volunteers, low retention rates and poor behaviour all contributing to declining memberships. This presentation considers insights from a survey of 2,500 Australian players on bridge both during and after Covid.