The challenge
ESPN's Fan & Marketplace Insights team specializes in understanding and growing sports audiences, especially among Gen Z and Gen Alpha. But researching these younger cohorts is uniquely complex:
- Youth behaviors and content preferences evolve rapidly; it can be hard for brands to keep up with traditional research methods.
- Custom foundational studies were time-intensive and infrequent, leaving gaps in ESPN's ability to monitor shifting trends.
- Reaching under-18 audiences brought added compliance challenges, slowing down projects and increasing reliance on outside vendors.
- Internal teams were hungry for fresh, actionable insights, but gathering and sharing them in a way that felt human and impactful was difficult to scale.
The solution
Knit gave ESPN a faster, more flexible, and more expressive way to engage with today's youth audience
- Always on, quick-turn research
- "Gen Z and Gen Alpha change so fast...Knit has enabled us to have a more ongoing, quick-turn longitudinal pulse," said Laura Keiling, Sr. Director of Strategic Insights at ESPN.
- Safe and seamless access to middle and high schoolers
- With built-in COPPA compliance, Knit allowed ESPN to safely engage a younger demographic without weeks of legal and logistical delays.
- End-to-end efficiency without compromising rigor
- From survey creation to quant + qual fielding to AI powered reporting, Knit eliminated friction at every step of the research process.
- Insights that travel across the org
- "There's no substitute for giving the voice of your consumer directly to your internal clients." With Knit, Lauren's team can share actionable topline reports and video showreels that resonate with leadership and product teams alike.
