Phonak and USA Pickleball Team Up to Promote Hearing Health

Welcome to This Week in Hearing. I’m Shari Eberts, and today we are live at AAA 2026. I’m here with Christine Jones—thanks so much for joining me.

Thanks for having me, Shari.

Absolutely. You’re the Vice President of Marketing for Sonova. Can you tell me a little bit about your background and your role with the company?

I’ve been with Sonova for a while. I started my career as an audiologist and held several roles in audiology, but I’m currently responsible for marketing.

Excellent—that sounds like a lot of fun. And today we’re here to talk about pickleball, which is one of my favorite sports. Do you play at all?

I love pickleball. More importantly, my parents are very into it, and that was part of the inspiration for why this could be such a great fit for our brand. We’re very excited here at AAA to be kicking off our collaboration as a partner with USA Pickleball.

That’s fantastic. How did that come about? Was this something that had been in the works for a while, or more of a sudden inspiration?

When we think about our devices, we really see them as performance enablers. When we look at consumers—where they are and what they need to be successful—it’s about physical activity, great hearing, and strong social connections. There’s no better way to bring all of that together than through pickleball. It offers everything in one place.

We saw a great opportunity to position our products not just as something that helps on the court, but as something that enhances performance in everyday life. It also ties into the broader idea of living a healthy, socially connected life. Given that pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the country, it really felt like the right fit.

That makes a lot of sense. So how will this program work? I believe it’s called “Hear to Win.” Is this a broader marketing initiative or focused just on the pickleball partnership?

“Hear to Win” is our campaign. On one hand, we’re driving awareness of the hearing care category among consumers. By being present in pickleball, we’re creating opportunities for people to experience better hearing firsthand. We’ll be at a number of regional tournaments, as well as the national championships in November.

That sounds like fun—did you attend last year?

Yes, I did. That’s actually how we learned more about the space. It was a really fun event, and we’re excited to be part of it again. We’ll be present not only at the events themselves, but also through their online communities to help raise awareness.

The other component of “Hear to Win” is that it creates opportunities for our customers to get involved. We’ve developed a comprehensive marketing program that spans everything from lead generation to customer retention, as well as local activations at pickleball facilities. It allows providers to connect with consumers who are focused on maintaining their health and are interested in improving their hearing.

That’s great. And hearing definitely plays a role on the pickleball court. I’ve experienced that myself—whether it’s calling a ball in or out, or communicating with your partner. It’s a visual sport, but communication is still key.

Exactly. One of my experiences with Sphere technology was at an indoor pickleball facility, which can be very loud.

Absolutely.

Those environments are typically challenging—poor acoustics, lots of noise, and people speaking at a distance. I was really impressed with how well Sphere performed in that setting. When my dad was fitted with the technology, he also found that those environments were where he experienced the greatest benefit.

As part of the “Hear to Win” campaign, we also created an on-ear audio and video demonstration showing someone playing pickleball with and without Sphere technology. It’s a powerful way to illustrate the performance benefits.

That’s really compelling.

It’s also a fun way to bring those benefits to life. So many people are engaged with pickleball right now, and it adds a sense of energy and accessibility to the category.

I love that. When people attend these tournaments, how will they be able to engage with your team and experience the technology?

We’ll have booths at regional and national events where people can explore opportunities for better hearing. They can scan a QR code to take a hearing screening, listen to demonstrations of Sphere technology, and speak with our team on site. We can also connect them with our online “Find a Provider” tool if they want to take the next step.

Will there be local providers involved as well?

In some cases, yes—we’ll bring in local partners to support those activations.

That’s terrific. What’s next for “Hear to Win”? Anything coming up that you can share?

We have some really exciting ideas planned for the fall, and I’m looking forward to bringing those to market. So stay tuned—we’d love to connect again soon.

That sounds great. Thanks so much, Christine.

Nice to see you again, Shari.

Nice to see you too.