'don't lose sleep over attendances...'

Don't forget Frankel's last at Ascot.Going to be a massive turnout to see the greatest racehorse on the planet.

www.mikewittenstein.com/coca-cola-reveals-its-brand-strategy/

apparently Frankel's following have added significantly to the turnover of racing in the UK this year....

but uk racing is always busy at the tracks ,i ask myself why simple they understand and love horseracing,simple as that

I agree with Don.

Zenyatta added massively to attendances in the US.

Black Caviar added massively to race course attendances in Australia.

Frankel is doing the same in the UK.

It just goes to show, the general public are still interested in a spectacle. If we provide one, the crowds will come.

Remember that actions are habit-forming. The more one does something, the more you're likely to keep doing it.

If people are not spending time on course, people are not spending money on course. They're also not investing any time, interest, or passion in the sport either. If we can't get them there, or keep them there, we are not able to establish a habit of watching / supporting racing. Instead those people will form habits doing other things. And the more they establish patterns of spending time and money elsewhere, the harder it is to get them back to racing.

So I agree with Don that on-course attendances are significant.

For anyone who does not have the latest Parade, you can access it online here:-

www.parademag.co.za/2012/201209.pdf

And look how those 3 horses have been marketed? Black Caviar's apperance in the UK caused such a stir - even the London Cabs were painted pink with black spots, and renamed: "Black Cabiar". There is that famous photo of the 2 double decker buses, with a huge Frankel on one, and Camelot on the other - with a tagline of: "is this the only time we will ever see Camelot in front of Frankel?". Zenyatta had a blog that is followed by thousands. All championed in the press and by PR firms - here we market the Soccer 6... Not a clash between big horses, or even jocks! There is NO magic left here in SA. While NOWHERE near the class of the aforementioned horses, I have created a "fan page" on Facebook for Pierre Jourdan. It is the most followed Page for any South African horse racing related subject. He has little school girls sending him good luck messages with hearts and kisses, punters sending in photos of him. It's is so lovely to see the potential out there... Wish they would tap into it!

*waits for the negative and derogatory comments to come slinging in*

No negative comments Ruby, I would say that ABC do highlight what is right and wrong with racing, sport, politics etc

However if we have a champ (Igugu) the last, it will get plenty positive post and marketing, plus we do have marketing divisions via the various racing operators and we are also happy to post and promote on their behalf.

Unfortunately we will never have a 'local' champ to go see in the flesh as they get shipped overseas as soon as they show classic potential. {waves goodbye to Softfallingrain.....disconsolate expression on face}

True that the crowds are bigger in the uk,still doesnt stop them paying win stakes of £1600

scotia Wrote:

---

> No negative comments Ruby, I would say that ABC do
> highlight what is right and wrong with racing,
> sport, politics etc
>
> However if we have a champ (Igugu) the last, it
> will get plenty positive post and marketing, plus
> we do have marketing divisions via the various
> racing operators and we are also happy to post and
> promote on their behalf.


Unfortunately Scotia - nobody ever bothered to market Igugu, and make her a household name. There is no Igugu fan page on Facebook, like Zenyatta has. There is no Igugu Twitter account, like Black Caviar has. There is no clever marketing from the racing authorities using Igugu - they only promote betting (and R3000 hospitality packages). While that is their main product, you have to attract the people to the sport first, generate interest, and try to resuscitate some of the old magic that we used to have in the Sea Cottage/ Empress Club/ Horse Chestnut days. The magic has faded. The glamour is transient, and linked to the 3 big days. The Met, Charity Mile and July are just a place top be seen and get "motherless" drunk. Most of the people in tent town dont even have a clue who is running in the main race. Sad, but true.

Like it or not, Twitter and Facebook, and possibly the new MySpace are the way to go. You get a feed from everyone/ everything you follow, and you get constant updates, handed to you in a live ever chaning feed. They are the two most popular sites in the world. Normal webpages require a person/ customer/ fan to type in a web address, and go and look at a website, when they remember. FB and Twitter feeds come straight to your phone - so easy! Gai Waterhouse, Peter Moody, Kieren Fallon, AP McCoy, Tom Queally, Juddmonte Farms, Black Caviar, Mick Channon, Bob Baffert, Rachel Alexandra, Coolmore, Lane's End Farm, Zenyatta etc all have the most fabulously informative twitter profiles. They give live, up-to-date info and photos. Sadly, the South African horse racing fraternity is way behind the rest of the world when it comes to Social media. It is severely under utilised. Summerhill Stud, however, have hit it out of the park - they are the leaders in SA social media. The older generation are very wary of it, and humph and grumph about it (not sure why) - but whether you like it or not, this particular bandwagon is here to stay.

yep, clearly SAF has to 'get with the programme'!! out of touch

rubyclipper Wrote:

---

> scotia Wrote:
>

---

>

---

> > No negative comments Ruby, I would say that ABC
> do
> > highlight what is right and wrong with racing,
> > sport, politics etc
> >
> > However if we have a champ (Igugu) the last, it
> > will get plenty positive post and marketing,
> plus
> > we do have marketing divisions via the various
> > racing operators and we are also happy to post
> and
> > promote on their behalf.
>
>
> Unfortunately Scotia - nobody ever bothered to
> market Igugu, and make her a household name. There
> is no Igugu fan page on Facebook, like Zenyatta
> has. There is no Igugu Twitter account, like Black
> Caviar has. There is no clever marketing from the
> racing authorities using Igugu - they only promote
> betting (and R3000 hospitality packages). While
> that is their main product, you have to attract
> the people to the sport first, generate interest,
> and try to resuscitate some of the old magic that
> we used to have in the Sea Cottage/ Empress Club/
> Horse Chestnut days. The magic has faded. The
> glamour is transient, and linked to the 3 big
> days. The Met, Charity Mile and July are just a
> place top be seen and get "motherless" drunk. Most
> of the people in tent town dont even have a clue
> who is running in the main race. Sad, but true.
>
> Like it or not, Twitter and Facebook, and possibly
> the new MySpace are the way to go. You get a feed
> from everyone/ everything you follow, and you get
> constant updates, handed to you in a live ever
> chaning feed. They are the two most popular sites
> in the world. Normal webpages require a person/
> customer/ fan to type in a web address, and go and
> look at a website, when they remember. FB and
> Twitter feeds come straight to your phone - so
> easy! Gai Waterhouse, Peter Moody, Kieren Fallon,
> AP McCoy, Tom Queally, Juddmonte Farms, Black
> Caviar, Mick Channon, Bob Baffert, Rachel
> Alexandra, Coolmore, Lane's End Farm, Zenyatta etc
> all have the most fabulously informative twitter
> profiles. They give live, up-to-date info and
> photos. Sadly, the South African horse racing
> fraternity is way behind the rest of the world
> when it comes to Social media. It is severely
> under utilised. Summerhill Stud, however, have hit
> it out of the park - they are the leaders in SA
> social media. The older generation are very wary
> of it, and humph and grumph about it (not sure
> why) - but whether you like it or not, this
> particular bandwagon is here to stay.

you might not believe this ruby,but i helped establish nearly all the main pages on facebook etc,by recomending to a couple of big facebook pages followers friends i run..

I also tried to push social media to everyone as an advertising tool years ago,something that they are now starting to realise is essential...

I got no thanks so i gave up trying to help everyone,i still use occasionaly but only for bits of bobs of information(think we still have the biggest twitter account of any site in South Africa)

I`m not a big fan of following sites on social media though as they are mostly getting used to spam their websites...