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THIS is an exciting time within the corridors of Horse Racing Ireland as the governing body launches its new brand. It is the first step in a plan aimed at raising awareness and interest levels in horse racing, and hopefully increasing attendances.
‘Every Racing Moment’ is the tagline that will underpin all of the marketing and promotion of Irish racing for the foreseeable future, and HRI’s Paul Dermody and his team will put significant effort into relevant communications to each of their target audiences. Speaking to The Irish Field, Dermody said: “We have a healthy 1.3 million attendees going racing [in 2018], so we are coming from a good base, and our six-month figures announced in July show growth year on year.
“Our investment in marketing will be complemented by a significant investment in customer data and insights in the future. Like all sport and entertainment brands we have no choice but to collate real-time, relevant data on our customers from all sources; in our case ticket sales, free Wi-Fi on course and social media, and translate that information into actionable insights for racecourses to enhance the experience of racegoers, and also into sales.”
Communicate
He went on to say: “It is really important that we continue to communicate the good value that racing in Ireland represents. The vast majority of racecourses have accessed capital development funding from HRI in recent years to significantly improve race day facilities.
In addition to that we see a huge emphasis being placed on adding entertainment to the raceday experience across the majority of tracks.”
Dermody brings a wealth of experience to his role as commercial and marketing director at HRI, having previously had roles in some of the most popular sports in the country, Gaelic football and hurling and in rugby. He is also realistic about the challenges ahead.
“I’d be the first to say this is not the silver bullet that’s going to get people off their couches tomorrow morning, but it’s the start of a three to five year plan that we are putting in place.”
Rebranding
Rebranding is an exercise that often beings out the cynic in Joe Public, but Dermody is keen to point out that it has many practical advantages. He explains: “We felt that the logo Horse Racing Ireland currently uses has stood the test of time really well.
“However, like any logo that was created before digital media, there comes a time when it stops working in those new digital formats, so that’s one reason for change.
“A second and probably more strategic reason is the fact that we wanted to have a visual identity for Horse Racing Ireland that could take account of the full breadth of what we do, whether it’s the Tote, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, ownership and more.”
Now almost two years into his current role, what changes has Dermody seen in racing? “I’d say in terms of driving interest levels, there has been a definite change. Look at the Dublin Racing Festival as an example of innovation that has been introduced into the racing calendar.
“You see how 10,700 turned out at Leopardstown on a Thursday night [All Saints in concert after racing]. When we put on an experience that couples high-quality racing with an understanding of the entertainment needs of the racegoer, we are seeing significant growth. You’ll probably see a lot more of this in the next 12 months.”
With free Wi-Fi being rolled out at all racecourses, greater interaction on social media and other measures, Dermody is keen that promotions are targeted to the different audiences, and that the message will be distinct for each of these groups.
National launch
Dermody is looking forward to the national television ad campaign that launches on Monday [August 26th]. “You will see in the campaign that across 30 seconds we are trying to capture as many of those core audiences as possible – the first-time racegoers, the novice, the socialiser, the hard-core fan and the owners and trainers. They all get a brief nod throughout the ad.
“What’s far more important is the follow through, where we at central level take particular themes and put the relevant message front and centre to those people.
“There are ways we can complement the raceday experience to educate and inform.”
One strength that Dermody believes we have in Ireland, and one on which he can build, is the engagement from racing’s professionals. “I’ve been blown away by the level of encouragement and participation I’ve got from key people around the industry, particularly trainers, jockeys and owners giving access to themselves, their yards or their horses.”
In terms of media coverage for racing, Dermody says that improvements can be made.
“We are working very hard with media partners, and there’s always more we can do. I strongly believe that we at Horse Racing Ireland have a massive role to play in shining a light on racing, and giving stories that will capture the imagination of the public.”
Extremely strong
The numbers watching Irish racing on Racing TV are ahead of RUK expectations at this early stage in the contract.
He said: “I think it is servicing the core racing fan very well; the challenge from a commercial marketing perspective, and to growing profile, is that we need to do so beyond just the subscription channels. RTÉ, the national media and social media can play a massive role in that.”
In the past Dermody expressed a desire to reward regular racegoers. Has this been advanced, or how would he see it working?
“Our view is that creating a loyalty programme that is card-based and sits in your wallet is outdated. We are more interested in having a culture and approach to rewarding you on the basis of what we know about you and how you consume racing.
“It comes back to customer data. We are building a data warehouse which holds information from wherever we get it. We are building that to provide a coherent view as to who you are and we can then reward you with an experience or a communication that is specific to you.”
Key strategies
Summing up, what for Dermody and the HRI headquarters are the key marketing strategies for both the short and long term?
“Well I suppose short term has to be driving the profile and interest level in the sport. That starts with a robust brand, a robust positioning campaign and advertising.
“That’s what we are starting with on Monday with the ‘Every Racing Moment’ campaign.
“Out of that falls more specific targets around the racing experience; that is where we will work with particular racecourses to drive on the customer experience. We will deliver what we can at racecourse level, making sure that everything we are doing is driving attendances. How we are going to do that is making sure we refine the levers of the purchase decision, driving value.
“As a sport we are probably a little bit behind others in terms of the percentage of advance ticket sales. That’s something we want to specifically target.
“Every sport and entertainment business in the world will tell you advance ticket sales is a driver to growth.
“We haven’t really grasped that nettle over the last number of years. We are very much a cash driven business, with exceptions like the major festivals who do sell a lot of corporate hospitality in advance.
“We should be pushing messages around price and value in advance. That is something we can help with, where we have a key role as a service provider, to be a centre of excellence for racecourses.”
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