RACING
on a day with £3m of prize money at stake. The British Champions’ Series is a huge achievement for racing and creates a clearly branded series of races for expert and novice customers to follow - at the races, in the betting shop and across the media. In its inaugural year, the series has been blessed with some truly out- standing racing, involving several equine superstars. It is early days, but with tickets sales ahead of forecast, it appears that this creative initiative has got off to a great start.
PR CHALLENGE
The challenge with the PR activation was to bring horseracing to newer and younger audiences, out of the sports pages and into everyday chat, around the water cooler and in the pub. Central to the PR strand is the sense that Britain today is culturally drifting apart from racing, and just as impor- tantly, the horse. Post the era of Black Beauty, and popular novels by Dick Francis and Jilly Cooper, the nation’s love affair with the horse appeared to be waning. Central to this work stream was the appointment of Nick Attenborough, director of consumer PR as part of the Racing for Change team. Over the last 18 months Nick and his team have overseen a raft of stories bringing horseracing to the attention of many new customers. Three of the best known stories nur-
IMPROVING THE ODDS: SOME RACING FOR CHANGE HIGHLIGHTS IN 2010
■ Rcing for Change placed 1,200 editorial pieces in the media – 60 per cent of which were in non-racing sections ■ Announcement of the fi rst planned trial of dec- imal odds to make the betting experience more accessible to newcom- ers. The industry is still debating the issue ■ Media training launched for jockeys to help improve their TV
and radio appearances ■ Week of Free Racing introduced – nine UK racecourses took part, attracting over 40,000 new visitors ■ Media promotion of the fi rst live televised stewards’ inquiry ■ Launch of the Go Bet Guide – a new, easy to read betting guide aimed at newcomers ■ Launch of the Love the Races website (love-
tured by Racing for Change include the trial of decimal odds at Ascot Racecourse in the spring of 2010, which gained widespread newspaper and radio coverage across the UK, a month-long ‘free entry’ promotion that involved 26 racecourses and attracted 63,000 new customers through the turnstiles, and champion jockey AP McCoy’s fabulous win at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards in December 2010. Consumer awareness of horserac- ing is also now regularly monitored through research to ensure the right messages are reaching them. Great strides have also been made in terms of improving the overall
The challenge with the PR activation was to bring horseracing to newer and younger audiences, taking it out of the sports pages and into everyday chat
theraces.com) – which links in with social media to produce a new interactive plat- form for racing fans and newcomers alike. The content changes regu- larly with video blogs, beginners’ guides, stu- dent promotions and competitions. ■ RCA helps fund of new student racing mag- azine distributed at 22 university campuses
raceday experience. With so many activities designed to increase aware- ness and tempt people to try a day or evening out at the races, it was essen- tial that the racecourses delivered the quality of experience guests expected.
RACEDAY EXPERIENCE Across 60 racecourses, a pro- gramme of informed self-improvement was introduced. Racing for Change, together with the Racecourse Association (RCA) and Harrison:Fraser managed seminars and masterclasses where improvements across every aspect of the raceday experience could be explored. From online book- ing and guest information through to retailing, catering, customer service and marketing initiatives, every aspect was dissected and reassembled. New publications have been intro- duced to help fi rst time visitors understand the world of betting, meet and greet and ‘ask me’ teams have been used and a range of activities tri- alled in order to enhance everyone’s enjoyment of the day. Importantly, all of the racecourses are collaborating and sharing ideas through the mecha- nism of the Raceday Experience Group – bringing together the biggest and smallest racecourses in a forum sup- ported by a blog where new ideas and experiences can be discussed. In November 2010, the fi rst indus-
try Showcase Awards were introduced, where racecourses competed for acco- lades in sectors ranging from catering to social media and marketing. These
54 Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital ISSUE 4 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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