It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Dawn in MN — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 22:26:42 GMT

Me too, Arts and Letters!

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Dawn in MN — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 22:25:24 GMT

Sherpa, your passion is contagious, and it brought a tear to my eye.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Jim Benton — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 21:31:29 GMT

Mr. Waldrop, I haven't read your blog, I have never read any blog. Just goes to show the problem is real. Thank you and please express your feelings to the powers to be. Maybe we can spark action! Thanks.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

christy tate — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 05:10:30 GMT

amen. i think that part of racing's problem is trying to compete with all the other sports and forms of entertainment that try to grab people's attention. maybe if more movies like Seabiscuit, Secretariat, and The Black Stallion were made that might help. perhaps also an informational show about horses could be broadcast on a cable network. there are lots of things that could be done but with the econmy the way it is i doubt they will be.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Broken Oak Farm — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 02:40:23 GMT

Way to go Jim! Nice article and so true. You need any help, you know how to locate me!

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

sherpa — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 02:52:15 GMT

ok, you want to talk about Advertising? Let's have a JOCKEY on every Wheaties box. Let's have a half-dozen Budweiser Clydesdales watching the BC instead of the Super Bowl (and Hank wins enough to retire because he watches HRTV or TVG and reads Bloodhorse or DRF!); let's have Champion Horse trading cards in every box of CheeriO's; let's let Owners be SPONSORS of their Horses instead of just having sponsors for Big Race Events (i.e., YUM Brands, Grey Goose, etc.) - a la NASCAR. Would Mike Repole go for that in a heartbeat? Let Jockeys endorse products they use to be the fittest athletes on the planet, or the pants and boots and protective vests they wear; let Harrah's and their ilk show commercials of folks at the Track loving the sunshine and camaraderie, cheering for the horse they're betting (instead of a bunch of neon-lit drunks laughing as they dump coins into slots); let the TCA budget advertising to let people know how to adopt OTTBs (if you have the Heart for it, we have the Horses). 30-second spots would do. How many people outside the Community know they could actually own and ride a re-trained thoroughbred ex-racehorse? Betcha, not many.

Last, best idea: Send Steve Haskin or Joe Drape for NPR interviews instead of Andy Beyer. ;-)

Friends, think about the products you use and how advertising them could be adapted to/promote horses/racing. Take those ideas to the masses. Make them THINK horse every time they sit down to breakfast. Make the advertising remind them that they loved horses when they were young. Everybody did! It's never too late to re-live that ardor.

Horses represent the best qualities mankind aspires to: Noble as a Horse. Strength of a Horse. Horse-Sense.

Let the Horse be your guide.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Arts and Letters — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 02:10:15 GMT

I also think at least part of the future of racing lies in more online content. There are a few good, official horse racing streams on Youtube, but not enough yet. And where is the rumoured video archive of the great races of the past? There are a few hard-working private individuals that post races to Youtube that they had taped years ago, but these people tend to get shut down for copyright infringement. There's clearly some kind of market for this, so why don't tracks/organizations whet people's appetites with a few free video clips then sell DVDs of the rest? Or set up a pay per download option? I'd pay for a high quality DVD of every Kentucky Derby that exists rather than the tiny, pixelated versions that are out there now. How many people would like to watch their old favourites winning again? It's fairly easy to find Secretariat's Derby somewhere on the Internet, but what about Pleasant Colony's? If the networks would sell copies of their coverage of past races, I'd be first in line. That would also give people a legal option to those individuals who are selling what they technically don't have any right to.

Come to that, I'd pay for digital copies of back issues of Blood Horse and Thoroughbred Record (partially because the darned paper versions take up so much room!).

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Arts and Letters — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:49:31 GMT

Thanks Fran! I also think Bill Nack's beautiful homages to racing that appear in variuos shows would work great as radio spots - and radio is cheaper than TV.

Actually, a lot of elements from racing would work well in radio ads - the call to the post is easily recognized, plus maybe some clips of famous race calls, the sound of hooves mixed with some epic music, and then the information about whichever race and date it is.

How about the race tracks or various organizations putting on more contests for fan-made videos/mashups about racing (I seem to recall one about Zenyatta) with some cool prizes. There are a surprisingly large number of people who are into this.

If any farms were to get involved, name the foal competitions are incredibly popular - I think Win-Star did that last year.

And I mentioned in another blog that it would be fun for racetracks on special occasions to give away copies of kids' horse racing books (Walter Farley, Joanna Campbell, etc) to all the children that show up that day - that's how I got hooked on racing. It's wholesome, fairly inexpensive, and combines literacy and horse racing - how can you go wrong?

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Equination.net — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:16:20 GMT

There is a reason that companies, from small mom and pop operations to massive corporation, try to spend as much as they can on marketing. It works. Why the industry and its many parts fail to see this is beyond me. Especially after how many years things have been on a downward trend.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Fran Loszynski — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:34:56 GMT

Arts and Letters:

I hope you are applying for a job at the T.V. stations! Horseracing needs you, what great ideas. Wow!

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Arts and Letters — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 02:01:25 GMT

Wouldn't it be cool, in the run up to the triple crown, to have a series of 20 or so commercials, each about one of the leading contenders? Showcase some of the beauty of the sport and get people interested in the individual horses. Maybe compare them with famous horses from the past who have won the same prep races.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Fran Loszynski — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:32:32 GMT

It seems like anyone who doesn't follow horseracing knows what the Kentucky Derby is but maybe one horse that has gotten publicity springs to their mind. I'm always hearing-"Oh I don't follow that!" or "Is he a good horse?"

Every horserace of caliber should be televised on local stations. After the three of the Triple Crown, friends that don't follow horseracing want to see more, so these are "potential" fans. It doesn't even have time to bore fans, it's two minutes! and the race is over. I also think they should have a local show that premiers the racehorse thoroughbred farms so people can see how beatiful they are. Not everyone can travel to Kentucky but certainly would like to. Have children submit names for racehorses, take away the "gambling" concept only exists. Many owners treat their racehorses like part of their family. I was glad when Seabiscuit and Secretariat came out. All ages learned to love these racehorses. Not to mention the racehorses that help charities. If we can all gather to watch a football game with popcorn and family ; we can watch a beautiful exciting horserace.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Sunny Farm — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:56:07 GMT

Mr. Benton ;

You have some great ideas. Can you start the process and enlist some help ? Let us all know & we will all contribute. I am sure of it.

Maybe Post this on a continueing blog.

Maybe there are other regular readers who read these blogs who can also lend a hand.

Hire the independents as you said. Advertisement is needed and just the kind you mentioned : TO others outside the sport...and areas outside of the track....on transit buses ,Kiosks,other web-sites, In other horse magazines that cater to other types of riding.(It'd only take a smaller ad w/ website info.)

That's where the younger riders will be...AND the 'baby-boomers''

Your right about being AT the races and betting on a horse-and- for that moment "It becomes your horse too'' VERY exciting !

I "once owned VALE OF YORK" or it did seem so "In the moment ' When he won the B.C. that made me even happier and "richer" !

BEING at the track has the most rewards & the best of happy times as far as entertainment goes....just that more people do need to know this too.

I hope you will consider starting your plans, please let us all know.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Convene — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:42:42 GMT

Lise from Maine: too bad HRTV isn't availabe in Canada. Love that channel!

The article hits the nail right square on the head. Advertising does pay. Don't we all remember the products we see over and over again (even the ones whose commercials stink - and those are LEGION!)? Put something out there and repeat it and repeat it - and pretty soon it's stuck in people's minds. If we could get the joy of racing stuck in their minds, who knows what we could accomplish? Forget ego. What's good for one is good for all in this case. Racing needs us as much as we need racing. Let's not let our sport down again!

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Alex'sBigFan — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 02:41:26 GMT

Mr. Benton, great article, but either you are stealing my lines or we think alike! Go read my post, written a few weeks ago to Alex Waldrop, in Community, in response to the survey poll of racing fans. I stated exactly what you are saying here, that it all begins with the marketing of this regal and glorious sport, and connecting the two core elements of the sport together, the fan and the horse. I said in my piece that if we could only bottle the frenzy that this country experiences on Derby Day and translate it to other stakes races we would have ourselves one outstanding sport. I also said that, "if you conduct a simple survey and in your daily travels and go ask 20 different people from different walks of life who Zenyatta, or Big Brown, or A.P. Indy, or Uncle Mo are you will most likely get 20 blank stares back!" It's on the right track with NBC covering all of the Triple Crown races. The way I see it owners such as Jerry and Ann Moss and Mike Repole are singlehandedly doing marketing campaigns, and effectively at that. But please go read my piece, it echoes what you said before you even said it!

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Lise from Maine — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:39:41 GMT

Hi!

I developed an interest in horse racing when a friend of mine took me to Scarborough Downs near Portland, Maine to watch Barbaro win the Kentucky Derby.

Ever since then I have kept up with the industry reading different articles on various websites, and last summer I changed my TV network to Direct TV from Time Warner and was able to watch for the first time a horse racing channel - TVG.

Too bad that HRTV is not available on Direct TV.

Advertising would most certainly enhance the industry as a whole.

Thank you!

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

milkmaid — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:05:30 GMT

Welcome to the world of animal agriculture! Dairy producers have wrestled with this same question for years and still have no "real" concise national advertising campaign even with check-off monies. That competes with "local" advertising, Wisconsin vs California. No matter what you do, egos and location still play a large part. HOY voting? Ads are good. Good luck to you all in figuring it out!

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

HRFan4Life — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:47:13 GMT

Great idea Rachel! The return on the 3 million it costs to advertise in the SuperBowl would be worth it! CatJ, I too ask the same question after I watch a really emotionally stirring Thoroughbred racing commercial on HRTV or TVG, why isn't this commercial airing on ESPN? If ESPN can broadcast HOURS of poker, why won't it broadcast horseracing on a regular basis? Because No one is pushing the networks for the airtime. Thoroughbred racing needs a national governing body! Now is the time to get the public excited about the horses running in the prep races for the Derby. The NTRA squanders its opportunities to promote the sport. With all the convicted felons in the NFL, NBA, MLB, Americans are looking for TRUE athletes to root for. I always tell my friends, Thoroughbreds don't run for the money, fame or endorsements,they run because it's what they are BRED to do!

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Dawn in MN — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:04:42 GMT

ego is a by-product of pride...pride leads to squabbling, as they say pride always comes before a fall...

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Dawn in MN — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:58:36 GMT

Jim Benton, I couldn't agree with you more. What I love the most about your article is your succinct evaluation of the role of marketing in sports promotion. I appreciate learning about the early 90's close call with success and the NTRA. What a shock, right?

The part about squabbling being the most destructive force known to man is so accurate. It appears among the fans too. I predict that squabbling will rear it's ugly head in the comments.

While exploring differing opinions and options are part of the creative process of coming to a decision, when the result is inaction there needs to be leadership at the helm to get folks back into a productive mode. I agree with you whole- heartedly on every point.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Arts and Letters — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:30:34 GMT

I agree. I've never understood why we only see horse racing commercials during horse racing. Isn't that, um, preaching to the choir? They've already got those viewers. Why not try to get some whole new ones?

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

www.horsebettingworld.com — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:33:07 GMT

Once the NTRA finally realises that it's the bettors who make the game possible, rthen maybe they will be effective.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Rachel — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:27:39 GMT

There should have been a Super-bowl ad about the most exciting 2:00 minutes in sports...the Kentucky Derby...and you could have showcased Glen Fullerton's bet last year on Super Saver and then shown his face when he won $900,000!!! Then ask...how can you win if you don't play?

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

Karen in Indiana — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:51:09 GMT

You are spot on. I think the presence of the NTRA has probably stopped a lot of good things that could have made a difference in horse racing. NTRA was supposed to do a national campaign, but they say they can't because they don't have the money. When there was talk of national drug and safety standards enacted by Congress, the presence of NTRA stopped that with their track certification program that has no teeth and is voluntary. While I don't think it is Congressional business to be telling horse racing what they can and can not do, there is a definite need for a regulatory body that can enforce rules. If for no other reason than public perception.

re: It Pays to Advertise - By Jim Benton

CatJ — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:31:04 GMT

I wholeheartedly agree with you! During the Kentucky Derby coverage, they run these amazing, beautiful commercials about thoroughbred racing. But you never see any commercials about the sport any other time. It's crazy. Now is the time. The media coverage about Zenyatta developed a little interest in racing. Animal Planet's series, Jockeys, had some viewers. And with the movie, Secretariat, out on DVD now, there will never be a better time to make some new fans.