AND THEY'RE OFF

AND THEY'RE OFF How brands can ride on the success of horse racing in 2017

REINVENTING THE SPORT OF KINGS

ITV will bring mass mainstream audiences to horse racing.

- Ed Ross, Head of Marketing and Media, ITV

Traditionally a sport dominated by betting brands, horse racing is attracting a new wave of audiences & commercial partners. Changes to the presentation of racing and investment in racecourses, has re-energised the sport making it a key event in the British social & sporting calendars.

This renewed relevance has caused an explosion in new, broader, audiences.

And now ITV's new broadcast deal with British Horseracing has only served to elevate the sport's profile amongst audiences from all corners of society. As the popularity of the sport grows, this snapshot outlines 5 key rules brands can apply to the excitement of the racecourse to connect with fans and get more value

ITV CAN REACH UP TO

90% OF THE UK POPULATION PER WEEK

from their partnerships in horse racing.

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Horse racing is the second-most attended sport in Britain.

6 MILLION Attendance in 2016

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RULE 1/ TARGET THE RIGHT FAN Racegoers present unique characteristics atypical of other sports: / Higher proportion of Big Eventers (fans attracted to the entertainment of the day over the sport) / Bigger female audience / More group purchasing activity / Small percentage of core or obsessive fans Understanding the different behavioural triggers

A day at the races is the most social of all sports.

It offers something for everyone. It's no surprise that it's the best attended sport after football & unarguably has a better gender split.

- Rod Street, Chief Executive Great British Racing

of each of these fan segments is key to successful activation. By knowing which segment is most relevant to your business objectives and tailoring activations to meet these unique characteristics, brands can ensure more effective campaigns that achieve a higher ROI.

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RATE SOCIALISING AS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT TO THEIR DAY OUT

* "Insight = Growth Industry Update", RCA/GBR/Two Circles 2015

RULE 2/ HARNESS THE EMOTION

We know that sponsorship has moved beyond

such as IT or finance when marketing to consumers,

Brands should incorporate the unique spikes in emotion and intensity of the event into their activations to ensure a deeper connection with the audience.

in horse racing, there is ample opportunity to move

- Steve Smith, CEO of Ear to the Ground

simply brand exposure and more towards deeper emotional engagement. Throughout the course of a race day, fans lose themselves in moments that transform their state of mind and behaviours.

Partners can look to exploit these passion spikes, helping to create engaging experiences that connect with fans on a more emotional level. Whilst this can be more challenging for service based partners,

into a meaningful, emotional space by tapping into the unique, highly charged nature of the sport.

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RULE 3/ ENTERTAIN THE MASSES

Racecourses have seen most growth from the social fan, people interested in horse racing as an entertainment product rather than just a sport.

- Dr Becky Stuart Fanatic Planning Manager, Ear To The Ground

For most racing fans, the sport has become the backdrop to the entertainment on the day. With a high turnover of new fans at each event, brands have access to new audiences looking to be entertained during the long dwell times between races.

Experiential activation is an incredibly powerful tool for connecting with horse racing's fun-seeking, social audience. To drive engagement, brands must deliver brand messages in line with the sense of celebration and

FANS WATCH 25 MINUTES OF RACING & ENJOY OVER

6 HOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT

shared experience that motivates core racing fans.

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RULE 4/ REACH BEYOND THE FINISHING POST

View every race day as your launchpad to a new online audience.

- Owen Laverty, Head of Fanatic Ear to the Ground

With the incredible excitement of race day itself being so powerful for both fans and brands, it's easy to miss where the true commercial value may lie in your partnership. With such a high proportion of ticket's bought by one individual for a large group, usually there is a limited opportunity to communicate online with audiences pre-event. Instead, consider how your activations on race day, can be used to drive fans online to your social or digital platforms. With an audience so keen to gain social currency and relive an amazing racing experience, this opens up new opportunities for digital conversations and connections with your new racing audience which can extend far beyond the final race.

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CASE STUDY

GREENALL'S 'GOOD TIMES' To generate greater brand awareness and sales from it's partnerships within horse racing, Ear to the Ground helped develop a brand positioning that turned Greenall's Gin into the enabler of 'Good Times' at the races. By creating an integrated campaign activation, we brought the positioning to life across live, digital and shopper marketing channels to maximum ROI. On race day, we appealed to the fun and energetic nature of fans by curating spontaneous moments of celebration between races, whilst illustrating the brand's traditional, British heritage.

To ensure these moments extended far beyond the day itself, we captured and shared content online to help the message of Greenall's 'Good Times' travel further.

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RULE 5/ TELL A PREMIUM STORY There is a rich narrative for consumers to engage with in racing - horses, jockeys and racecourses' own history. One of our greatest opportunities is to tell these stories both directly and working with our partners.

- Juliet Slot, Commercial Director of Ascot

There are fascinating stories and experiences to be shared around the rich narrative of the sport's heritage and its premium, aspirational nature. Brands, such as Bentley can leverage the shared values of luxury, performance and Britishness.

Partners with a wider appeal also have an opportunity to capitalise on the premium associations of the sport by providing bespoke experiences. Appletiser for example, crafted a unique drink experience at Ascot using by an expert Sommelier, positioning the brand at the races as the 'champagne' of the soft drink world.

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RACE TO THE FINISH LINE In horse racing, there are opportunities to do exciting activations that engage a captive audience who have a lot of time during the natural rhythm of our day.

- Juliet Slot, Commercial Director of Ascot

Horse racing partnerships provide an incredible platform for engaging racing fans in immersive brand experiences to drive both brand awareness and sales. To maximise the opportunities in partnership packages, brands need to understand the unique nature of racing fans and their need for social, even hedonistic, experiences around the sport. By satisfying this through a joined up, storytelling approach across digital and live platforms, brand partners can form more emotional connections with their audiences and get more value from their initial investment in horse racing.

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At Ear to the Ground, we help brands and rights holders unlock the true commercial value of their horse racing partnerships. We do this by helping them to understand why fans behave so differently to consumers, and tapping into these key insights. As part of this process, we've created a series of collaborative workshops that help us get to the heart of our clients' challenges to build intelligent, forward thinking activations:

ASSET Audit & Assess

AUDIENCE Analyse & Segment

POSITION Review & Define

WORKSHOPS

ROAD TEST Review & Develop

CAMPAIGN EXECUTION

CAMPAIGN REVIEW Evolve & Improve

Analyse & Activate

Interested to know more, then call or email Kat Renshaw to book in your complimentary workshop introduction and see how we can help you further. katrenshaw@eartotheground.org 07795 954 793

www.eartotheground.org

@EartotheGroundUK

@eartotheground

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A special thanks to our contributors for their comments and continued support throughout the production of this snapshot report: Ed Ross, Head of Marketing and Media, ITV Rod Street, Chief Executive, Great British Racing Juliet Slot, Commercial Director, Ascot Steve Smith, Chief Executive, Ear to the Ground Owen Laverty, Head of Fanatic, Ear to the Ground Dr Becky Stuart, Fanatic Planning Manager Ear to the Ground

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