Michael Varney - In no rush it seems

Don I have to give you full marks for your belief that what you list will have an effect. Personally I can not see much happening when, as Bob points out, there is no support for this effort from the people who are in the inner circle as you put it. Let me ask you this question, if you put 20 senior managers of the stakeholders in racing together, lets say 4 each of Phumelela, Gold Circle, Racing Association, Kenilworth Racing and yourselves. Then ask them to describe what itsarush is, what the gameplan is, and what the goals and objectives are, do you think the answers will be similar? I have two children, both very active on social media with thousands of friends and followers. Neither have heard of the campaign.

I know OTA, its their own fault, the communication to the inner circle hasn't happened in an effective manner, well, is very thin, and to be frank, vague. They need to explain it like in a classroom - perhaps bullet points and a timeline, leave time for them to absorb it and then answer the questions. And then explain it again at a later stage to make sure everyone understands. No wonder the guys don't know what it is. Can't expect people to broadcast something they don't understand fully.

I can understand your children not having heard - the launch wasn't very public. Was more focused to the inside circle.

nope BOB but thanks for pointing it out, will see if I can help a bit there.

From Joe Average's perspective why not just try this.....

See what your competitors ( you guys know who I'm talking about ) are doing and do the same but better....

Have competitions to win betting vouchers at every race meeting.
Once a month have a draw to win a small car.
Once every six months have a competition to win a nice german type sedan.
All entrants have to be on course to win.
At year end, such as now, work your arse off to get companies to have their end-of-year office parties at the racecourses. Just one party would bring quite a few people to a racecourse.

Get ALL your staff to be friendly and smile.
Get your restaurants to up their offering and service by 1000% ( and be competitive....fyi : buffet dinner at Greyville is R 180 a head....at Zimbali it's R 175. I've eaten at both and I'm left wondering how Greyville charges more than a fancy hotel by serving lesser fare !!! )
Get a loyalty card system up and running NOW...

And

advertise this, advertise this, advertise this, advertise this....

From a KZN point of view get the local radio stations on board. Have them mention the main results and news and tote carryovers on their sports report...on the same radio stations get a thirty second advertising spot saying something like 'racing tonight is at Greyville, come and stand the chance to win a brand new Merc' yada, yada, yada...

Last but not least....get with the times, listen to punters and get your head out the sand...

Guys we can help, by copying racing it's A Rush in your racing tweets

Not that turnovers reflect bodies on course, but here is Kenilworth on Saturday as the main race was cantering down. About 30 people on the lawns. Three tables populated in the RA room, approx 30 people. Next floor up Pocket Power room was fairly full, my guess about 120 people.
Not sure about the floors up from there, and the few trainers' boxes that were open.

EEEMMMMMPTTTY!

If I were a sponsor....I'd ask just who exactly was my brand reaching by being involved in sponsoring a race? Where is the reach - Tellytrack? (how many viewers again?), the newspaper, Sporting Post, the Computaform? I think for the past weekend for Choice Carriers it would've been ok as they are industry insiders. But for a commercial brand like i.e. Coca Cola, or Mercedes Benz...no chance. Most of the race sponsors are from inside of the circle, except perhaps J&B - can anyone think of any other sponsor outside of racing's ranks?

actually a fair question to ask would be, with course attendance up 30%, how did turnover do? also up??

Don wrote: actually a fair question to ask would be, with course attendance up 30%, how did turnover do? also up??

Don,I think you spot on and that it is exactly what the question should be!
The reason I battle to give any positive input to "it's a rush" is because I can't go with the goals.
Racings competitors are surely casino games, poker ,lotto etc. and not restaurants, theatre and dance clubs etc.
I think that new punters who start betting on horses may well start visiting the course to see what it's all about, but history suggests that people who party at the races don't start to punt!
There is no doubt that there is a huge market of gamblers who want to stay home and gamble.............on-line poker proved that, and the banning of interactive gambling should theoretically have created a huge opportunity for racing to take its place, but they are not likely to want to start, by going to the racecourse, so lets take racing into their home like Poker did!
Bearing in mind that they don't have to be sold on gambling........that's already in the blood.........just sold on the product.

It's pretty clear that on-course attendance gains does result in increased turnover on the day as can be seen from all pools on July, Met and Summer Cup day and one or two others.

The disappointment is the lack of any permanent gains after these events as it is very evident that there is no follow through, no matter how successful the event itself was.

Turnover and gains in turnover is important but it is this single minded pursuit that has got racing into the trouble that it is today. So many good products are not considered because the format might not be supporting churn (turnover) and are thus ignored.

There are two elements to growth in racing of which turnover is one and the other is numerical significance, ie your customer base. The second one should not be neglected as even non-playing attendance and involvement is still relevant for media coverage and sponsorships and as such is a vital part in the overall mix.

"It's a rush" is a step in the right direction but it lacks a key ingredient to take it forward, which is a new social offering that more people can identify with and that can help new players to grow their involvement and skill through a more enjoyable playing experience.

Increased turnovers on the Mega-bucks day that is the Durban July can not be attributed to increased on-course attendances alone because all the Off-course Totes handle huge amounts of money on the day and many " once a year punters " can be seen for the day only to disappear, until the next July comes around. A bit like the sardine run.

Nobody who I work or socialise with is aware of any initiatives to promote horse racing and I suppose that this is the acid test.

The only people who seem aware are clanners and other racing enthusiasts.

chrisb wrote: Nobody who I work or socialise with is aware of any initiatives to promote horse racing and I suppose that this is the acid test.

The only people who seem aware are clanners and other racing enthusiasts.

very concerning,as this campaign is not aimed at us( the racing enthusiast) but outsiders