Great British Racing (GBR) has today announced details of British racing’s new marketing campaign: “the going is Good”.
The campaign, which is supported by £3,620,000 of funding from the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), will showcase British racing as a uniquely great day out, underpinned by the thrill and excitement of racing.
The advertising-led campaign, with the tagline: “4 million memories made every year, the going is Good” launched today and will run through to the end of September. GBR has partnered with the specialist sports creative agency Dark Horses which has extensive experience in horseracing, and the UK’s largest independent media agency; the7Stars.
The campaign is designed to reactivate casual racegoers and attract new fans to the sport by highlighting the reasons why, with 4.8 million racegoers in 2024, British racing enjoys being the second most popular spectator sport in the UK. From quality social time with friends and family, to the thrill and excitement of the sporting action, racing is a shared emotional experience that creates lasting memories of a great day out.
The campaign is the culmination of extensive qualitative and quantitative research, and it will be unapologetically positive in its portrayal of British racing, shining a light on how racing attracts people from all walks of life and celebrating some of the four million memories created each year, by using authentic imagery captured on race days, much of it by racegoers themselves. The digital-first, multi-media campaign will run across VOD platforms, social media and podcasts, as well as cinema and radio.
Following a successful launch at racecourses in 2024, GBR will be taking the bold step of rolling out its first ever welfare advertising campaign to acknowledge and address consumer concerns about horse welfare. Utilising British racing’s existing “HorsePWR” creative (Purpose, Welfare, Responsibility), the campaign was trialled earlier this year around the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals.
As the sport’s promotional body, GBR has led the development and delivery of the national campaign working closely with the Commercial Committee for the Sport and the Racecourse Association and its members, to collaborate on marketing efforts over the campaign period, to maximise conversion of interest piqued by the campaign into actual engagement.
Simon Michaelides, interim Chief Customer Officer of GBR said, “We’re very excited by this fresh advertising approach to the sport, showcasing the experiences of 4.8 million existing racegoers to inspire more people to follow suit. The campaign has researched incredibly well with existing fans and potential new fans alike and we are confident that it will deliver strong results.”
David Jones, acting Chair of the BHA (British Horseracing Authority) Board said, “GBR has worked in lockstep with industry stakeholders to develop what will be Racing’s biggest national campaign and its first in the last three years – testimony to the importance of the campaign the level of support that it has.”
Alan Delmonte, Chief Executive of the HBLB said, “The Levy Board has awarded funding of £3.62m in support of this year’s National Marketing Campaign. The campaign has been extensively discussed and supported by all the sport’s major groups and will represent a concerted sport-wide promotion of racing throughout the summer. Great British Racing will report on the impact of the campaign at the end of the year.”
Paul Johnson, Chief Executive of the National Trainers Federation said, “This campaign is extremely important to the sport as we seek to widen our appeal to the consumer. We know Racing creates a multitude of selling points every year, and we are delighted to see that this campaign draws upon these moments to reach those currently outside of our great sport.”
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