Posted by Allan Maxwell (Account Manager)
We recently produced the latest glossy 68-page edition of The Festival magazine, which, along with The Open edition in November, we’ve been writing, designing, editing, subbing and producing yearly for Cheltenham Racecourse for the past decade. Which meant that some Zoners were lucky enough to go to Gold Cup day at The Festival, the most important occasion in the jump-racing calendar.
As we milled around the packed venue, musing over the relative form of this horse over that horse while chowing down on pork baps, we were struck by the different ways that the vast array of bookies were employing to give their name some brand visibility - a worthy consideration given that 65,000 racing fans attend the Friday of the four-day event.
It’s a pretty saturated market online. The Guardian’s betting odds page alone collates the offerings of 13 different bookies, all vying for the punters’ precious pounds.
Offline, it’s just as vital for the bookies to have a very visible brand presence. So how do they go about making sure theirs is the name that sticks in racegoers’ minds?
Well, by pouring lots of money into ever more inventive marketing techniques. During the day we were given branded chocolate money, pens, badges and scarves. We saw sponsored jackets, brollies and even girls, while a branded hot-air balloon hovered nearby in the March drizzle.
But the prize for sheer bravado has to go to one famously quirky bookie who chose to advertise his eponymous company by erecting a 50ft Hollywood-style sign on Cleeve Hill, which dominates the landscape surrounding the racecourse.
Due to a run-in with the local council over planning permission, the sign has since been taken down, but my guess is that Paddy thinks there’s no such thing as bad publicity. And with that kind of precedent I’d say it’s odds-on that next year we’ll see if not the same stunt, then something even bigger and better.
Take a look at a couple of pics from the day on our Flickr group.