HorseRacing Industry Could Take Cue From Old Spice

To me, it’s one of the best advertising and marketing campaigns I’ve seen in a long time. I’m talking about Old Spice’s marketing strategy to appeal to men and the younger generation with their ultra cool commercials. Let’s not forget, it wasn’t too long ago that Old Spice was viewed as the products and brand that “Dad” and “Grandad” used.

But in the last 20 months, Old Spice has catapulted itself to the becoming one of the top brands for both deodorant and body wash. It’s easy to see why, heck I find myself laughing in the grocery store as I pick up an Old Spice product, the commercials are classic.

This one is by far my favorite.

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

“I’m on a horse”, oh it get’s better everytime I see it.

The strategy is not lost on the younger generations, and particularly the college kids. In effect, Old Spice, should maybe be called Cool Spice, because there’s nothing “old” about it anymore.

Perhaps the horseracing industry could take a cue a from this type of marketing strategy. Instead of using millions to lobby for and install slots into racetracks which has only worked as a bandaid solution, perhaps a full blown advertising campaign is in order. Right now, to the youth, there’s nothing cool about horseracing, that’s a sad fact to many of us industry professionals, but it’s true. You’d be hard pressed to find 3 out of ten college kids who aren’t bettors that have any idea who won the Kentucky Derby, one of the sports most grandiose events. Could the NBA or NFL survive with those types of numbers from the younger generations. Thank goodness for the large segment of the population known as the baby boomers who for the most part still visit the tracks, but even their attendance is declining, and let’s face it, so are they.

The future of horseracing obviously rests in the hands of younger generations, and their hands are usually resting firmly on themselves, their computers, or their remote controls, and that’s where they can be reached. The question is how do you make horseracing cool? I mean it’s already cool to us industry professionals, but how do you make it cool to those who know nothing about it? The answer is simple, you don’t make it cool, you tell the audience what is cool.

Check this, another Old Spice add: Did You Know

Really, I didn’t know that ladies prefer Old Spice a gabillion times more than anything else, thanks for telling me that Old Spice! That’s the way to get it done.

Horseracing has the history behind it, the star power, the affluence, the excitement, it’s really all about getting the message out there to get the state of the industry turned around. I love watching horse racing and I have to believe if portrayed in the exciting and cool way that many of us industry professionals see it, many people will fall in love with too.