Going down an exciting new rabbit hole with Hong Kong and Hong Kong racing…
- 56 minutes ago
- 5 min read
The thought bubble started to gain traction with the rather puzzling oddity that preceded the hugely successful Hong Kong Sevens weekend called “Racing with Rugby” where a square peg was seemingly tried to be forced into a round hole.
The HKJC’s Champions Day on Sunday at Shatin will prove that when horse racing doesn’t try to be what it never can be, it succeeds on its own terms, whereas strange as it may seem to some, all this could actually offer food for thought to those of us watching something like this from the sidelines.
There really is no need to dilute the horse racing product by piggybacking it with anything else.
What’s there to gain?
If the HKJC were to do anything- and it’s a personal opinion-it should perhaps look at enhancing its marketing, advertising and communications strategies through more INTERACTIVITY that helps transcends what is known as horse racing into a HAPPINESS driven lifestyle brand.
For example, instead of going to the same old well and hauling up things like another Canto Pop artist with their ubiquitous backup dancers, and performing in the early afternoon to a less than enthusiastic audience, why not try something different?
For those new to horse racing and the loyalists who still attend the races for the excitement of those thundering hooves, watch their favourite riders and horses compete and inhale the atmosphere and exhilaration of winning, perhaps it’s time to add an extra layer that stays with them after the last race has been run?
The photo below offers up only a modicum of an idea- but an online blog is not where one offers up free ideas.
Racing clubs are often simply not equipped to bring “entertainment” to the races. We saw happening in real time last year with the unfortunate mishandling of the Now United project where someone was busy asleep at the wheel and the train was derailed.
Horse racing always wants to appeal to a younger audience, and has been trying to do this with varying degrees of success for almost four decades with very probably what I created for the Hong Kong Jockey Club and branded as Happy Wednesday over a decade ago being the most successful.
The timing was right, Hong Kong was Asia’s world city, and when even Trip Advisor endorsed and recommended it, Happy Wednesday became an extremely popular tourist attraction.
The German CEO of the Hong Kong Jockey Club is an exceptionally knowledgeable racing man and I got to know Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges very well during my twelve year tenure managing the brand with its themed nights, well A&R’d ‘live’ music and a welcoming atmosphere and meeting place for those once missing “younger people”.
Does Winfried know everything? No one does, but a good manager recognises new business opportunities and those who can deliver these and who the primary customer group is.
At Universal and EMI Music, friendship initially brought Norman Cheng and I together along with our love for and knowledge of music, and our partnership evolved because the both of us recognised our individual strengths and weaknesses.
We read our audiences well, we read the tea leaves better, we were able to communicate with each other in short hand and were “The Odd Couple” who made our differences work for us.
This was particularly visible when bringing together East/West music, its touring opportunities, global sponsors, business partners and which resulted in significantly increased market share.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I don’t see Winfried having this same type of sounding board around him to point him in a new and interesting business and creative direction.
It’s also no secret to those around me that we don’t see the current Hong Kong Jockey Club model as a likeable brand. Powerful and seen as “wealthy” does not mean being likeable. It is what it is- an udderly convenient cash cow.
Sometimes, the HKJC reminds me of the Tin Man from “The Wizard of Oz” looking for a heart. I don’t see much empathy in its product personality, something I learned about when in advertising and which can help win over naysayers and cynics- and even governments.
This is where I have always believed the HKJC Charities Trust offers the racing product an enormous and unique partner AND marketing opportunity to help “soften” the gambling product personality of its horse racing business model that’s still a bugaboo with some- like business partners-and keeps them out of the game.
Recently, there’s the perception that HKJC Charities Trust appears to be suffering from shrinkage. Many of us haven’t seen much news about this entity nor have any idea about who, where and what the mediums are for its messages and with whom it’s communicating?
Apart from managing the old Central police station now known as the cultural centre branded as Tai Kwun, this longtime Hong Kong Belonger nor many of his friends have any idea what it does or is doing.
Could, for example, the Charities Trust not have done something for Earth Day?
Even I hosted a small Garden of Hope party last week in the lead up to this special Day- but with other plans to do what we believe needs to be done- and with everything funded by us and the IP belonging to us. Guess Rights issues is something a couple of us learned from the world of music publishing.
To promote Hope, my team has taken the initiative to create PSAs- Public Service Announcements- because today’s world needs to be reminded of life’s priorities in a constantly evolving and sometimes unpredictable and dysfunctional world.
Every dog has its day and the key to successful marketing is not flogging a dead horse- nor mixing up metaphors- but re-reading The Art Of War.
Having been in advertising for over two decades, successfully run two major global music companies and working with everyone from David Bowie and Norah Jones to John and Yoko and Gorillaz, it was also knowing when to shift gears because, well, stay the same and be overrun by the winds of change.
Horse racing in the city is in the same position as Hong Kong: Small enough to Think Big and do new things that will make the world sit up and take notice in a positive way of a strong USP built around the popularity of photography with tourism and the Selfie Generation.
Sounds simple, but someone has to do it. We have done it because we believe that the world, especially the creative world, continues to be going through an incredible paradigm shift and something seen through the success of Daniel Ek and Spotify who, though some may not like it, basically, controls how and where music is heard.
This is why- and having our own regional partners- we have created advertising and marketing that we believe Hong Kong needs. It’s our gift to a city that’s been very good to us.
Frankly, there’s so much “marketing” that can be done anywhere and everywhere by individuals with experience in especially advertising to bring a mixed up and deeply divided world together by being ONE global community where, for example, we in Hong Kong create a new cultural exchange programme.
A free idea: In between the races, or before they start, guide racegoers to the creative AI music videos produced by artist Kelly Boesch.
Possibly inspire some racegoers by showing them what Pharrell Williams is doing by partnering with Lego.
Have young filmmakers show the world the new Hong Kong and wherever they might travel through their eyes and their creativity and their photography.
We’re all very much global citizens and should be doing all we can by using our OWN resources to bring hope, happiness and positivity to the world.
We owe this to ourselves and to the next generation who will inherit what we give them. They will take this and make it something relevant to a world that will eventually belong to them.
Imagine our independent work helping to make Hong Kong and Hong Kong horse racing even a small part of creating a product that’s part of the Brave New World full of Hope and Happiness and Positivity.
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