
A friend of mine from Finland visiting Hong Kong for the first time was asking me about the horse racing in the city- who was who, those who I follow, those I know etc.
She and some friends had gone to the races at Shatin for the first time on Sunday, won the exotic bets known as the Six Up and Treble and were extremely animated talking about the jaw dropping wins of Ka Ying Rising and Voyage Bubble though she had forgotten the names of the horses.


My sometimes jaded Hong Kong friends with us for dinner listened politely, added some colourful asides whereas, taking it all in, I was thinking of ways how my friend’s unbridled enthusiasm and excitement for what she had seen could be bottled.
Word-of-mouth advertising is still the most effective and most cost-effective marketing with pin point accuracy despite horse racing having access to all these online platform, which, let’s face it, attracts mainly a captive and aging audience.
The idea of something like a Hong Kong Racing Bottle Of Happiness was playing in my mind by the time we got back to my place.

With both of us having met when working on music marketing for Universal Music and still very much involved and looking at what works and doesn’t in advertising, The Mighty Finn, age 38, had many ideas on how the Hong Kong racing product might be able to be improved. They were and are very good ideas.
She was taken aback when mentioning that despite the wins of Voyage Bubble and Ka Ying Rising, these would not be on the front pages of the leading Hong Kong newspapers.
She really couldn’t understand this.
Doesn’t Hong Kong want to know about Made In Hong Kong success stories that can make the city happy and proud and good news that will travel overseas?” she asked.
Though wondering if too many in Hong Kong have forgotten how to be happy anymore, she and I are busying ourselves developing a Hong Kong Racing Bottle Of Happiness.

Why not?
One never knows where anything is leading to these days, but sitting there and being prophets of doom isn’t going to help lead anyone anywhere.


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