* Marketing Carriage Driving….Mission Impossible?
this
is a long article which might damage your current perceptions....so you may
want to print it to read at your leisure
I’m a professional marketer with 30 years experience in the IT and fast food industries and I have been approached, on more than one occasion, to help with the marketing of the sport (the 3phase, combined driving version of carriage driving). On each occasion my answer, I’m afraid, has always been the same….”in its present form the sport is unmarketable”.
By way of a disclaimer I should say that no one has asked me to write this article and the views expressed are entirely my own based upon my own marketing experiences. My only association with the sport is that I’m married to a driver who is passionately committed to it. As a comparative outsider I have the impression that the sport is dominated by retired or semi-retired people who rather like it the way it is and don’t see much of a need for change…AND THEY COULD WELL BE RIGHT. Why fix something that for many people isn’t even broken.
In its present format there is a price to be paid for the pleasure of driving in country house parkland, and that price is largely borne by the competitors. To me the choice is simple: continue in the present format and pay for the privilege; change the format to make the sport attractive to the paying public and to commercial sponsors and maybe…just maybe, there could be a chance of lowering the cost to the competitor.
The remainder of this article describes why I think, from a marketing perspective, that the sport needs to be re-launched, and suggests some alternative formats to make it more attractive to spectators and sponsors alike.
I must say I don’t expect my ideas will be universally popular.
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Why do I think carriage driving is unmarketable?
This article is absolutely NOT a whinge about the BHDTA’s marketing efforts to date. I would not be so impertinent.
In fact, it’s written by someone whose attitude to the sport is very much take it or leave it. But if you subscribe to the view that carriage driving is such fun that it should be opened up to the public at large and turned into a spectator friendly sport…then read on.
As the spouse of a carriage driver I’ve been involved with the sport for some 12 years. During this period I’ve been a frequent listener to endless debates ‘round the camp fire’ as to why carriage driving …”is never shown on TV”;…”is always treated as the poor relation of equine sports” and other phrases each conveying a similar message
The purpose of this article is to explain why I have so long held to the view that…’the sport is unmarketable’. Those on the inside can’t understand why the sport they love so much is treated with such indifference by the media and marketing professionals…. “after all we enjoy it, so other people must enjoy it as well”
To appreciate why I hold this view it is first of all necessary to understand a little about marketing in general, and the essentials, and differences, between ‘marketing communications’ and ‘product marketing’, in particular. There are many more dimensions to marketing than these two fundamental ones, and when people say that carriage driving should be better marketed they don’t, for the most part, actually realise what they are saying.
Marketing Communications (marcoms for short) is the art - some would say science - of communicating a message in written, verbal and visual form. Brochures, newspaper articles, and advertising are the forms of marketing communication with which most people would be familiar. Some spectacular, and big-ticket failures of marketing communications would be the British Airways decision to put ethnic designs on the tail fins of their planes, and the Royal Mail decision to spend untold millions on a name change to Consignia only to find that no one - not even the company chairman - liked the new name.
When carriage driving people bemoan the fact that the media don’t give the sport enough coverage they are - and please excuse the pun - putting the cart before the horse. And the reason is that marketing communications can only be successful when the product marketing job has been carried out thoroughly. I would even go further and say that without product marketing having been carried out professionally any money spent on marcoms is almost certain to be wasted.
Product marketing is a generic term in the marketing industry and is difficult to describe in a few short sentences. But if you remember Clive Sinclair’s ill-fated electric car which was heavily promoted (the marcoms were brilliant) you will also remember that as a functional and credible ‘car’ it was a complete joke. The product marketing must have been non-existent
Before a product (and a product doesn’t have to be a physical entity, it can be an idea, a concept, a political party, or a sport) can be effectively marketed it must pass through various stages of analysis and research. In other words when the developers, sales teams, designers etc have all given their input, then the product can be taken to market. There are far too many case studies and examples to go into in this article and to do so would no doubt lose the point and you, the reader….so for the sake of this article please take my word for it. In fact as we move to the next stage of the debate all should come clear, or I have failed in marketing my thoughts to you.
The cornerstone of my view that…‘in its present form the sport is unmarketable’…is that the sport has evolved into its present state and that it has never been subjected to a professional product marketing evaluation.
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Why
do I think the sport has never been properly ‘product marketed’?
There are four main reasons I believe:
1. Identity – what is carriage driving?
2. Objective – what is ‘it’ trying to achieve?
3. Prohibitive cost of entry to the sport
4. Celebrities/role models
Firstly, try to describe to a non-driving, equine enthusiast (or worse to a non-equine enthusiast) in a phrase or sentence what you do as a carriage driver and I bet you will get one of three questions/comments
…”yes I’ve seen it at county shows” (and they mean scurrying or private/show driving)
…”is
that what Prince Philip does?”
…”my friend has a trap and they drive round the roads near us”
So the first problem to be addressed is product identity. And to ensure there is no misunderstanding this paper is focusing on FEI or combined driving only.
Tennis, golf, soccer, snooker, rallying are clearly defined sports without the names being descriptive of the activity, and the general public more or less all know what they mean even if they’re not fans or know the rules. In the equine world racing, eventing, showjumping are well understood and relatively unambiguous terms. Carriage driving as a phrase does not convey any idea of what goes on at a combined driving competition to anyone other than its participants. For this article I’ve renamed the sport…EquiCross (or perhaps Equi’X’).
The second reason is that it’s not at all clear what is going on when you watch an EquiCross event. To the uninitiated, questions such as…’what are they doing?’ and…’ who’s winning?’ readily come to mind. Even the fans and camp followers find it impossible to answer the latter question until the scores are published at some point after the class and/or phase has finished.
So it
doesn’t bode well for the marketability of the sport when it’s not
clear to any but the initiated as to what its participants are trying to
achieve and how they are performing relative to each other.
I can hear all the… ah, yes buts!… at this point. But let me put it another way, and please forgive my bluntness, combined driving is a selfish, self-indulgent sport…and there is nothing wrong with that attitude…providing you don’t want to market it to a bigger audience and achieve the sponsorship and acclaim that comes from greater media coverage
Thirdly, for any sport to succeed in attracting large numbers of spectators and competitors it needs a low cost of entry or a feeling at least that by doing what you do on a daily basis you can emulate your sporting heroes. Few people who watch Formula 1 motor racing expect to have the chance to drive a car in a Formula 1 race but when they are behind the wheel of their Escort they can pretend they can drive like Michael Schumacher. The marketing boys convince the public that the F1 teams are using the same brand of oil, tyres, sunglasses, computers, cigarettes etc. as the fans…and so these same fans associate with the sport even though they are for the most part not participating
Because most people don’t ride or drive horses in their daily lives it takes a lot of desire and physical and financial resources to start an equine sport…and even more of each to start driving. The cost of entry to the sport, especially the outdoor version, in terms of finance and logistical resources is simply too high for most people….which is why we need sponsorship I hear you cry. (could this be an opportunity for the development fund?)
And closely related to this point is the fourth reason...successful sports need characters/celebrities/role models. In a sense no one has done more in this area than Prince Philip but by the very nature of his position he enhances the elitist nature of the sport and does not open up the idea of participation to ‘Joe Public’. The media need a celebrity to report on – and by the nature of the British media they need success, scandal and rumour.
You could be forgiven for thinking at this stage that I am heading towards the dumming down of the sport and turning it from a sport into an entertainment. Let me say that is not the case at all.
* Let’s take a look at how many people currently take part in carriage driving
And we will start by looking at the numbers involved in the sport from a marketing manager’s point of view. You see these are the people who decide where their company’s marketing budget is going to be spent. And of equal importance, their performance in the job is judged by the return (new customers, increased awareness, sales leads generated) they create from the marketing investment. These people are ruled by market segments and social profiles.
So if we want to attract sponsorship and media interest we had better present a cast iron case as to the number and social profiles of the people involved in the sport.
I believe that, in the UK, there are about 6000 people who could be classed as participants and ‘fans’ and I have based this figure on the following assumptions:
12 nationals (excluding Nat. Championships) with an average of 80 competitors per event plus grooms and family say 2500 people…BUT…with most events attracting the same individuals, and using the same ratios we have experienced at the Indoor Driving events, this number comes down to about 600 active participants.
Then for Nationals we have stewards and officials which I think is a similar number…. so we are now up to 1200
Spectators
count for maybe 1500 but a lot of these are people ‘passing
through’. Sandringham and its country fair would attract a lot more but they are too
transient to be meaningful in marketing terms. Our figure now heads
towards 3000.
Then of course we have all the club events, which I think would double the number. Therefore for the purpose of this exercise and debate I will work on a figure of 6000. This number could increase if spectators were properly accounted for but I doubt if many are more than casual observers, hence my lower figure. Even if I’m wrong by 100% and I don’t think I am, I have to say this is an extremely small number in media and marketing terms especially as it is so geographically dispersed and covers such a wide social spectrum. The worst possible profile of a market from a marketers point of view.
Marketers like clearly defined target markets. To put some perspective on the numbers, a one-page advertisement in a National daily newspaper would cost a minimum of £10000 (therefore £1.66 to reach each carriage driving person). It doesn’t sound much but it’s an horrendous figure to marketing professionals unless they were selling high ticket products to a clearly targeted market. A TV advertisement will cost at least £200000 to make, plus the costs of airtime which vary wildly depending upon area and time of day.
It would be easy to challenge the specifics of these numbers but not the essence, and the message is that carriage driving is not interesting to the media and big time sponsors unless the participant numbers and profiles can be increased considerably. As the numbers are at present the sport is forever confined to the local accountants, solicitors, estate agents and Land Rover dealer supporting an event to the tune of a few hundred pounds for a bit of local publicity and an opportunity to entertain a few clients in a pleasant rural environment. Under these circumstances the media have no interest at all.
So if you are still reading on, now is the time to move away from focusing on the problems and take a look at some possible solutions. You may not like what you read and please remember I’m coming from a marketers point of view and I’m trying to answer the question:
”If
I were to promote/sponsor carriage driving, how would I want to see the
sport presented?”
I propose to look at each phase of a combined driving competition and comment on its marketability and how and why I think it needs to change.
Dressage:
First and foremost there needs to be a name change.
Funnily enough, because I am interested in sport in all its forms I happen to think that what driven dressage represents is vitally important to the sport and in a perverse way I, as a non-equine person, enjoy the athleticism and control shown by some horses & ponies. It is too obvious to state that this phase of a competition is not spectator friendly; my suggestion is to change the name and to re-orientate this phase along the lines of ice-skating.
What we call dressage should become ‘compulsory figures’ and the figures performed should be judged on accuracy of movement and correctness of pace. Forget the dressing up; forget the groom(s) on the back, forget the fancy carriages, this phase of the competition is between equine, driver, and judge(s). And it shouldn’t count for more than 10% of the total marks for the combined competition.
Then I would propose introducing another phase into the competition. As in ice skating this would be known as ‘freestyle figures’ and would allow a driver to show off his/her horse’s movements in a free format programme to include certain pre-designated shapes and driving techniques, i.e one-handed circles. Some drivers may choose to drive to music. I would suggest three minutes per driver and as in ice-skating, and gymnastics, the more times a difficult manoeuvre is performed the higher the potential score. As with these two sports, marks would also be gained for style, rhythm & artistic creativity. When combined with the compulsory figures phase the total for ‘freestyle’ and ‘compulsory’ would account for 25% of the total marks.
From a marketing perspective the ‘figures’ phase as described above becomes an easily explained combination of technique and entertainment. And as a result it becomes a marketable product in its own right, albeit with a low chance factor of attracting sponsorship in isolation. Unlikely to figure strongly on TV, but if the sport as a whole makes it to the screen, then the leading drivers in the freestyle section would probably be shown as an intro/highlight to the main programme.
Marathon:
This is a good name in that it is associated in everyone’s mind with courage, toughness and endurance and can be sold to sponsors wishing to promote a similar corporate image, i.e. some car/truck manufacturers….BUT
The marathon phase lacks entertainment value for the following reasons:
1. The long cross country phases are irrelevant to entertainment
2. The obstacles are logistically difficult to watch
3. Many obstacles seem to be designed to slow the horses down when spectators want speed and excitement
The marathon is potentially the most exciting to spectators, sponsors and the media alike. I am well aware that this is somewhat stating the obvious but please bear with me.
Competition for the public’s leisure pound is intense and such is the nature of society today that the public wants instant gratification and a result from whatever they decide to participate in or watch. Carriage driving in general, and the marathon phase in particular do not meet these criteria.
But they could…if you think of an average national obstacle being some 250m long then a time of 35 seconds gives an over the ground speed for each turnout of approx.15 mph. Take 40 seconds and the average speed drops to 12mph. Now I know it feels different on board – and I’ve done nationals as a groom; but a speed sport it is not. And this is what comes over to the casual spectator. All he/she sees is a horse stepping between poles and posts at little more than a walk in some cases.
To make this phase faster and more exciting…and significantly more challenging to the driver and equine, I believe the following steps need to be taken.
1. Decrease Sections A, B, C, & D to a maximum of 5Km in total; 3Km for a 3 phase marathon
2. Section E to be a maximum of 7.5Km, including the obstacles which should be built to allow a driving distance between entry and exit gate of 500 – 750 metres.
3. Erect a stand for spectators and ban anyone from standing around an obstacle (big saving on crash barriers)
4. Build at least 4 obstacles within visual distance of each other and viewable from the spectator stand
5. The other 2 or 4 obstacles to be viewable from a large screen erected next to the spectator stand. The screen to be capable of showing all 8 obstacles at once
6. Where ground conditions allow, build all 6 or 8 obstacles in a circle with spectator viewing (on a mound or in seats) in the middle of this circle
My reasons for going down this route are as follows:
1. The big screen technology works. Output would need to be up to broadcast standard.
2. Watching all eight obstacles simultaneously makes for a much more interesting and potentially exciting spectacle
3. It would give the commentator visual reference to all obstacles simultaneously rather than relying upon audio feed…consequently the commentary would be more meaningful and relevant
4. Sponsors could invite guests to see a ‘show’ rather than the opportunity to wander around a few fields at will…this is not good if you are a sponsor paying for guests to be there and then you lose them for the best part of the day…or worse still they get bored and leave early…control is vital in the corporate hospitality game.
5. Obstacles would be driven faster because the animals would be fresher and there would be a lot more room for the flowing style that is so good to watch. The challenge to the driver, as in motor sport, would be knowing when to ‘brake’ and ‘accelerate’ into and out of bends…as opposed to wriggling round impossibly tight angles.
If all this were to happen then I think the marathon phase should account for 40% of the total marks. But of prime importance....the advantage to sponsors and/or corporate hospitality clients is that their guests could see all of the relevant part of this phase of competition from one set location.
Media companies would have an easily identifiable package of sports entertainment into which they need to put little or no human resource (unless they want live feed). They can buy a ready-made programme for broadcast at their convenience.
I’ve just used a phrase ‘sports entertainment’ which may need a little explanation. And in attempting to do so I return to my key point…do carriage drivers want to remain in a small, self-indulgent, circle of enthusiasts, or do they want to sell their sport to the public at large?
If the answer to this latter point is..YES…then the sport has to become more entertaining.
To catch the eye of professional marketers the sport must have elements of identifiable competition; a definite result; and I hate to say this but, potential for thrills and spills; then there is a chance it can be marketed to a wider audience.
The
governing body of the sport must decide whether or not they want the
Marathon to be the showpiece of a driving event. If they do they MUST
cater to the needs of the spectators and make the obstacles fast,
flowing, and exciting. Course designers who make the obstacles as tight
as possible are doing nothing for the promotion of the sport….ask the
horses which type of obstacle they prefer.
Cones:
Not a
good name from a marketing perspective. What does it mean? The image to
the general public is traffic queues on the M1. Unfortunately, at the
time of writing I don’t have a better name so I will stick with cones
for the time being. Personally, I think this phase of the competition
can be very exciting but as I said above it needs a change of emphasis.
If the changes outlined above for the marathon were to be implemented I think that scores
after the marathon phase would be closer for many more drivers than they
are at present. I know they often are for the top three competitors in a
class…and I also know that someone can come from the pack and
win…but it only happens occasionally.
To enhance the sport’s entertainment value and to keep spectators interested in the other phases, the cones phase must remain the climax of the competition. But not necessarily on a Sunday (see comments below)
I think the cones course should be increased in size; not physically necessarily but in terms of the number of gates and these gates should be made of different types of materials not just cones. Showjumpers jump poles and mostly all the competitors jump the same course. But interest is maintained by the differing degrees of difficulty created by the variety of poles and combinations of poles they are required to jump.
Driving cones would be much more interesting if it was treated like a showjumping course. Recent changes to the rules now allow drivers to circle and cross their tracks thus giving course designers more scope. To enhance the excitement of this phase I feel it vital that the commentator gives out split times on at least two and possibly three occasions during a round. As in showjumping a number of competitors with clear rounds should compete in a run-off against the clock to determine the eventual winner.
The sport’s governing body needs to decide whether the cones phase is simply a test of a horse’s suppleness after the marathon or a separate entertainment phase in its own right. Under the present rules it is an important part of the combined driving competition but the entertainment value derived from it is co-incidental rather than being fundamental to its purpose. My belief is that the cones phase should account for 35% of the total competition.
Entertainment
or Sport
This is a bigger issue than at first sight and one that carriage driving must address. Sunday is ‘cones day’ at most combined driving events and competitors want to finish their ‘cones’ and hit the road. The paying public mostly have Sunday afternoon as their ‘family day out’. If they choose to visit a driving event and if they time it right they may see the same course being driven in very similar times over and over again by different combinations of horses and ponies. Family entertainment it is not, and yet Sunday afternoon revenues could be enormous if there was something exciting to watch. The two adult; two kids, family unit spending £20 on entrance fees and a similar amount on ice cream, drinks and burgers would regard that amount as money well spent for 2-3 hours entertainment…providing that what they see is exciting, competitive, and makes them shout and cheer. On Monday 16th September we went to a Speedway meeting in Exeter. Speedway is hardly a mass appeal sport but the organisers of this meet were making great efforts to attract spectators. Two examples illustrate the point: they were actively encouraging the spectators to get behind the riders by introducing them to the crowd prior to the start of racing; they had invited youngsters in the shape of cub scouts and pupils from a local junior school - given them drinks and snacks and then gave them lots to cheer about by encouraging them to shout for certain riders...and in the process recruited 40 potential fans for the future. This is basic level sports entertainment in a sport also desperate for funding
The
big question is do amateur carriage drivers want to be entertainers. And
are they prepared to devote their time to it. I suspect the answer from
the majority would be..NO, but unless the sport can excite and entertain
it will remain where it is now as a minority leisure activity for those
who can afford the time and money to take part.
Summary
So on this point this article seems to have reached a natural conclusion and in a sense the key question remains…do carriage drivers really want to see their sport change to the extent necessary to attract more spectators, more sponsors and a chance of mainstream media coverage?…or is it best left where it is?…an elitist sport for a small minority of participants funded solely by those participants.
When marketing managers are planning where to spend their marketing budgets advertising and product/corporate literature are two of the highest priorities. Some will give a high priority to corporate hospitality/entertainment especially if their business is in the ‘service’ sector. Sport is just one of the means of creating an opportunity for corporate hospitality.
If you accept this point then you will perhaps understand better why I focus so much on increasing carriage driving’s entertainment value.
And one more…BUT
“what happens to our chances in international competition if we were to adopt the ideas outlined in this article?”
My answer would be that dressage and schooling movements are crucial to any equine sport however it is delivered, and the more training in these disciplines a horse and driver receives the better the overall performance is likely to be. If the ideas outlined in this article were implemented for the British driving scene and an international competition required a different format, the driver might need to learn different sequences for some phases but the equine’s fitness and schooling should remain the same.
The author of this article is in no way qualified to propose changes to the basic schooling disciplines of carriage driving…its sole objective is to suggest ways of presenting the sport in a more spectator friendly way.
Because make no mistake, if the BHDTA could report annual audiences of 20000+ and could produce regionalised statistics the marketing boys would start to take notice.
I
hope this article is read in the spirit it was intended. NOT a whinge;
NOT a critique; but as a possible wake-up call to all who say they want
to see carriage driving become more populist. It will be the easiest
task in the world to find good reasons why my suggestions can't be
implemented or won't work...but when finding these reasons please keep
in mind
If
you’ve read this far you may as well go to your email and let me know
what you think. I don’t pretend that my ideas are the only solution
and I would love to hear how far you are prepared to go to change the image
and style of the sport.
You never know…someone may listen and act! Phil Nadin – September 2002
* Now that you've read the article, and no doubt formed your own opinions, you can see what other people have to say by clicking here