Marketing the Sport - reader responses

This page contains 6 responses from readers to this article as they are submitted - unedited, of course:

Phil,

I've taken a while to review your Marketing of Carriage Driving and thank
you for putting your thoughts on marketing "EquiX"

I'm not sure the cones phase title is 'broke' and in need of renaming to
"Double Clear"

Yes I fully agree we do have an identity problem and that it is difficult to
explain in a sentence what we do and why!

I believe there is a half way house that needs urgent attention which could
achieve the desire we all want as stated at the end of your paragraph 3
which is to reduce the cost to the competitor.

To this end I'd like to add my thoughts on this aspect.

I believe that cost could be reduced through using our buying power and
pooling of resources.

There are some 48 affiliated clubs throughout the UK. Apart from a very
small number of occasions we manage not clash with adjacent club event dates. Yes
I know it does happen.

All these clubs raise funds and buy obtain kit which I guestimate is used
for at the most 6 weekends a year.

One thing I and another local club course builder have done is got and
understanding of what each club has, and agreed we would make available to each other if required.
The indoor team have taken this principle one stage further and set up a
number of vans with a complete standard set obstacles/timing gear/cones ready to go
and this year in use nearly every weekend.
I do believe that clubs should be prepared to share resources as we share
members.

An area that I feel clubs could help themselves with. Is local event
sponsorship (Yes I can understand why this doesn't happen because someone has to make a contact and put in valuable time). not on a large scale but say rosette
sponsorship. How many "Local Riding Club" show schedules do you see class sponsored by XYZ Feeds,

Moving on to the "Nationals" I consider that "Head Office" could help out
here with their cost. There are 12 National events a year which do not clash with
each other. Your proposal for temporary stands, big screen's etc should be
procured by "Head Office" for the benefit of the sport if necessary joining forces
with other equestrian governing bodies (Share the resource). But you could take
this further all these events need things like crowd control barriers, temporary
toilets, radio's, marquees the list goes on. Why not arrange national "Call
off" contracts for the provision. There are enough national firms out there.

Clubs could also tap in to these contracts as well.

Should we not look outside our sport for support? How many truck and trailer
tyres do we get through a year?

A lot of people won't like to look at these figures. But just a thought your
estimate of 6000 participants/supporters all spend £3000 a year on
equestrian related products and services (taking each participant/supporter has an
associated horse) this makes our contribution to the equestrian industry a tidy
£18,000,000.

1) ...Well done Phil, I have just spent my lunch hour reading and re-reading the
your thoughts, and I have to say that I thoroughly agree with the whole of the marketing whys and wherefores, that you have spent, obviously a lot of time putting together. The council should sit up and take notice of all the very pertinent facts that have been placed before them, and I hope that they realise that a report of this type, if they had sought professional help, would have had a bill amounting to four figures attached. Thank you very much Phil. I could enter into debate with my thoughts on the way that it has been proposed that we alter the sport to make it more user friendly but I fell that this kind of debate is one that should be open to a properly constructed meeting. Our annual conference is the obvious venue for this type of discussion, with speakers being allowed a set time to air their views both for and against change. At present the so called conference is the same old structured set of meetings with every body saying the same things, and any constructive remarks, criticism or points of order being either ignored or being refer to Council for their decision.

May I be so bold as to point out that a conference should be just that.
Phil has pointed out the science of marketing and how messages are put into the memories of people, this is usually put into thought, word or deed. so let
us remember this thought IT is GOOD to TALK and get on with the DEED. Paul Davis

2) Phil,...I agree with you, we need to make the sport more entertaining. We need to
ensure that the public are aware of what combined carriage driving is, most people think it is either private drive (heaven forbid) or scurrying - this is because its what the public sees at County shows. Perhaps we should try and get some County shows to permit a demonstration of an inside out. I know its not exactly the same as a full blown event but it does give an insight to the combined driving sport (although I believe that inside outs are starting to kill the full blown sport because again no-one has to get their animals full fit). Is this not what the Europeans are doing with the proposed rule changes i.e. no actual walk section, shorter sections and longer flowing obstacles in Section E. - Did we not hear human cry over the proposed changes?. I
understood that the obstacles at Sandringham (I did not go) where flowing
and large and there were complaints because they were not technical!.

In some respects I feel that Newnham have the entertainment right on
Sunday whereby they invite a class to take part in the "splash and dash", at
least it shows the general public who can only get there on Sunday what happens
on Saturday.

Dressage should have the name changed, the word dressage conjures up the
picture of a Grand Prix dressage test. Perhaps the same name as the
Indoor, Paces and Precision or even Compulsory figures, because that's what it is.
I do not know if I would want to do a freestyle test as well because there
are only so many movements you can do in a carriage, at least if everyone
was doing the same test the judges would have a slightly easier task.

Cones should be made more interesting using other materials, I have seen in
several schedules for the nationals that a bridge may be involved but have
never come across one. I appreciate that it can be difficult to make a
course different if it is not on a permanent site. The bridge obstacle at
Dounshurst is great fun. Perhaps dressing the cones up with a corral with
animals in it - like the pigs at Dounshurst.

I feel that if the name of the sport is changed it may help with focusing
peoples minds on exact what the sport is, it may get people in to see it.
One worry I would have is the stands for the spectators would this be
behind some form of barrier, my greatest fear would be for a loose turnout to
plough into the stand causing injury to the spectators. But the large
screen TV sounds like it could help especially if there are some obstacles
just a bit to fair away for the spectators.

One reason carriage driving or equi X will never get TV coverage in the
main UK channels is the fact we are not an Olympic sport. It may be possible
to get the sport shown on Discovery Channel, as they have specific channels
for fishing etc. has anyone thought of contacting them perhaps for a general
equine channel and then have the sport shown, and then if that channel was
receiving good viewing numbers, the others may follow suit. I also think that the sport should have a secure forum for the members to voice their opinions between themselves and not in public, Surely the public reading problems within the sport, complaints etc could potentially put off some-one who could be thinking about sponsoring the sport.

As for the cost of entering the sport it does not have to be that
prohibitive. Ok you need to have a carriage suitable for the sport (there
are reasonable vehicles available and harness to do all phases) and a
sound set of harness but you would need both just to drive around the roads
safely. The cost of transportation can be expensive and so can entry
fees, but you pick and chose your events. We compete with one vehicle, one set
of harness, yes we would love to have a dressage / cones vehicle and
presentation harness it will come with time but at the moment we are
enjoying the sport.

I enjoy the sport and want to see it prosper, if we have to change the
name, change some of the aspects of the sport but not to the detriment of the fun of
competing, the friendship and help from fellow competitors, to get the
sport financed, then lets do it.

Kind regards Cathy Willis

3) Phil

At last, someone has put into words what a few of us have been thinking. i
have taken time to read your article and the views expressed by others. I
believe that the sport can be marketed but it will need to be done in a
manner that differentiates itself from the traditional competition format.
I also believe that expressing the views of this new form of competition at
the BHDTA conference will be a complete waste of time until it can be
proven that the new type of competition will be successful.

Following the events of this year, i believe that all aspects of the sport
in this country need to be analysed thoroughly for there to be an increase
in public support. (This is a brief idea of my views, but i do look forward to discussing any views with you in the near future)

John Broom

4) Phil, a well-constructed and considered article, I thought. Thank you for
publishing it. I'm just a Novice driver: here's my humble tuppence-worth.
Is one of the problems with giving HDT a consistent and therefore
marketable image that there are two types of competitor?
There are people who like to take their pony out of the field and do a
little HDT at a local club event, who've been doing it for years, and
there are the people who get the bug more seriously - and expensively - and
start doing Novice Qualifiers, having training(!) and getting their horses
decently fit, eventually doing Nationals. Your article's about the sport at National level, but people have to come from club level to get there.

Do we need to market the sport better amongst the competitors at club
level before we can think of changing the competition higher up? Or are clubs
and Nationals going to diverge into even more separate cultures than (it seems
to me) they are already?

Having the vast experience of driving in one whole season's events(!), it
seems to me that we'd all benefit from simple, practical things - more
communication between clubs about the timing of events so they didn't
clash so frequently, more judges, more understanding about what judges are
looking for, more training of drivers and club officials, some help from
the BHDTA with advice when needed (which I've so far been very satisfied
with, thank you - not a whinge).

Do we need to get our house in order first? Sell the idea of changing at
all, then choose where we go - if we go anywhere? And do we want to change
the way we drive and compete in order to win abroad at the highest level?

I think the active participants in the sport and its management need to
decide what the goals are, medium and long-term, then we can decide how
best to change our sport - if at all - in order to meet them.

Regards,

5) Phil, brilliant article on your thoughts and suggestions for the future of combined carriage driving.Couldn't agree with you more, have always thought the sport,especially the combined driving events, needs to have a bigger profile, but as you so rightly point out it is not,in its present format, a spectator sport.In fact if one isn't familiar with the whys and wherefores it can,and does, present itself as a very large yawn.When the reality is far from that and is extremely exciting to watch.I think that if the aim is to have the sport recognised and included into the Olympics, then there does need to be a major rethink on how the sport is presented,otherwise Britain is going to be left behind.(which would be aweful, as we have such talented whips)

Unfortunately,horse ownership/participation etc. is still regarded as elitist, moneyed,privileged.which couldn't be further from the truth .That myth needs to be squashed with, as you say, driver profiles.The show jumping/event world have got it right, and are there lessons to be learned from them? Burghley is packed on X country day ? Why? Also can we learn from our continental counterparts?From what I can gather they really put on a show that is appreciated by the public, with high attendance figures.

6) Re Marketing article. The author is absolutley right. The organisers do indeed need to adapt the format of the sport to attract spectators. But I do think a few simple steps can help in the meantime. How about sending press releases to local radio/tv/papers, wrting in to all the "Whats on" Guides in the aforementioned media, sticking a few posters to strategicly placed trailers and lampposts at road junctions, even having a presence (i.e. adverts/marquee) at other country/equine events that occur a week or two before and within the local region of a driving event.

I live in Derby and I did not see anything in local media/roadverges about the Catton "international". This is a good location and has the right topography for spectators - with all the hazards around one field right next to a good road, leading from a major trunk road in the midlands. They didn't even put up a sign that said "Catton Hall International Carriage Drivng Trials - spectators welcome" so all those cars/cycles/walkers who slowed down to see what was going on merely shugged their shoulders and moved on. They didn't have yellow AA signs on the local roads directing wondering sunday driver trafic.

They need to make the hazards spectator friendly - but stands cost money, so how about placing them at the foot of a hill, or on the side of the hill so spectators can see in them. Hazards need to be bigger and allow for lots of cantering, people need entertaining.

Get the basics right with some common sense!

Chris Priestley, Derby