Michael Varney - In no rush it seems

I watched a rerun of Winning Ways and sat through the Michael Varney interview. The longer I watched the more frustrated I became. Now I do not know Michael Varney nor do I have a beef with the man however I concluded my viewing by asking myself how he could be driving the initiative that supposedly is going to bring back people and in particular, young people to the track.

The first area of concern is that he is not a "racing" man. Marketing is all about selling the "sizzle" as they say. This guy clearly has little or no enthusiasm for racing. How he could get on TV and say he has no knowledge of the international team is damning. He furthermore states his racing CV comprises solely on having 2 family members, an uncle and a grandfather, who were stewards in Johannesburg. Where he kills all credibility is stating that "Uncle George" still has an interest in horses "somewhere in Natal". Now anyone with an iota of interest in racing would know who the horses were, who trained them and how they performed. It is my belief that if you want to do anything do the basics right. The powers that be could have secured the services of a racing mad individual to do this job. At least we would have seen some enthusiasm! As an example and a good example too, why could they not have appointed a Mr Hawaii of the world who regularly displays his passion and knowledge of racing in his many posts?

I am 100% sure that this campaign will fail.

Early days in the campain yet

but i`m a bit concerned with their social media campaign,they are not active at all and only burst to life the 24 hours before a big event.

In fact i made double the tweets about racing its a rush on charity mile day than they did

ota can you name me 2 people who are employed in the racing industry who actually have racings best interest at heart and not their own backpocket?

You also have to remember this campaign is not for us,we are already hooked,its about attracting new blood and maybe the racing side of the campaign is less important?

Fashion and socialising the focus?

pirates wrote: ota can you name me 2 people who are employed in the racing industry who actually have racings best interest at heart and not their own backpocket?

harsh,you can earn from racing and love/have passion for it also

@pirates I dont know the big boys but a guy like Vee Moodley seems very passionate and very clued up. I also can not fault Larry Wainstein in this regard.

@bob Let me put this another way. If I was trying to get you to join a Skydiving club and I knew very little about it besides the fact my uncle was a Springbok who jumped 'somewhere in Natal', would that inspire you? Imvho a lot better qualified and suited individuals to do the job

I agree with OTAir.

Lets be realistic, a problem spanning over decades will not be solved in weeks and months and most definitely not by merely doing more of the same.

Racing needs more than a toothless marketing campaign, it needs a tangible new offering, a serious budget and inspired individuals to drive the process. Tie this to a marketing campaign and real results will be achieved with lasting benefits for all industry players.

Anything less than the above could be flushed straight down the toilet with similar results.

Is the "it's a rush" campaign not just swimming upstream?

Years ago people went to the course because totes closed an hour before the first race and bookie outlets had crackly commentaries on a landline. When totes opened all day and all outlets,including bookies ,got a TV picture,there was less reason to go to the course.
Since then ,South Africans generally support live sport less and less (we can speculate at the reasons) and with the tote now offering betting on many meetings daily, being on course is the least convenient place to bet on the other meetings.
If the ultimate mission of marketing is to increase turnover, why not improve the delivery to the punter where he wants it .............at home or an outlet.
Yet we insist the race course is the place to be ..........and you will like it!
(one of the other threads gives a clue as to how likeable it is to the pioneer racegoer)

This last Saturday the theme (beer,boerie,burger ) was outsourced to a provider clearly ripping off the public(min 300% mark up) and when asked about getting those customers to bet ,Varney replied that the info was limited to prevent confusing them...........very disrespectful to assume they are dumbos???
Find out what gamblers really want........... and then deliver it, and so get horse racing to be an attractive option!.................very basic really.

the man was hired and given a mandate.

Rob I think we are in too much of a hurry

Sure they are playing the long game

keniza999 wrote: the man was hired and given a mandate.

So was Zuma!!!!!!