Ad campaigns don’t kill brands – they only bring to life a ‘strategic vision’ that is often times neither strategic nor visionary.
Case in point – “Get your Preak On“ - this year’s campaign for the Preakness.
Get your Preak On. Today’s Baltimore Sun has a front-page article on “Get your Preak On” but the focus is on the campaign, not the “strategy” behind it. Personally, I think the campaign is dead on – if your target audience really is people that want to party and not gamble on the horses.
But that’s not going to turn around the racing industry or Pimlico.
The Preakness offers the racing industry, Pimlico, Baltimore and Maryland the unique and priceless opportunity to reach a global audience in order to attract and retain profitable customers – gamblers, families searching for entertainment, tourists as well as attract new residents and businesses to the city and state.
Instead, viewers around the world will be treated to Preakness spin on the Sport of Kings – port-a-potty races (aka “The Running of the Urinals” – and as you watch the video, be sure to enjoy the beer cans flying at the ‘athletes’).
Oh, and if we’re lucky, there might be a few snippets of one “happy customer” attempting to land a knock-out blow to a horse back in 1998.
So what’s the strategic vision here? Is it to build a first-class horse racing facility that attracts local citizens and tourists? Or is it to sell beer? Until that question is answered, we should be prepared to see a lot more campaigns like “Get your Preak On”.
How your business can avoid brand damage. Too many businesses are in the “will do anything for money” mode – and that causes more problems than solutions. Resources are spread too thin, awareness in the market is low and fuzzy. No one knows what your business really does so they aren’t sure if they need your products/services and they can’t refer others.
Focus on the strategic vision of your business by asking these questions and, when times get tough, remain focused on the answers.
- Who is the target audience?
- What is the product or service they need and want?
- How does your product or service solve an unmet need or want?
- What is the brand experience you need to deliver in order to consistently deliver a unique, valuable customer experience?
What’s the answer for Pimlico and the Preakness? The leadership team needs to figure out what they want the organization to be – is the future in horse racing or in concerts and cheap, unlimited beer?
Assuming the future is in horse racing, chasing the short-term dollar by targeting an audience more interested in cheap, unlimited beer needs to be replaced with a longer term strategy aimed at developing the next generation of customers. I suggest the leadership team take a long, hard look at this presentation from the folks at NTRA.
Start with your current customers and encourage them to bring family and friends. Then engage and educate them because racing is a lot more fun when you understand it and become part of it.
I know this works from personal experience – I was raised in upstate New York and my parent’s took us to Saratoga every August and I have brought my family there several times over the years. Saratoga – the community and the race course – continue to see profitable benefits as people come to visit and enjoy all the community’s offerings.
And I haven’t seen any “Running of the Urinals” or paid $20 for unlimited beer.
