John Smith’s Racehorse Campaign
November 2009
UK- The leading ale from Scottish and Newcastle, John Smith’s has come up with an attractive offer, where the drinkers will be given a No Nonsense chance to experience horse-racing at the price of a pint, in January.
The campaign,’ Smithy, the People’s Racehorse’ will allow the people who drink at pubs and clubs to own a share in Smithy, a chestnut gelding which is three-years old and a pure-breed by 2003 Derby winner Kris Kin. This campaign has replaced the older one, ‘John Smith’s People’s Race’ which had been running successfully for three years.
It has been designed with the purpose of leveraging John Smith’s sponsorship of the Grand National and their 90 sponsored race meetings across the nation. The producer of the campaign is Space, a leading integrated marketing agency.
In an attempt to give the people who drink John Smith’s ale a peek into the mystifying world of racing, ‘The Sport of Kings’, the campaign created by Space is based on John Smith’s No Nonsense policy. The integrated marketing campaign will be executed by Space and would be expanded through sponsorship, advertising, a media partnership, digital, mobile, in-pub communications, and activity at key races in the John Smith’s racing calendar and online at johnsmiths.co.uk/smithy.
John Smith intends to make the people see the ins and outs of horse racing and all channels of media will establish the persona of Smithy.
Starting from January thousands of John Smith’s on-trade stockists all over the country will actively participate in the promotional campaign of ‘Smithy the Horse’. All the customers who purchase a pint of John Smith’s will earn a share; all they have to do is register it to take part.
Smithy’s ‘owners’ will have the opportunity to vote online and express their views on key decisions, for example on the meets he should race at (in consultation with his trainer).They would also be kept updated regularly on Smithy’s progress and be able to read about Smithy’s No Nonsense views at johnsmiths.co.uk/smithy, through a national newspaper partnership and via his Face book fan site. In this way the promotion is very interactive.
The owners can even meet Smithy at races and at his stable, during the period of the campaign. The launch of the pub promotion and Smithy’s (running under the name ‘Smithy the Horse’) first race are planned on the same day, in January.
Donald McCain will be training Smithy at his Bank House stables in Cheshire. A leading trainer, Donald with his father Ginger McCain (who trained Grand National legend Red Rum) have worked in close association with Grand National winning jockey Mick Fitzgerald and selected Smithy as the horse to run in John Smith’s colours next year. It is desired that at Donald’s Bank House stables Smithy will be enthused immensely in the company of star horses such as Cloudy Lane and Whiteoak.
Gareth Turner, Senior Brand Manager – John Smith’s, who was available for comment, said: “We are very excited by the ‘Smithy, the People’s Racehorse’ campaign. Particularly as our research tells us our drinkers would relish the chance to share ownership of a racehorse, something they would never normally be able to do.
“Space has created much more than just an exciting double-edged campaign that engages with core John Smith’s drinkers. In Smithy we have a new ambassador for John Smith’s racing who will be followed by up to 250,000 share-owning consumers next year.”
David Atkinson, Managing Partner at Space, added: “To follow the success of the John Smith’s People’s Race we were looking to create a campaign that put John Smith’s at the heart of the conversation in the world of horse racing. We believe that ‘Smithy, the People’s Racehorse’ is an innovation in the industry, and will capture the hearts and minds of John Smith’s drinkers and horse racing fans”.
“We hope that Smithy is successful, but more importantly that we can enjoy his outings with a pint of John Smith’s”. Smithy’s introduction coincides with the announcement that Scottish and Newcastle will continue to sponsor the John Smith’s Grand National for a further three years when the current agreement expires next year.
Michelle Williams from Artemis Solutions Group who specialise in recruiting for Food and Beverage sector states” John Smith has come up with a novel campaign ‘Smithy’ which is very exciting as drinkers will get a great chance to own a racehorse and to know what goes on in the thrilling world of racing which would be a rare treat for them.”
