THE TASMANIAN DRAGON ISSUE

by RacingB*tch

One can do what they want, but is it what they need? This is what we have been thinking about many of those working in marketing in way too many jockey clubs and also having spoken to suppliers who have been hired, work their arses off according to the weirdest “briefs”, present their work, and which, very often, never sees the light of day.

Why? Few of these marketing gurus know what’s right, but once this work is presented, everybody and their dog suddenly come to the realization that everything is all wrong. The fault of the supplier? So think the gremlins who gave these people the brief in the first place and when the buck should stop with them.

What happens next is everyone going into PANIC mode and overdrive to cover their asses and tracks and where The Blame Game is shamelessly played out along with lame excuse called Pass The Buck.

As we have written below, like the Italian racing industry, the racing industry is not only in dire straits like a rare bad Mark Knopfler Moment, it is, sadly, up the proverbial creek without a paddle and the only racing club winning today being the HKJC. Why? It is the only game in town, it has a CEO who “gets it”- from a GLOBAL perspective- and who is a game-changer not resting on his German laurels. He knows full-well that things can always turn and bite one on their arse when least expecting it. Like a boy scout, he knows he must always Be Prepared- and so must his troops.

The future of the ENTIRE racing industry is staring into the same mess which derailed the music industry. But many are not seeing and have not see what we have with the latter industry. This had to do with nepotism, cronyism and which had to do with bad hires who refused to see the forest for the trees and went about doing what has always been done as this was the way it had always been.

It was a constant game of either keeping their heads down and not putting their balls on the line by saying and doing tickyboo or else keeping themselves “busy” by attending one useless meeting after the next and looking harried. It all LOOKED good and The Big Guy would say, “She works very hard.” Yes, maybe, but what the hell is she DOING and is it any good? It never was.

Nothing comes easy today, especially when it comes to marketing in its truest form and not ATTEMPTS to understand marketing and on-the-job “training” while running around with fancy titles given out way too liberally. Promotion work is not marketing and we know many who are incapable of even writing a simple marketing brief, let along working on a strategy statement.

In today’s consumer-driven world with its plethora of choices, those running racing clubs and, especially those hired to “connect” with consumers better get going- and quickly- to understand how and why and where and when this should happen.

Social media is evolving at the rate of Don Knotts and so-called “marketing” people better understand and not use this term as just another buzz word at presentations. One can fool some of the people all of the time, but- well, you know how the line ends.

Facebook, for example, will soon have its own IPO. Last week, Jerry Yang, the founder of the floundering Yahoo, resigned. All the major social networking sites are at war against the stupidity of SOPA- the Stop Online Piracy Act. Talk about shutting the barnyard door after the horse- and genie- have bolted.

So if all these people who bandy this term called “social media” are clueless about any of the above- and the impact it will have on social media when used in the marketing of horse racing to its future customers- totally new racing enthusiasts with a veritable buffet of entertainment choices- they are not only kidding themselves, they are also making all the wrong noises to their superiors and talking utter crap.

As John Lennon once sang, “Mother Superior jumped the gun” and bang-bang-shoot-shoot- but unless racing clubs get their hiring processes in order, get rid of useless “Human Resources” people- very few know who the fuck to hire as their “universe” and roller deck is so small.

One has to wonder who hired THEM and what THEIR qualifications are and if they are allowed to keep bringing in inferior versions of themselves, what one will have is one very weak Starship Enterprise and heading into the great unknown with those “hard-working” little Oompah Loompahs in tow and one giant abyss. And no, we don’t have a lisp.

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