Pivoting The Grand National Experience in a Covid-19 World for The Jockey Club

Client: The Jockey Club

We have worked with The Jockey Club for five years, and the Grand National has always been one of the most important events for generating revenue and driving interest in horse racing. Covid-19 meant the 2021 races could still go ahead but Aintree Racecourse wasn’t open to the public. Because of this, our focus shifted from generating revenue through ticket sales to maintaining interest in horse racing and the three day Grand National event itself.

We needed to create a sense of anticipation and excitement around an event which is usually all about celebrating, socialising and getting dressed up for a big day out, while ensuring that The Jockey Club brand maintained its reputation as the home of horse racing. To do this we created a bespoke cross-channel strategy for before, during and after the event. Before We ensured that The Jockey Club maintained their brand reputation as experts in horse racing by focusing SEO on interest-based keywords and generating longform content. During Our multi-channel strategy during The Grand National recreated the excitement and fun that attendees would usually enjoy within the grounds, but from home through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and PPC. After Our focus post-race day was on maintaining the momentum from the event and encouraging those who had engaged to book tickets for future events