Ontario Racing Encourages Us to Break the Routine with Fully Integrated Campaign

Juniper Park\TBWA, new agency of record for Ontario Racing, has launched a new campaign to encourage attendance at Ontario racetracks. 

Few people attend horse racing for the first time by themselves. They either find it intimidating, or it’s simply not on their mind. They’re more likely to discover the sport when brought to the racetrack by a friend or family member.

This is an insight from a recent market research study commissioned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (“OLG”) - one that OLG and Ontario Racing decided to lean into for its new campaign. OLG hopes to encourage attendance at Ontario racetracks by targeting communications to all the ‘organisers’ out there –the people within families or groups of friends that typically take the initiative to plan group events.

People who take the initiative to plan group outings take pride in choosing activities that create great shared memories for their group. However, it can be stressful to suggest new activities when the group’s opinions and money are involved – and when the organiser’s reputation is on the line. This can lead to group plans which resort to the familiar and safe, where everyone knows what they’re going to get.

By reassuring people that horse racing makes for a fun and memorable adventure, the campaign looks to encourage them to shake up their ‘same old’ plans and try something new.

The creative shows a series of fairly ordinary group activities – golf, bowling, the movie theatre and the local pub – as racehorses tear through each one, to the surprise and wonder of participants and patrons. A slight sense of tension in the music nods to the feeling of intrigue and risk that comes with doing something outside one’s comfort zone. It builds to a crescendo with roaring crowd and pounding hooves, against a montage of bracing race footage.

The integrated, multi-channel rollout aims to deliver the message of trying a new entertainment option in the places where people routinely seek entertainment, or inspiration for entertainment plans. These ads will be broadcast online, appear in multiplex lobbies, and take the form of audio spots on Spotify. Double-page spreads will also appear in influential lifestyle publications such as Food & Drink and Toronto Life.