Swanson Russell

Showing horses is not just a hobby, but a lifestyle. If you have ever been to a horse show or any type of livestock expo, you know what I mean. These people travel hours to the show, sometimes across oceans; wake up before the sun; stay late, sometimes until 3 a.m., yet still look forward to the show all year. Despite the dust, extensive preparations and long hours the passion for the horse is clear.

This is what made horse shows the perfect place to introduce our client, Global Animal Management’s, newest product – eyeD™. A chance for eyeD to make a real connection with horse lovers.

For this real connection, I hit the trails, literally. In a little less than two months I traveled to six shows in four cities (hitting up Fort Worth and Oklahoma City twice). Many of these shows overlapped during the two months, so much of the time we were connecting with horse lovers at two different shows at one time…pretty tricky stuff.
 
The timing of the eyeD launch worked in favor of having an opportunity to connect with horse owners who have made showing a way of life. The fall is when the horse show season is wrapping up and full of world championships and big prizes. eyeD attended horse shows across many breeds and disciplines, including:

• Pennsylvania National Horse Show
• Washington International Horse Show
• American Quarter Horse Association World Show
• American Paint Horse Association World Show
• National Reining Horse Association Futurity
• National Cutting Horse Association Futurity 

Our time at the shows was not just spent in the booth. We created a full force marketing plan for eyeD. We first introduced the brand via a direct mail piece that incorporated a webkey, which took the user to a personalized website for the show they were going to attend and compete at with their horse. Competitors also found eyeD in their inbox with a custom email.

Upon arrival at the show, competitors were surrounded by eyeD signage, videos and announcements. The eyeD staff also hosted live demonstrations at clinics and receptions at the various shows.



Social media was used as additional support to give those exhibitors who couldn’t attend the shows in person a chance to connect with eyeD. We took photos, posted links and answered questions about each show on the eyeD Facebook page to those who hadn’t made the trip. We also arranged for eyeD to sponsor live webcasting of the competition at certain shows and have digital ads running when enthusiasts researched the shows online.

Attending horse shows was not the only tactic that was used to launch this revolutionary product to the equine industry, but the chance to connect with thousands of horse owners face to face was one that we couldn’t pass up. Horse owners are specialized and a complex crowd, but making a real connection with horse owners in their favorite environment is something that makes all the airports, hotels and cruddy food totally worth it…plus I got to see Steve Spielberg and Terry Bradshaw horsin’ around.