Kick Up Workshop
June 7, 2023
TDN AusNZ caught up with Tanita Mitchell, co-director of Kick Up and Godolphin Australia’s marketing and media manager, ahead of the Kick Up Workshop to
As the number of Australians who regard horse racing negatively increases, its future is under threat.
That’s why Kick Up was born.
There are three key central values guiding how Kick Up operates.
This is important to:
a. Ensure credibility is maintained under public scrutiny
b. Reduce bias toward any single stakeholder or sector
c. Maintain a nimble business structure, allowing for a fast feedback loop
and quick responses to issues
d. Drive the initiative with passion and enthusiasm
This is important to:
a. Keep the industry accurate and accountable
b. Prepare for issues pre-emptively
c. Maintain credibility in content
This is important to:
a. Allow for ownership of the initiative to remain at grassroots level
b. Grow and empower the network of ambassadors
c. Keep the community connected and invested in its long-term success
We will empower our tribes of industry ambassadors to educate non-industry participants about factual day-to-day practices of horse racing, backed by peer-reviewed sources and validated statistics.
We will kick up for racing against negative activism and encourage the industry to be better in all areas. We will support public figures who want to positively educate their networks of followers, helping them with strategies to communicate accurate messaging.
We will promote the industry using modern marketing strategies to specifically cut through to young Australians, who respond best to authenticity and originality.
We will prepare an extensive pro-active defensive strategy and grow the support of our community to positively promote all the exceptional features of the horse racing industry.
Utilise Kick Up to arm the industry community with resources, empowering them to:
a. Defend against untruths
b. Influence the silent majority
c. Communicate appropriately when there are incidents
d. Assist ambassadors
Execute a creative, year-round, content marketing strategy that encourages young Australians to learn, understand, explore and engage with the horse racing industry.
Focus on preparing a comprehensive content plan to roll out each October and November when negative public pressure and audience attention is at heightened levels.
Advocate for effective policies in order to reduce the risk of welfare scandals and achieve better outcomes for public perception and practice of the horse racing industry. Support industry bodies in their initiatives to achieve perception changes.
Become the default organisation to communicate accurately about horse racing.
Grow our impact in Australia.
Ensure Kick Up is adequately resourced to deliver on its mission.
All resources to launch and establish Kick Up were contributed by Kick Collective, totalling over $500,000. However, in order to grow and maximise our impact, sponsorship funding is required for the 12 month objectives to be achieved, with in-kind sponsorships from parties also beneficial for growth.
Remaining independent and agile is important to achieve Kick Up’s objectives, and a sponsorship funding model will allow for this.
Initial investment will be prioritised to get the foundations in place for benchmarking, strategy, governance, risk and maintaining current momentum. Thereafter, growth and enhancement strategies will be possible.
Presenting facts in a palatable format:
• Continue to develop the public-facing Kick Up website with factual answers to common questions and challenging horse racing topics.
• Push out common concern content to the industry community via social media channels, media interviews and industry workshops.
• Make sure the information is easy to find by ensuring the website ranks at the top of search results for important keywords, questions and phrases through a focused SEO strategy.
• Update the website content with current research as it is published and validated.
• Work with researchers and racing authorities to remove gaps in knowledge and data.
Promote the horse racing industry:
• Craft creative content to promote positive initiatives.
• Utilise modern marketing techniques to reach a new audience who typically would not engage with the horse racing industry, with a particular focus on Gen Z marketing strategies.
• Collaborate both publicly and behind the scenes with key industry partners on content pieces.
Empower the industry community:
• Create content to assist industry ambassadors and the community to push out accurate industry messaging.
• Protect the industry against unfair and inaccurate backlash online and in person.
• Offer avenues to support the growth of community and ambassador knowledge and exposure to the industry.
• Teach the industry community how to have effective conversations about the industry to those who do not understand it, including answering awkward or challenging questions.
• Provide a balanced perspective where required in the public domain.
• Contribute to creating a unified industry message to the public about equine welfare.
They are providing vital insights to Kick Up so racing can better connect with all young Aussies.
If you’re <25 and want to join this group to help change the conversation, visit this link: Kick Up – Young Guns on Facebook
TDN AusNZ caught up with Tanita Mitchell, co-director of Kick Up and Godolphin Australia’s marketing and media manager, ahead of the Kick Up Workshop to
Launched six months ago, Kick Up has as its ultimate goal the breaking down of anti-racing sentiment. More than a year in the making, with
“Kick Up wasn’t established as a resource for propaganda,” says Vicky Leonard, Chief Executive of Kick Up who says “it’s an industry voice with-in for
Fill in your details below and follow us on social media @kickupforracing
Fill in your details below and follow us on social media @kickupforracing