On Track - Summer 2019-20

10 “Branding” was originated out of necessity to indicate ownership. This is very different from today’s modern brand management which has little to do with logos, colours and fonts and everything to do with business strategy, intellectual property and reputation. Brands are also held to a higher standard than ever before in history with knowledge and data moving at lightning speed, where influence is in the hands of the community, and out of the hands of marketers it is essential to create products people love and can resonate. During the teaching years I frequently referred to a brand as; what people say about you when you are not in the room. Something I picked up in a conference a long time ago but struck me as the single source of truth. It is your reputation and perception in the hearts and minds of a target audience. Rightly or wrongly. As I count down the remaining days of this decade and look forward to the amazing and unique developments the next will bring, there is no more ideal time to reflect on the Club’s market positioning and its brands and products for the coming years. A NEW DECADE EMBRACES A NEW LOOK By Carmen Smith, General Manager - Marketing & Communications The Club identity has moved to a new more classic primary palette of blue and bronze. The oval holding device has elongated and the heritage mark has reduced scale to provide a more modern feel with more clear space. Over the last months, you will have noted a transition and emergence to two key identity changes. This is in part due to the nature of the business flexing into the Hospitality and Property space in addition to Racing and requiring a richer, broader and deeper set of assets. To provide some context, the Club is now responsible for business pillars Racing, Property and Hospitality. Whereas The Valley identity refers to the racecourse only and its products e.g. Friday Night Lights. You are a member of the MVRC, not The Valley and so on. It is critical to have clarity around the roles each of these plays and we have carefully created two new brand identities to help communicate the architecture of brands and products long into the future and through the redevelopment years. This is underpinned by Brand Platforms which are the strategy pieces and determine narrative, communication style and key content. The Valley is a sub-brand of the Club. We have deliberately created a strong visual link to the Club to pay homage and respect to our original business. The Valley is purposely focused on the horse as our hero and here we see the re-emergence of The Valley horse captured within the Club oval holding device. 2020 will host the 100th running of the W.S. Cox Plate. It is a special year in the Club’s history and will be celebrated with amazing partnerships, activations, a revised membership model, limited- edition merchandise and many other surprises commencing in February.