Melbourne Racing Club breaks with convention in latest Spring Carnival campaign via The Royals
Continuing the brand idea “It’s just not racing”, Melbourne Racing Club has launched a new Spring Carnival campaign via The Royals, to demonstrate that racing at Caulfield isn’t the usual, expected experience.
As one of the nation’s top social events, Melbourne Racing Club is aiming to break from traditions and shake up the experience at Caulfield – moving away from the staid, elitist and superficial perceptions of the Spring Racing Carnival. With open access to the fashion fields and race tracks, curated restaurants and exciting line up of entertainers, Melbourne Racing Club is promising a day at the races for the next generation of race goers.
Titled “Break with Convention”, the campaign has launched with a 30″ TVC celebrating the journey of 3 friends in a bold new world of racing. With edgy fashion, cutting edge cuisine and entertainment that 
replaces the old, stuffy clichés. Vibrant, spirited and playful, the campaign invites viewers to participate in their “folly”. The campaign rolls out across Melbourne with large format OOH, roving mobile posters, radio and digital placements.
Says Andy Jones, creative director, The Royals: “Racing at Caulfield is a very different experience, it’s exciting and unconventional. It’s also a lot of fun for the punters, so we just needed to take that energy and difference and show it to Melbourne.”
Says Peta Webster, chief commercial officer at Melbourne Racing Club: “The next generation of race goers are going to be thoroughly entertained by what’s on offer at Caulfield this Spring. This campaign reflects their desire for more thoughtfully curated experiences that offer access to world-class food, fashion and entertainment, not to mention high quality racing.”
Client: Melbourne Racing Club
Chief Commercial Officer: Peta Webster
General Manager, Marketing and Communications: Sarah Stewart
Creative Director: Nic Lehman
Marketing Campaign Manager: Rhiannon McMahon
Agency: The Royals
Managing Partner: Andrew Siwka
Creative Partner: Nick Cummins
Creative Director: Andy Jones
Strategy Director: Matt Davies
Senior Creative & Art Director: Tommy Cehak
Senior Copy Writer: Gareth Sweet
Group Account Director: Clara Tang
Account Manager: Dominica Chodorowski
Integrated Producer: Rene Shalala
Production Company: In the Thicket
Director: Mathilde Nocquet
Sound: Nylon
Radio: Electric Dreams
Photographer: Natasha Foster
20 Comments
the worst thing I have ever seen…
That’s a piece.
Wow what a stupid campaign
Absolutely no idea what drives racing . Trying to be new edgy and win some creative award
What a right royal piece of crap.
I’m bad….I’m bad….I’m really really bad
It’s copywriter. Which explains everything.
The typography says meme
But the copywriting says amateur
Because the execution says no idea.
Racing is all about stupid, vacuous people dressing up in ridiculous get-ups, getting on the piss and making right royal ponces of themselves.
And all the while there’s some horses going round.
More shite from The Royals, this stinks.
You guys royally f*ked that one up, just terrible.
That is terrible in so many ways.
“I am very proud of what the kids have achieved with their assignment”
What Grey did last year was lovely. This is awful.
Maybe they’ve been spending too much time on other things. This is dreadful
Nothing on the Spring Carnival stuff.
this is woefully bad… i drove past the outdoor today and almost crashed my car….
Clearly the prints suck but the spot is quite good.
Perhaps in 20 years time we’ll look back at this work as the high water mark of 21st century advertising. The ad equivalent of Paul Verhoeven’s ShowGirls or Howard the Duck. Ahead of its time. Tip of the hat for using the same production designer they used on Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Perhaps in 20 years time we’ll look back at this work as the high water mark of 21st century advertising. The ad equivalent of Paul Verhoeven’s ShowGirls or Howard the Duck. Ahead of its time. Tip of the hat for using the same production designer they used on Plan 9 from Outer Space.
I read the article and comments. Certainly the comments are relentless as they are merciless. In fact I thought it was an orchestrated move against the agency, until I watched the ad.
I don’t blame the agency. The MRC is to blame. Their key product is horse racing. However race clubs seem to have lost sight of this in an attempt to compete with nightclubs for the 20-40 demographic. Formerly a long term member of another city racing club, I stopped going as the club lost sight of their raison d’être in a way evidenced by the MRC in this campaign.