While it is not common to see harness drivers touring the world like rock stars, actors and authors attracting a trail of media attention for promotional purposes, the publicity tour model also translates well to the racing industry
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In early April, Tero Vienonen, Manager of Marketing of Finland’s racing organization Fintoto, test drove this model by inviting Canada’s 2009 Driver of the Year Jody Jamieson on a 10-day promotional tour of Finland’s racetracks.
“I thought Jody could raise the awareness in Finland that harness racing is a big global sport,” Vienonen told Trot Insider. “For the fans that are already attached to horse racing I figured that it would be cool to bring a fresh face over with a bit of different driving style with a good record of success.
“Last year was remarkable year for Jody. That was the main reason [we chose him]. I mean 796 wins in a year is just beyond understanding. Back in the day I was watching on 'telly' when he won the drivers' world title in 2001 (in Finland) and since then I really wanted to hook him up with the Finnish horse racing scene even more. Last year's success just provided Fintoto a good reason to do it.”
Jamieson’s tour, which included stops at Turku, Tampere, Vermo, Mikkeli and Lahti, generated a large amount of publicity for racing across Finland.
“All and all we got 32 interviews published during his visit - all the major commercial TV channels included,” said Vienonen. “Fans obviously found him interesting. Judging by the amount of autographs he signed during his stay, it is safe to say that fans thought seeing last year’s top driver in the world is a thing to do.”
According to Vienonen, betting per race card and also per race that featured Jamieson increased. Attendance numbers also increased when Jamieson was driving.
Jamieson’s visit also proved to have its benefits for Finland’s horsemen.
“They loved it,” said Vienonen. “It's rare that they get a chance to exchange ideas, ways and means of training and driving a horse with someone from abroad. From a sporting perspective, Jody’s style of driving was a good fit for the rest of the guys. They found it challenging not knowing exactly what is coming up from the back pocket for the last 400 metres in a race.”
Dubbed a definite success, Vienonen says Fintoto is interested in organizing more tours featuring international driving stars in the future.
“Perhaps not this year, but in the future we are interested in introducing a few new drivers to the Finnish audience. The timing has to be right in many ways. In saying that, I think it could work vice versa. There are plenty of interesting drivers in Finland like Mika Forss, Antti Teivainen and Akseli Lahtinen to name a few. They do have a bit of a different style of driving. They are all good personalities. I think that is the key to it.
“Sometimes it takes a bit of an effort to get a message across to those people that are potential future customers,” said Vienonen on the tour’s success. “There are plenty of them out there who could be interested but have not heard or had a chance to know more of harness racing. In many ways bringing over a successful driver from abroad creates many opportunities for publicity and especially towards those medias that have not yet covered harness racing.”