How is it that a gecko with an Australian accent can raise the profile of an relatively unknown company like GEICO to the level is at today? Someone at the NTRA should be asking someone at the Martin Ad Agency (Martin Agency also developed the Caveman ads for GEICO) that question.
If you type "horse racing commercial" into Youtube do you know what you get?
The answer is not one advertisement developed for the NTRA, the Breeders Cup, TVG or HRTV. What this proves is that advertising developed for these companies has failed to make a lasting impression on the intended audience. What you do get when you type in those three key words is a series of ads developed by the Japanese Racing Association (JRA) featuring Japanese film and television stars like Masahiro Motoki and baseball legends like Katsuya Nomura. Obviously these ads are well loved by Japansese fans who wanted to share them with people like me who have never seen them. It also speaks volumes about how racing is marketed in Japan and how it is marketed here. What this and other JRA ads do demonstrate is that fans will crossover if you find the right icon(s) to convince that they are missing something.