Adding Common Sense to Your Stallion's Marketing Campaign

Written by: Jennifer Trickey
Published in AHA Magazine Dec/Jan 2004

"I’ve spent countless of dollars on advertising my stallion and have not sold the number of breedings I thought I would. What am I doing wrong?"

This is a question I have been asked many times over the years and the answer is always the same: You need to develop a strong marketing campaign. The ingredients that go into creating this campaign are similar, no matter what budget you have to spend. What will differ is how you tailor that advertising, customizing it to fit your particular needs.

Of course, we all feel that our stallion is not only the prettiest and most athletic, but also the most prepotent, easily passing on his superb conformation, movement and temperament to his offspring. However, in order to convince mare owners to breed to your stallion, you need to figure out how to effectively communicate your stallion's assets so they share your vision. Marketing begins with identifying the benefits your product has to offer, which in the case of a stallion would be the positive traits he passes on to his offspring. Advertising is how we communicate those benefits to the audience we want to reach, in this case mare owners. Before you spend a dollar on advertising, here are a few things I feel are paramount in planning how you will communicate your stallion's advantages and create a strong marketing campaign:

(1) Identify Your Stallion's Strong Points--Whether it's a demand for a particular bloodline, an extreme physical trait, a unique consistency or a superior ability, you first have to objectively decide what it is that your stallion offers. How many times have we all heard "He sires halter AND performance winners"? That’s all fine and dandy, but aren’t we also told every beer tastes great yet has less calories? Doesn’t every car have the power of four-wheel drive yet handles like a luxury vehicle? Touting a generic benefit, one that can apply to most breeding stallions, yet does not tell a mare owner what makes your particular stallion stand out from the others. Ask yourself what it is exactly that your stallion has to offer. Have talented trainers and experienced breeders help you determine those qualities. Be objective and leave the "barn-blindness" in the barn. Once you specifically identify what is so special about your horse, finding mare owners looking for those qualities will become easier, your advertising message will be clearer and your spending on advertising will be more efficient.

(2) Identify His Offspring's Strong Points--The product you are selling often is not your stallion, it is the quality of the foals your stallion produces. They are four-legged walking billboards and soon it will not matter what your stallion even looks like himself--all that matters is what he puts on the ground. Even if you have never run an ad, built a website or presented your stallion to a crowd, his foals have advertised for him--for better or for worse. Focus on his good foals, and make them your "posterr-children." Get an honest evaluation of your horse’s get to determine the most effective message the foals can display for you. Showcase not only your horse, but those quality mares who have been bred to him.

If you have a young stallion without any foals on the ground, he must speak for himself. This is obviously a more difficult challenge as some of the strongest specimens of the breed do not always prove to be great breeding horses, and finding breeders who are willing to take a chance on a young stud can be difficult. Communicate the qualities your horse shows today and his potential as a breeding stallion. Locate the mares you feel will cross with your horse and pick up the phone. Your enthusiasm about your young stallion may go further than you think. Use others' accounts of him by promoting the quality mares that are booked to your stallion. Communicating their owners’ confidence in your horse is paramount.

(3) Network– The biggest advocate of your stallion is you and the second is the happy customer. The easiest part of your marketing campaign is the continuing correspondence you have with your breeders. Following the careers and production records of your stallion’s progeny gives you the solid information you need to communicate your stallion's ability to produce winning offspring. For instance, if you find out he is siring regional or national champions in western pleasure, you can tout this in your ads or in speaking with mare owners. Imagine picturing several of those winning offspring in an ad with your stallion. Not only does this demonstrate your stallion's prepotency, but it also shows that you support those people who have invested in your stallion and makes your customers feel valued. Happy customers are the number one source for repeat business.

(4) Follow Up--This is one of the most overlooked ingredients of a marketing plan, yet it is one of the most important. Spending thousands of dollars a year on an ad campaign is wasted when a perspective breeder waits too long for a breeding contract, or cannot understand it for lack of clarity. They are likely never breed to your stallion again if their semen was not delivered when promised, or if the person on the phone taking their request cannot supply them with the proper information. You have invited people to respond to an advertisement. Be ready when they do. The business transactions must stay clean and clear. Is your breeding facility set up that way?

(5) Create an Affordable Advertising Budget-- Whenplanning a budget for your stallion’s advertising, stay within your means. As your stallion’s breeding career grows and he begins to fill his book, you can gradually increase your advertising budget. For instance, you may start out with a smaller ad in a stallion directory, move up to a larger part-page ad and eventually take out a full-page ad. Remember if your stallion does not live up to your claims, or you can not provide good customer service, all the money spent on your positive advertising will be wasted and instead heard as a negative message.

(6) Create a Quality, Unified Look--
Whether it is your horse’s name, a symbol, or photographic image, do not reinvent the wheel every time you place an ad or run a DVD. Making sure your advertising is unified in whatever you do to promote your horse is important and adds to brand awareness. Create a look that represents the quality you would like to be associated with your stallion and stick with it.

(7) Spread Out Your Advertising--Once you've set up a budget, don't put all your advertising dollars in one communication tool. Spread it over several media, or communication channels to get the best exposure for your stallion.

Advertising Tools
In today's world, there are numerous avenues for advertising your stallion, including print advertisements, websites, emails, online classifieds, direct mail, videos and DVDs, interactive CDs and live presentations. Here are some of the advantages of each advertising tool.

Photography
The importance of photography and video of your horse is paramount. Of anything in your budget, do not skimp here. No photo is better than a bad photo and this industry is blessed with talented photographers, so use them. You may be pretty good with the camera you received for Christmas, but remember the image you bring to your stallion is the one everyone will keep in their mind, so make it great.

Printed Advertisements
Despite the growth of the Internet, we still get a thrill when our favorite horse magazine arrives, so publications are still a predominant part of advertising. Stay within your means on your print ads and see what page rates work for you. If you just need to reach a local or regional market, it's less expensive to advertise in local horse publications. If you need to have a significant presence in a national publication to reach your target market, the cost will be greater, but you can minimize expenses by taking out smaller part-page ads or ads in special stallion sections. Ask your sales representative to help you get creative by combining efforts with others and make a bigger splash.

Websites
This is another area where you can spend a lot or a little. What is important is the cleanliness of your site and the end user's ability to locate it easily and navigate within it. There are programs that help you design your own site, but if you're not well-versed in computers and/or design, you are better off hiring a website designer.

Emails
Email are becoming as important as our telephones, so use them to your advantage. Send direct messages in a mass mailing announcing your client’s new foal. Zip off your stallion’s newsletter to your club’s entire membership or work on your own mailing list from all the information requests you have received. Emailing is one of the cheapest ways to advertise so use it!

Online Classifieds
Large equine or Arabian horse websites often have classified sections that allow you to advertise your stallion's stud services. These classifieds are often inexpensive, however the response you receive will depend on how much traffic the website generates.

Direct Mail
Sending out a printed stallion card, brochure, video or DVD can be one of the more expensive, yet highly effective, parts of an advertising campaign. Although sending mail via the U.S. Postal service may not be as fast as hitting the send button on your computer, there is something exceptional and eye catching about receiving a beautiful package in the mail that you can hold in your own two hands. Because it can be expensive, carefully target the prospects that will receive your mail.

Videos and DVDs
We all love to watch an exciting live motion picture, and videos and DVDs can be an important part of any campaign. Like photography, a well done video will be remembered as well as a poor one. The imagery is captured in time and will be what people remember, so be selective and produce one that reflects the quality you want to be associated with your stallion. If you cannot afford to do this right…don’t do it at all. This is another tool which should be taken seriously and planned carefully.

Interactive CDs
In today’s age of technology, many people choose to use interactive CDs to display their product. Keeping an updated version of this media is important and the amount of money spent can vary. If you are discriminating on what imagery and video you select for this piece, interactive CDs can be a strong showcase for your horse. Used as a direct mail piece or presentation tool, these pieces are innovative and fun for many.

Live Presentations
Stallion presentations, be it at home, a show or an open house are a great way to evoke emotion and point of purchase sales, so make sure they are carefully planned. Music, timing and most importantly the condition of your horse and his representative get is everything. If your horse is not feeling well that day, leave him in his stall. You have an audience, and you are on stage the entire time. Give them a reason to be impressed.

Jennifer Trickey, owner of Equine Communications Inc., lives in Santa Ynez, California and has consulted and planned marketing & advertising strategies for Arabian Horse farms throughout the industry.