Big Brown Carrying the Brand

Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown takes aim at making history by capturing horse racing’s Triple Crown this weekend. But despite what happens at Belmont, this thoroughbred has already made history. Big Brown has become the first completely branded horse, threatening to significantly change the way this traditional sport does business.

Big Brown’s success could represent a sort of NASCARization of horse racing. Gambling is what has made this a profitable venture for the owners, but it takes plenty of money to purchase, train and care for a horse and more times than not this is a unprofitable or at best break even investment. Enter corporations like UPS and now, from its name to the UPS logo on the jockey’s leg to even what the horse itself represents – speedy delivery (in the form of a large brown vehicle) with Big Brown, UPS is using an avenue that has never been used before to advance a major brand.

Does this mean that other company’s will jump on the bandwagon and soon you’ll no longer see horses named Smarty Jones, War Emblem and Thunder Gulch, instead replaced by horses named after FedEx, Miller Light and Viagra? It’s not that far fetched, certainly product branded race teams is the reason why NASCAR went from southern dirt tracks to the multi-billion national sport that it is today. Win or lose, these teams make for a good investment because of what sponsors are wiling to pay for the exposure. So more horses nicknamed after their sponsor and jockey’s—or even the horses themselves—loaded with product logos could very well be on the horizon, especially after all the exposure Big Brown has received.

In today’s cluttered marketplace where brands have to compete more than ever for attention and advertising in traditional media gets less and less effective; company’s are going to continue to look for more and more opportunities such as this get their mark in front of a captive audience. It just so happens that a centuries old sport could be one of the latest ways to accomplish that.

Jake Crocker is a Partner and Brand Marketing Director at Martin Branding Worldwide, Inc.