[JUDGING] Horse Racing Ireland
Section: Best Social Media Campaign for an Event
Organisation Name: Horse Racing Ireland
Events Strategy Questions
Describe Your Ecommerce Business
The Dublin Racing Festival 2026 faced a clear challenge: significantly increase attendance for Day 2, which historically lagged behind Day 1 sales, within an increasingly saturated social media landscape where traditional advertising lacked impact.
Our target audience, identified via Havas Converged analysis, comprised Sports Fans (25-55), Females (25-55), and Socialisers (18-35). Crucially, these groups over-indexed on Meta platforms and responded best to entertaining, culturally relevant content, not pushy promotions.
Our strategy fundamentally shifted how we viewed social media, treating it as a "cultural environment" rather than merely a media channel. Instead of producing typical advertisements, we focused on creating content specifically designed to spark curiosity, conversation, and intrigue. The overarching goal was to build anticipation, foster dialogue, and ultimately drive conversion, specifically aiming to overcome the historical underperformance and potential impact of external factors like bad weather on Day 2.
This approach proved highly effective, leading to a significant 11.5% increase in Day 2 attendance and achieving the highest Day 2 attendance ever recorded for the festival, demonstrating a successful solution to its core challenge.
Personpeople Who Runs This Strategy
The strategy was a collaborative effort, primarily run by a joint team comprising the paid social team and the client servicing team. The paid social team was responsible for the technical execution and optimization of the social media campaigns, including audience targeting, ad placement, and performance monitoring on platforms like Meta. The client servicing team, on the other hand, played a crucial role in understanding the client's (Leopardstown Racecourse) objectives, translating those into actionable strategies for the social team, and ensuring clear communication and alignment throughout the campaign's lifecycle. Their combined expertise and close coordination were essential for the successful planning, execution, and achievement of the campaign's ambitious goals.
Do You Use Alt Text In Your Images And Caption Your Videos
No
Outline Your Social Media Strategy For This
Our social media strategy redefined social as a cultural environment, not just a channel, focusing on Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Reels). It followed a three-stage journey:
See (Awareness & Engagement)
Launched with a disruptive CGI hero film—a giant horse hoof on Sandymount Strand—to capture attention. This visual, social-first content aimed for maximum video views and interaction, leveraging targeted advertising to reach audience segments (e.g., Sports Fans, Socialisers, Females 25-55).
Engage (Community Building)
We capitalized on the “Is this real?” intrigue of the CGI and the relevance of Dublin landmarks (Poolbeg Chimneys) to foster comments, shares, and organic discussion. The content was designed to turn passive viewers into active participants, debating and sharing to amplify reach and build community.
Convert (Retargeting & Sales)
Engaged audiences (those who viewed the CGI video) were retargeted with clear, ticket-driven messaging and calls to action. This retargeting translated curiosity and engagement into ticketing clicks and sales.
The strategy positioned social media as an engine for building anticipation, conversation, and conversion, rather than just distribution. It strategically combined paid reach with engineered earned amplification, turning a creative investment into measurable commercial outcomes.
What Are You Doing To Capture Attention In Social To Get Sales
Disruptive CGI-led Creative
CGI video: A giant horse hoof on Sandymount Strand, with the Dublin Racing Festival logo against Poolbeg Chimneys, created a visual “WOW Factor.” Optimized for mobile/Reels, it halted scrolling and captured attention in three seconds.
Engineered Curiosity (“Is This Real?”)
Content provoked an “Is this real?” response. The ambiguity encouraged viewers to question, discuss, share and re-watch, turning them into active participants and message amplifiers.
Leveraging Local & Cultural Relevance
Iconic Dublin landmarks tapped into local pride and resonance. This drove comments, tags and organic debate, amplifying reach and buzz.
Strategic Phased Engagement (See, Engage, Convert)
A three-stage social journey—“See, Engage, Convert”—was employed. The CGI sparked curiosity, while engaged viewers were retargeted with ticket-focused messaging to convert interest into measurable sales and attendance.
Challenging Category Norms
We moved beyond conventional race footage. Abstract CGI and powerful symbolism represented the event’s spirit, standing out dramatically. This creative risk delivered cut-through, transforming engagement into business results.
What Are Your Metrics For This Campaign Real Metrics Please
The campaign delivered outstanding results against all objectives and KPIs, demonstrating its effectiveness in advertising, marketing, and communicating the brand, even under challenging conditions.
Quantitative Results:
Attendance uplifts 11.5% YoY with over 2,000 additional tickets sold. Particularly significant as it occurred despite severe weather disruption immediately before the event, which typically suppresses late ticket demand.
Video Views & Engagement:
The CGI hero film garnered an unprecedented 1.78 million views across Meta becoming the most viewed post in the festival's page history.
It reached over 220,000 unique users.
Strong ROI driving over 2,000 additional ticket sales alongside record-breaking reach and engagement. Its efficient conversion of video views into clicks and paid attendance demonstrated the strategic value of the investment.
Qualitative Results:
Comments frequently reflected genuine excitement and curiosity, particularly the recurring question: "Is this real?!"
Clear intent to attend expressed in comments.
Strong demand generation and successful community building around the event, moving beyond passive consumption to active engagement and advocacy.
The campaign successfully created organic conversation and buzz around the event, highlighting its impact far beyond mere viewership.
Website Address
https://www.leopardstown.com/dublinracingfestival
Facebook Link
Ad preview: https://fb.me/adspreview/facebook/1Wp6QYsNBlKBMGy Client profile: https://www.facebook.com/LeopardstownRacecourse/
Instagram Link
Ad preview: https://fb.me/adspreview/facebook/1Wp6QYsNBlKBMGy Client profile: https://www.instagram.com/leopardstownrc/?hl=en
Tiktok Link
Ad preview: https://v-ttam.tiktok.com/s/ZS5cGLRpn/
Is There Anything Else You Want To Add Be Brief
This campaign demonstrates an innovative use of social media for an event, breaking from conventional norms. Instead of typical event ads, a digitally produced CGI hero film created a clear ‘WOW Factor.’ Its abstract representation of the event’s spirit, unlike standard race footage, was highly original within the Irish horse racing industry. Advanced 3D modelling, realistic texturing and VFX created the pivotal ‘Is this real?’ effect, instantly captivating audiences.
Havas Converged audience analysis identified three key segments: Females (25–55), Sports Fans (25–55) and Socialisers (18–35). Over-indexing on Meta, these groups responded to culturally relevant content. Using Meta’s advanced audience layering, we targeted interest-based and behavioural signals linked to sport and Dublin’s social scene. This combination of groundbreaking creative and precise targeting transformed social media into a cultural environment.
Iconic Dublin landmarks strengthened local relevance, fostering pride, ownership and authentic conversation while extending reach beyond paid media.
Ultimately, the campaign transcended promotion, creating a moment people chose to engage with, share and attend. It proved that authentic connection and intelligent creative strategy—not just media spend—can drive cut-through and commercial success, setting a new benchmark for event marketing.