2025 English Greyhound Derby
Full Rebrand, Multi-Channel Marketing, and Record Audience Growth
Project Duration: 1 March 2025 – 15 June 2025
Client: Greyhound Racing UK / Towcester Racecourse
Services: Rebranding, Digital Strategy, Creative Production, Social Media, Email Marketing, Event Marketing, Campaign Management, Podcast Promotion
SUMMARY
The English Greyhound Derby is the flagship racing event of Greyhound Racing UK — a nationally recognised festival drawing racing fans, families, students, VIP guests, and hospitality clients. For 2025, GRUK appointed our agency for a complete strategic takeover, including:
A full Derby rebrand
Paid tickets to be introduced for the first time
All creative assets (digital + offline)
Multi-channel marketing for 16 race days
Themed campaigns (Student Night, Ladies Night, Funfair, Family Day, Hospitality Nights)
Hospitality product marketing
Paid advertising and influencer activations
Promotion of the Gone To The Dogs (GTTD) Podcast, which became a major awareness driver across the Derby period, alongside a highly successful live broadcast strategy that generated strong real-time engagement — including hitting over 10,000 live views on the channel during event coverage.
Despite an extremely compressed timeline, the 2025 Derby became one of GRUK’s strongest-performing events to date — generating multi-million reach, exceptional engagement, full hospitality sell-outs, and significantly boosting the visibility of greyhound racing across the UK.
THE CHALLENGE
1. A Severely Compressed Marketing Window
Marketing began 1 March, with the Derby starting in May. This left fewer than 10 weeks to:
Rebuild the Derby brand
Produce all race-round & campaign creative
Build a multi-channel content engine
Launch awareness, ticketing, and hospitality campaigns
Engage communities across racing, student groups, families, and VIP guests
Grow digital channels and audience trust
2. Outdated Brand & Fragmented Assets
Before our involvement, the Derby lacked a unified premium identity. Assets were inconsistent, the event lacked a strong digital footprint, and there was minimal appeal to younger demographics or new audiences.
3. Need for High-Volume, High-Cadence Content
With 16 race days, themed events, sponsor obligations, and hospitality products — the team needed a content machine capable of producing:
Daily updates
Race-night coverage
High-frequency video
Campaign assets
Engaging social storytelling
4. Expanding Reach Beyond Racing Fans
One key objective was bringing new audiences into the Derby ecosystem — especially students, families, and Gen Z followers.
THE STRATEGIC APPROACH
1. The Full 2025 Derby Rebrand
. We modernised the entire event’s identity, introducing:
A consistent visual language for all races & themed nights
Photography & video direction
New tone of voice: modern, energetic, premium sporting entertainment
Press releases and storytelling assets for national exposure
This new identity unified all racing rounds, all event nights, and all corporate messaging into a cohesive, powerful brand.
2. Digital & Offline 360° Marketing Campaigns
We executed all major promotional pillars:
Digital Campaigns
Organic social media strategy (daily content)
Video campaigns (highlights, reels, promos)
Email marketing
Influencer & content creator activations
Live coverage assets for each race round
Hospitality promotion campaigns
Offline Campaigns
Posters across Northamptonshire & surrounding regions
Flyers for student unions and local businesses
On-site branding upgrades
Hospitality materials (menus, event packs, signage)
Event-day print & signage assets
Theme Nights & Audience Expansion
We created promotional assets, campaigns, and ticket-driving content for:
Student Night
Ladies Night
Family Funfair Day
Open Day
Hospitality Nights
Empress Restaurant Finals Packages
These campaigns broadened the Derby’s appeal beyond traditional racing audiences.
3. Hospitality Marketing & Ticketing Funnel Build
We redesigned the entire ticket journey across:
Landing pages
Event descriptions
Ticketing UX
Hospitality product positioning
The result: all hospitality inventory sold out across Derby nights, including VIP boxes and Empress Restaurant packages.
4. Podcast Integration: “Gone To The Dogs” (GTTD)
During the Derby marketing period, we integrated and promoted GTTD, a podcast hosted by key figures in the greyhound community.
GTTD Strategy Included:
Social content repurposing
Cross-posting clips on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook
Tagging strategy for trainers & racing personalities
Derby tie-in episodes
Paid amplification of top-performing clips
Placement within GRUK editorial schedule
GTTD became a pillar of Derby storytelling and helped energize younger, digital-native audiences.
THE RESULTS
Across the campaign period, the Derby achieved its strongest digital footprint to date:
4M+ impressions and 3M+ video views, driven primarily through organic channels
45,000+ engagements, confirming depth of audience interaction, not just reach
29.4% average email open rate, significantly outperforming UK sports benchmarks
Over 65% of total ticket revenue was generated by the Grand Final alone, demonstrating peak-event demand and effective campaign momentum.
Full hospitality sell-outs across premium offerings
National media recognition (Racing Post, The Sun) and mentions by industry experts
15% uplift in betting revenue year-on-year
Strong acquisition via Organic Social and Referral, reducing reliance on paid media
Organic Social played a major role — proof of the success of the rebrand and creative campaigns.
CONCLUSION
The 2025 English Greyhound Derby was one of GRUK’s most transformative marketing successes. In under three months, we delivered a full-scale rebrand, a high-volume content engine, multi-channel campaigns, and record social reach, while maximising ticket sales and hospitality revenue.
The integrated success of the Derby brand, high-impact social campaigns, and the Gone To The Dogs Podcast created a unified, energetic racing ecosystem — setting a new standard for how greyhound racing can be marketed in the UK.
