THE VALUE OF CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP
By Ray Paulick
OK, so we were a little steamed at Sentient, the private jet membership company that failed to provide transportation solutions to Brad Cummings and me on the BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST fundraising drive when we were forced to traverse ridiculously long stretches of highway between racetracks in the American west.
Of course, it might have helped if we had actually asked Sentient for a lift between Oklahoma City, Okla., and Hobbs, N.M., but we were too proud. All they could have said is “no.” Besides, we figured someone at Sentient headquarters would have been following our journey to raise money for Breeders’ Cup Charities, felt sorry for us having to drive 12 hours a day, and sent a little Citation jet to bail us out and keep Brad and me from fighting over the radio dial or singing showtunes together deep into the night.
Send us a jet, Sentient, and we’d happily have given you a shout out.
But that’s water under the bridge now. We put the pedal to the metal and made it back home in one piece (though I’ll be happy if I never set foot inside another Waffle House as long as I live).
Upon our arrival back in Kentucky, we learned why Sentient may have been too busy to notice our little fundraising excursion. The company’s marketing whizzes were putting together a promotion and advertisement that ran in the Wall Street Journal this week celebrating Zenyatta’s historic achievement in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and hailing the unbeaten superstar as the winner of the Sentient “Perfect Trip” award.
I’d like to think BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST might have been the runner-up for the "Perfect Trip" award.. The only thing that could have made it better was a smooth ride in a Citation or Hawker jet. Oh, well. Wait till next year!
On a serious note, however, the Sentient ad in WSJ (and a similar promotion on the company’s website) is a great example of how corporate sponsorship can bring much more to racing than mere dollars. In a down market, Breeders’ Cup managed to increase sponsorships (thanks to the work of senior vice president Carter Carnegie), and Sentient’s participation helped increase awareness of the event and the excitement of horse racing within an important demographic.
Tags: Breeders' Cup, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, Sentient Jet, zenyatta
November 12th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Being so computer illerate I did not vote on your voting for Rachael or Zanyetta message. So here goes. My personal opinion is that Both should get Horse of the Year. Rachael for beating the boys three dfferent times and traveling to different racetracks in different states and Zenyatta for being undefeated and winning the Breeders Cup.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
What a great ad!!!! Thank you, Sentient, for putting our star out in a major paper!
Perfection = The Perfect Trip = Zenyatta
November 12th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
LOL…you never want to set foot in another Waffle House. I say that every time after a long trip but somehow I keep ending up back in those godforsaken places.
Breathtaking photo of Zenyatta. IMO they’re very wise to use this promotion, racehorses are such magnificent creatures.
November 12th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Ray:
Why didn’t you hitch a ride with Brownell on one of the Spendthrift jets? You should have juts gone out to the Spendtrift Aviation building/hanger at Bluegrass Field. Oops my bad, I have been spending too much time in the time machine.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Great mare, great owners, trainer and jockey, great race, great ad, great message in the WSJ and great analogy between Zenyatta and Sentient Jet: clean, graceful, powerful, on time and a winner.