Breeders' Cup - Bessemer Trust declines renewal

[Glimmerglass]

At first glance its somewhat shocking that Bessemer Trust a loooooong time sponsor of horse racing (it was created for the Phipps family’s fortune and is still largely controlled by them) is not going to renew their sponsorship of the Breeder’s Cup in 2009.

BloodHorse 1-29-09 “BC Loses Sponsor; Hopeful for Others”

Breeders’ Cup chief marketing officer Peter Land confirmed Jan. 26 that Bessemer Trust, which in 2008 sponsored the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, both grade I events, would not return for 2009. The sponsorship contract expired at the end of 2008.

The backstory as to why Bessemer declined was outlined to Ray Paulick Jan 29 in an email with their Chairman, Stuart Janney Jr., who is cousin to ex Bessemer Chairman, Ogden Mills (Dinny) Phipps:

Janney responded to an email with the following comments: “I would say our reasons for dropping out are as follows. First, we have been a sponsor for some time, which means many of our clients have been entertained at a Breeders’ Cup event and having them back again is possibly less appealing than providing a different venue. Second, the two-day format works better for others than it does for us. Third, we have never been able to really derive full value from the TV ads as our target audience is very narrowly focused. Fourth, as we look at other sponsorships and ways to thank our clients or meet prospects, it helps in tighter times to have this money available. We believe our involvement with the Breeders’ Cup has been beneficial to Bessemer and the staff at the Breeders’ Cup has been a pleasure to work with.”

I’d concur with the narrow audience qualified to participate in Bessemer Trust. [url=“https://www.bessemer.com/portal/binary/com.epicentric.contentmanagement.servlet.ContentDeliveryServlet/Public/Published/News/Recent%20Articles/PrivateWealth_10_07.pdf”]Their minimum
account size was $10 million in late 2007 to join the Trust - so not exactly a need to reach the masses like say Dos Equis beer …

[JER]

I’d like to see the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer step in here.

It’s a natural fit: the Viagra Breeders’ Cup.

[Glimmerglass]

[QUOTE=JER;3843708]
I’d like to see the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer step in here.

It’s a natural fit: the Viagra Breeders’ Cup.[/QUOTE]

Ha! Perhaps they could trot out War Emblem as a poster child

Kidding aside Pfizer is choking on that announced $68 billion deal to buy Wyeth. With Wyeth they are pretty much the Evil Empire with horse lovers due to their PMU (pregnant mare urine) harvesting of horse foals like veal in Canada.

All things being equal I’d just assume pass on courting any pharmaceutical firms. Smiling Bob sponsorship on the track would make for just one more ‘stud’ joke …

[JER]

[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;3843766]

All things being equal I’d just assume pass on courting any pharmaceutical firms. Smiling Bob sponsorship on the track would make for just one more ‘stud’ joke …[/QUOTE]

But who else besides Big Pharma is advertising on TV these days?

[Barnfairy]

@JER;3843840

But who else besides Big Pharma is advertising on TV these days?

Well, there’s Nutra System, Geico, and The Sleep Number Bed.

[DickHertz]

[QUOTE=JER;3843840]
But who else besides Big Pharma is advertising on TV these days?[/QUOTE]

The bigger question is who is still advertising in the newspaper. It keeps getting thinner and thinner.

[KBEquine]

[QUOTE=JER;3843840]
But who else besides Big Pharma is advertising on TV these days?[/QUOTE]

@Barnfairy;3844104

Well, there’s Nutra System, Geico, and The Sleep Number Bed.

Is The Sleep Number Bed the one with the counting sheep? Because if so, a good PR firm could run wild with ads for Breeder’s Cup Day(s) . . .

[Barnfairy]

@KBEquine;3844224

Is The Sleep Number Bed the one with the counting sheep?

No, that would be Serta.

Apparently someone failed to inform them that sheep lack upper incisors.

[Glimmerglass]

[QUOTE=JER;3843840]
But who else besides Big Pharma is advertising on TV these days?[/QUOTE]

Ah, just watch TVG or HRTV enough and you’ll get to see endless hours of ads for (1) debt relief, (2) bankruptcy settlement (“I owed the IRS $250,000 but paid only $10k …”), (3) anything hawked by Billy Mays or Vince Offer pitching the ‘Shamwow’, (4) reverse mortgages pitched by Pat Boone, (5) goldforcash.com and (6) recently some full body fleece pullover in red that make anyone look like either a monk or a jawa

No frankly the consumer medical products that flood the soap opera time-frame for daytime tv on the big three keep far away from the horse racing audience. I’ve never once see a car or truck ad that I can recall. I don’t know why Axe or other personal care products aren’t pitched to this audience but they don’t.

[Calico]

7. Gary Coleman :lol:

[JER]

@Glimmerglass;3844395

(6) recently some full body fleece pullover in red that make anyone look like either a monk or a jawa

I’d never heard of this before (don’t watch TV at all) but then I go to Yahoo news headlines and here’s their top story: Snuggie gets a warm embrace from pop culture.

Perhaps they could make Horsie Snuggies and sponsor the BC?

(I do like Jay Leno’s name for them: ‘lard-ass quilt’.)

[Linny]

Pat Boone isn’t the reverse mortgege guy, its the guy from Star Trek. My son wants a Snuggie because he sees the ad 100 times a day.

I had always (apparently wrongly) figured that Bessemer was a sponsor because of Phipps and Janney’s long time involvement in racing. Kind of a courtesy. Obviously they were hoping to generate some business and use the perks to amuse clients but I am surprised by their pull out. I never thought that they’d be likely to pick up clients by advertising on those (rare) ESPN broadcasts.

[ArtilleryHill]

Hell of a thing when racing man Stuart Janney describes the Breeders’ Cup as “possibly less appealing than providing a different venue” for clients. I think this is an indication of how far this sport is slipping. I don’t see that the Breeders’ Cup, especially in its recent bizarre moves like the terrible 2008 ticket policies and pricing, is helping the game very much.