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Re: [RC] AHA Marketing Materials - Kristen A Fisher> >Here are some of the latest breed
promotion materials developed over the
> >past year or so by AHA. > > Absolutely no offense meant, Kristen - but is this program working? Maybe > it is. Maybe new Arabian registrations are increasing and new owners are > increasing and I've heard wrong. That's not what Equus Magazine has been > reporting for the past few years. Maybe I'm simply impatient and things > will turn around in another ten or twenty years. They are new within past year, since the merger between AHR and IAHA. > If I had a say in AHA's future (which I've
tried before and got nowhere
> with) I'd be focusing on public education, and I'd be putting AHA money > where it wants to go in the future, which would hopefully include distance > riding as a premier use of Arabian horses. If AHA sees other areas than > shows being how Arabians are used, then let's see tons of support for those > other efforts - less in marketing materials and more in *supporting* these > efforts. Let's see real incentives that are based on something other than > the show world model. Most of these materials prominently feature distance riding. Marketing materials are designed to create awareness and interest [in this case of Arabians, to non-horse owners and non-Arabian owners]. Awareness and interest, in any sales model, drive consideration and purchase. Thus the marketing supports the promotion of the breed. I do not know what you mean by "supporting" efforts and real incentives - can you elaborate? > I guess where I'm going with this is that we had to do that booth on a > shoestring, surrounded by all that money and glitz, but don't think I > didn't notice that AHA (then AHR) had a nice, expensive booth and lots of > promo materials, as if the majority of endurance horses weren't Arabians > but some other alien breed from another planet and the ugly stepchildren to > boot - when in fact AERC, as the sanctioning organization for endurance, > should be right next to the Arabian Jockey Club in the AHA booth at every > show that AHA has a presence, every place AHA goes to promote the > breed. AHA should be sending support materials for *Arabian endurance > horses* to endurance rides, not general "versatility" brochures which no > one cares about because it implies good at everything, master of > nothing. Who wants a horse that even the breed registry doesn't say is > best at anything but being pretty? AHR [the Registry] then handled only registration services, and IAHA handled the show sanctioning. AHA is the combination of those 2 organizations, and some of the former Registry funding is now going toward overall breed promotion efforts. I would urge you to review the materials before you assume their content and value. Anyone can request AHA
materials for any event, but having these materials at an endurance ride is a
poor use of resources when the vast majority of endurance riders already ride
Arabians and you are trying to attract NEW people to the breed.
These materials are not the magic
bullet for the Arabian horse. However, they can be valuable resources if you
take the time to review what is available - and realize that only a small
percentage of the focus is on showing.
Kristen
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