Speaker Series: Brian Skirka, Marketing Manager, Monmouth Park
The Race Track Industry Program was honored to welcome Brian Skirka from Monmouth Park, who visited with students via Zoom and to talk about his professional experiences in racetrack marketing. He began by sharing his journey from college student to marketing manager and offered some personal advice, “Learn as much as you possibly can. You might learn something you think is irrelevant now which ends up helping you ten years later.”
>Brian covered how the Monmouth team plans weekly events, from where they draw inspiration, and what they have learned along the way. He offered students his thoughts on one of the hottest topics in racing right now, and one he and his team face every day: “how do we attract new people to the racetrack?” He highlighted their Food Truck Festival. The marketing team’s focus is to bring new faces out for some great food, expose them to the racing atmosphere, and offer something different than the often used “learn how to bet” marketing campaigns. That focus has enabled guests to discover racing at their own pace and inspire repeat visits.
When asked what the winning recipe is, what events worked, and those that failed he responded, “A successful marketing plan for an event keeps in mind the best interests of all participants – your company, your customers, and your event partners. When all three groups are happy – the event will be a huge success. Our past failures were usually events in which we strayed from this principle.”
The Race Track Industry Program extends our gratitude to Brian for bringing his expert insights on horse racing marketing to our students and future leaders of racing.