Racing Post rebrands as Spotlight Sports Group
CMO Louise Agran speaks to EGR Intel about the racing media giant’s new umbrella brand
Racing Post has taken the decision to rebrand as Spotlight Sports Group in a move that encompasses four businesses within the group under one collective umbrella.
The quartet of business arms – Racing Post, Apsley, ICS (Independent Content Services) and ANZ Bloodstock – will work in tandem to provide a multitude of services to Spotlight clients.
The group has pinpointed six specific services to offer clients to help improve customer experience: media (advertising and sponsorship), content, retail, trading, agency and translation.
Racing Post will continue to be a global leader in sports betting, with ANZ Bloodstock focusing on the vertical in Australia and New Zealand.
Apsley, which includes affiliate brands Free Super Tips and MyRacing, and standalone brand Intellr will provide sport expertise while ICS will deliver agency, PR and translation services.
Speaking exclusively to EGR Intel, Spotlight Sports Group CMO Louise Agran explained the decision to move away from the Racing Post brand.
Agran said: “We needed a group name that reflected digital business and the fact we are diversifying into areas beyond racing such as sport, data and trading.
“With that brand name [Racing Post] comes an association purely with racing in the UK and Ireland which doesn’t represent our business anymore.”
Spotlight was chosen after a six-month process which saw some 500 names shortlisted, but Agran noted that Spotlight was “always a strong favourite”.
She added: “Spotlight is about illumination, shedding light and scrutiny, and that’s what we stand for as a group.”
Also speaking exclusively to EGR Intel, Spotlight Sports Group COO Mark Renshaw noted the short- and long-term goals post-rebrand for Spotlight.
Renshaw said: “Short term, we are working hard to integrate four businesses into one and there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes to help us achieve our aims. We want to get our products in the market and be successful.
“The bigger focus is twofold. One is to get a much bigger position in sport – we really want to utilise the skills and knowledge we have to grow,” he added.
“The second is to internationalise. We are largely a UK and Irish business now, but we envisage in five years a significant amount of our income and profits would come from international clients,” he added.
Source: Spotlight Sports Group