Country Racing Victoria turns campaign jingle into a full-length song

Country Racing Victoria has gone beyond just the advertising jingle, with an extension of its new ‘Racing Strong’ campaign being commissioned into a full length song.

Following such a strong response to a recent campaign, the Country Racing body said it commissioned a full length song, turning it into an anthem for the communities where country racing is significant.

A statement from Balance, the creative agency behind the campaign said it is every agency and client’s dream to turn a piece of campaign music into a full length song, and that is what they have done to coincide with campaign which was released on 11 July.

Marketing and business development manager at Country Racing Victoria, Darren Galley said: “When we ran the new version of our music ‘back where we belong’ in our previous TVC, it reflected what people in the bush had been through and we were blown away by the response.”

Creative director at Balance, David Gullotti said such a strong sentiment towards the song featured in the advertisement prompted the decision to turn it into a full length “anthem for the people” of these communities.

“This gave us the idea to turn it into a full song so we wrote a set of complete lyrics that reflected the spirit of those comments and engaged composer, Rob Upward to take the music to a new level.”

Galley said that it was the core message of survival and resilience that struck a chord with the bush communities. “People rang in from our clubs and went online saying it summed up how they were feeling.”

The ‘Racing Strong’ campaign is supported with two 30 second TVCs, outdoor and digital. Both TVC seek to champion the country spirit that the racing meets encourage.

Balance senior writer and strategist, Rankin McKay said: “The campaign also has a moral underpinning that reflects the importance of racing in supporting bush communities, the simple love of horses and the passion that drives Country Racing’s grass roots.”

“Recorded at Melbourne’s iconic Sing Sing Studios, it was nice to be able to give some support to our group of seasoned musicians who had also done it tough during COVID,” added Rob Upward.

The song is available to listen to on Soundcloud now, and is scheduled for a full release on streaming platforms in late August.

Credits

Agency – Balance
Creative Director – David Gullotti
Senior Writer – Rankin McKay
Art Director – Deb Mortenson
Designer – Dan Valenti
Strategist – Rankin McKay
MD / Group Account Director – Trent O’Sullivan
Account Director – Elie Aoun
Account Executive – Sophie Toohey
Executive Producer – Sharon Rider
Sound – Sonic Playground
Sound Engineer – Mathew Gerber-Corn
Production – Two Tractors
Director: Tim Murray
DOP: Paul Travers
Producer: Izzy Watts
Grading: Manimal
Still Photography: Brian Carr / Jacob Gullotti

Media Agency: Media Sports Entertainment

Client – Country Racing Victoria
Marketing Manager / BDM – Darren Galley
Media & Communications Manager – Maggie Payne

The song
Composer: Robert Upward
Lyrics: Rankin McKay, Robert Upward, Tane Emia-Moore

The band
Bass – Rod Bustos
Drums – Hayden Meggit
Guitars- Rob Upward
Guitars, Slide, Mandolin – Jeb Cadwell
Violin – Xani Kolac
Harmonica – Ian Collard
Lead vocal: Tane Emia-Moore
Vocal: Tika Maree