The FEI Commercial Department launched a new digital advertising sales strategy in 2021 providing opportunities for brands to advertise directly on the International Federation’s digital channels through standard display advertisements, branded content and other online activations.

With more than 3 million fans across the FEI’s digital channels, the initiative has raised the commercial profile of the FEI and opened the door to conversations with different brands around the world.

While traditional sponsorship models in the sporting industry have relied on exclusivity and long-term agreements, the FEI’s digital advertising initiative is designed to offer brands with smaller advertising budgets a chance to gain visibility.

Stats

New in 2021

RIDE

Launched in January 2021, RIDE is a five part series created for FEI TV, which takes a deeper look into the equestrian world and explores the fascinating bond between humans and horses around the world. Now in its third season, RIDE is available to watch on digital and broadcast, with full episodes are available on FEI.TV and on the RIDE series playlist on the FEI’s YouTube channel.

Want to take a virtual ride?

FEI Equestriad™ World Tour makes it possible.

In 2021, the FEI entered into a five-year licensing agreement with GoGallop Studios, giving the Australian-based company exclusive rights across the eGaming sphere to the FEI Brand as well as the FEI named Series and Competitions.

The first stage of the partnership was to develop the FEI Equestriad™ World Tour, which simulates an Eventing competition where horse and athlete combinations compete across the three tests of Dressage, Cross Country and Jumping.

After an introduction to the basics of horsemanship and once they have honed their skills in qualifying events, players can progress to 5* Eventing where they are evaluated on timing, control and even appearance. The more players train and nurture their horses, the better their horse will perform. Players can compete in solo career mode or team competitions with family and friends, as well as with other gamers across the globe. The FEI Equestriad™ World Tour also features hundreds of unlockable items available to discover horse accessories, supplies, ribbons and prizes.

GoGallop also released two virtual series in 2021, with the FEI’s Top Partner lending its name to create the Longines FEI eJumping and eDressage World Tour, with fantasy venues in Shanghai, Sydney, New York and Paris.

The game is available for download on:

FEI Jumping Quiz

The FEI Jumping Quiz was an online activation created to engage fans in the sport as the Covid-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of numerous events. The quiz, which covered all major Jumping Events and Championships in the history of the FEI, was held over 22 weeks, with 10 randomly selected questions per session testing the expertise of players in the discipline.

Each month, winners received prizes provided by FEI Sponsors and the five best players were also rewarded with a ClipMyHorse.TV / FEI.TV Pass, varying in duration from three months to one year, depending on their rank.

The Overall TOP 20 players had the opportunity to win one of the following:

4th to 20th – Different packages of FEI goodies

“WE DON’T PLAY. WE JUMP, WE FLY, WE RIDE!”

This Olympic and Paralympic campaign for Tokyo 2020 was launched to celebrate the bond between horse and athlete, and to put the spotlight on our gender equal sport where all athletes compete against each other and age is no barrier.

The campaign also highlighted equestrian’s unique qualities, with the aim of uniting the equestrian community amid continuing challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic.

The preliminary reports following the Games and this campaign showed that for the very first time ever, Equestrian ranked within the first quartile of the best performing sports in the Olympic programme in terms of the digital key performance indicators. One of the highlights of the campaign was the unique Dressage commentary provided by iconic rapper Snoop Dog, and actor and comedian Kevin Hart, during the Olympic Games. The segment was shown on NBC Universal’s Peacock streaming service and generated a tremendous amount of traffic on the FEI’s digital channels.

Watch the video here:

Traction across social media of Equestrian at the Olympics & Paralympics

#TIMETOBEAT

“Hours, days, years… Perfection takes time.
In 2021, the FEI has set in motion the Time To Beat campaign which highlights the hard work, commitment and perseverance of athletes who dedicate their lives to reaching the top – level in equestrian sport.

Launched at the start of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ 2021-2022 season, this cross-media campaign brings together the FEI, its Top Partner Longines and the Organising Committees of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ North American and Western European League in celebration of the human and equine athlete journey to worldwide success.

#HEALTHFORHORSES

Equine wellbeing at the heart of #HealthforHorses campaign

In early October 2021, the FEI and Boehringer Ingelheim, the global leader in equine health, launched the #HealthforHorses campaign, aimed at improving the daily care and wellbeing of horses.

The campaign was the first to be run under the FEI’s new commercial strategy which provides opportunities for select partners to promote their shared values through bespoke digital activations and key advertising placements.

Top equestrian influencers Lucy Robinson (@footluceeventing), Ashley Harrison (@ashleyharrisoneventing) and Lauren Allport (@laurenallport) worked alongside experts in equine health to create dynamic online content.

The campaign lasted for six weeks and was promoted on all the FEI’s social and digital channels to its online community of over three million followers. Using the #HealthforHorses hashtag, the campaign put forward a series of practical tips on important topics such as stable management and cleaning, post-exercise cooling, and items to include in a well prepared first aid kit for horses.

FEI SOCIAL MEDIA

The lines of communication between the FEI and equestrian fans have never been more open! There are now 14 Channels dedicated to bringing the best of horse sport to fans through video, images and graphics.

New in 2021: FEI Digital added official hoof print to REDDIT –