Folk VML has launched a new campaign for Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), titled “Racing Runs in Us”, reimagining horse racing not just as sport but as a vital thread in Ireland’s cultural fabric.
The integrated campaign spans TV, radio, digital, and outdoor channels and highlights the often-unseen presence of racing in everyday life—through ambient sound, shadow, and narrative—inviting the public to feel the sport’s emotional and cultural resonance.
“Horse racing is in our towns, our traditions, our conversations,” said Aileen Goatley, Head of Marketing at HRI. “With Racing Runs in Us, we wanted to celebrate the sport’s place in the Irish identity.”
With creative overseen by Folk VML’s Karl Waters and directed by Lorcan Hynes, the campaign leans on poetic storytelling and unscripted voices to paint horse racing as a cultural heartbeat felt across Ireland—from Galway to Dublin’s inner city.
“This campaign doesn’t just show racing—it feels like racing,” said Waters. “It’s all around us, and it runs in us, as a country.”
The campaign marks a strategic brand evolution for HRI, extending its narrative beyond the racetrack to showcase racing’s deep-rooted role in Irish community life.
Client: Horse Racing Ireland
Head of Marketing: Aileen Goatley
Director of Marketing and Communications: Sarah Deeny
Senior Marketing Executive: Ana-Mari Crotty
Senior Marketing Executive: Leanne O’Sullivan
Senior Marketing Executive: Heather Downey
Agency: Folk VML
Chief Creative Officer: Karl Waters
Copywriter: Jack O’Brien
Art Director: Ellen Jones
Head of Planning: Eimear Fitzmaurice
Senior Strategist: Derwin Myers
Managing Director: Enda Kelly
Senior Account Manager: Sarah Conlan
Account Manager: Ciara Ní Dhonnacha
Broadcast Director: Michael Cullen
Senior Producer: Eric Brindley
Director: Lorcan Hynes
Production Company: Abstraction Pictures
Media Agency: Havas Dublin
Managing Director: Gareth Fitzpatrick
Account Director: Hannah Kelleher Nolan
