Australian racehorse Black Caviar on the track. (Photo courtesy of Falcon Writing via Flickr)
What female athlete plays against the boys and wins, garners an adoring fan base, and has a significant social media presence? Furthermore, this athlete doesn’t read, write or speak – but you’ll find her posts regularly on Twitter and Facebook, and her website is a conversion machine.
Answer: 6-year-old Black Caviar. The legendary Australian racehorse is frequently the only mare in the race and is unbeaten.
Like the almost mythically prodigious Seabiscuit, the Depression-era American racehorse whose magnificent feats of speed cheered a weary populace, Black Caviar has sparked a fiercely loyal following.
Record numbers of Australians, many of them decked out in Black Caviars signature salmon and black polka-dot colors, crowded horseracing’s most prestigious international race, the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, at Royal Ascot in England last weekend. The object of their adoration did not disappoint, and the Queen herself was there to see the Australian mare win her 22nd straight race.
Unlike Seabiscuit, Black Caviar is focused on her racing career while her publicity team hones her social media presence, informing and perhaps inflaming her fans and selling tidy quantities of merchandise. In fact, less than a week after her victory in England, commemorative items are already available for purchase on the official Black Caviar website.
On Twitter, Black Caviar has well over 19,500 followers, as well as over 29,000 likes on Facebook. Compare that to I’ll Have Another, the American thoroughbred that had to pull out of the Belmont during an attempt at the Triple Crown, who has over 8,500 followers on Twitter and no visible Facebook page. As an interesting aside, I’ll Have Another actually tweeted that he’d like to go on a date with Black Caviar.
Now @blackcaviar2006 YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL MARE.Good Luck! #loveadateoneday
— I’ll Have Another (@Ill_HaveAnother) June 23, 2012
Let’s take a break from analyzing the behavior of our fellow humans or even brands, and calculating how to monopolize web traffic. Instead, see what one of the great athletes of our day is up to on her website, Twitter, or Facebook.
Tags: Australia, Facebook, horse racing, Royal Ascot, Social Media, Twitter
This post is categorized in: Social Media, Sports
