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// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // November/December 2016
Italy’s Gratta e Vinci Scratch and Win program continues to set
the standard for instant game success. Its per capita sales of €167
make it the most successful instant game portfolio in the world.
Since 2003, sales have grown from €300 million to an impressive
€10 billion with revenue expanding from approximately €100
million to more than €1.7 billion in the same period.
The program’s success is, in large part, due to the Lottomatica
staff’s commitment to 360° planning and execution, or what
IGT refers to as the Six Pillars of Success. IGT believes a deep
understanding of players, a balanced approach to game portfolio
planning, and leveraging retail tools and technology are critical
to sustainable revenue growth. From insights to innovation, the
company has identified the following six fundamental factors that
drive lottery revenue.
When lotteries holistically leverage each of the Six Pillars of Success,
as Lottomatica does, synergies develop and growth accelerates.
An integrated approach to strategic planning maximizes each
stage of the supply chain that will produce responsible growth and
sustainable profitability.
Insight-Driven Product Planning
Even with this dramatic growth, Lottomatica has not stopped
innovating its portfolio of 35 tickets that range in price point from
€1 to €20. Recently, the Gratta e Vinci product team was inspired
by the insights from local player research that showed infrequent
players wanted a longer, more engaging experience, as well as best
practices from lotteries within the U.S. that had successfully grown
their portfolios with extended-play games. Bringing new, longer-
playing games to market was extremely challenging because
medium to light players who seek a more engaging experience
had historically avoided concepts, such as Crossword, that seemed
overly-complicated.
The first of the new games to launch was Battaglia Navale. The
battleship-style game sold for €5 and featured an innovative play
style that asked players to uncover shapes of ships based upon a
set of corresponding
numbers for a top prize
of €500 million. Player
reaction
was
strong
with sales exceeding
Crossword by 175%.
Lottomatica
followed
up with the introduction
of Buon Viaggio. The
5€ ticket launched in June 2016 with a symbols-match play style.
The mechanics allow the player to discover the symbols under
the globe and then scratch the corresponding symbols in the four
games. The player must collect all three of the symbols within a
game to win the prize. Point of Sale (POS) merchandising used
the bright colors and whimsical symbols of the game to create a
distinctive, visible presence in stores. The unique mechanics as well
as the marketing efforts brought in new players with an index of 178
over the previous Crossword game.
Powering a Digital Gateway to Improve the Retailer
and Consumer Experience
Improving the retailer and player experience is the cornerstone
of a successful lottery business and a critical part of the Six Pillar
approach. Lottomatica demonstrated a commitment to optimizing
this experience by providing state-of-the-art technologies that
enable the retailer network to optimize its product inventory,
merchandising, and focus on overall sales. Given the size, scale,
and fragmentation of the Lottomatica business, this challenge
was even more considerable. With 100,000 POS covering seven
commercial retail channels and five business categories that
include lotto, instant tickets, sports betting, gaming machines, and
commercial services, managing the day-to-day relationship with
this trade network is a complex operation.
To improve the relationshipwith its retail network and ultimately, the
players, Lottomatica set out on a project to develop a revolutionary
web portal. This portal was designed to improve the relationship
management capabilities with the retail network by providing a
brand new digital tool enabling retailers to more efficiently manage
their lottery business. By providing retailers with a common set of
tools through a user-friendly web portal, all retailers are better
able to focus on delivering an improved consumer experience and
Setting the Standard for Instant Game Profit Growth