DELIVERING RESULTS BY DEVELOPING
PARTNERSHIPS, NOT JUST GAMES
of online, instant win games provides all
developers, platforms and lotteries with
a significant technical challenge but this
shouldn’t detract from the very real business
of selling a new product to a consumer.
When working with lotteries to define how
best to launch their products we always
discuss in detail the optimal mix of games,
the right blend and mix of prize structures,
price points and jackpots and the right
time to launch new titles, but increasingly
we are consulting on the following:
•
How to drive traffic to your
products with appropriate promotions and
advertising and engaging with registered
players through email marketing and CRM.
•
How best to segment your
player base and direct them to the right
products on your desktop and mobile sites.
•
How to implement all the learnings
from ecommerce to cross sell products
online, track player activity, deliver
contextual links and product offerings.
This is typical of the type of conversation
we are now having with lotteries like Loto-
Québec who we are working closely with on
their new platform. With Loto-Québec opting
Over the last year several lotteries have
successfully launched their products online.
Strategically it’s a challenge that all lotteries
face in order to appeal to a player base
that is spending an increasing amount of
time online, especially on mobile. It’s also
widely accepted that if lotteries are going to
successfully appeal to the elusive younger
audience then a well thought out digital
strategy is key. IWG have been involved in
numerous online launches over the last year,
fromNorsk Tipping in Norway to Georgia and
Minnesota in the U.S. and most recently with
Loto Quebec in Canada. All of thempresented
a unique set of challenges but through positive
collaboration and the sharing of experience
all of these lotteries have launched and are
now seeing income generated by online sales.
Most online platforms have the capability
of delivering mobile content to players
and the majority of lotteries who launched
recently have included mobile as part of
their portfolio. Those who have launched
mobile have immediately seen the benefit
of doing so but the road to making draw
and instant games available on an ever-
increasing list of mobile devices is littered
with mistakes made and lessons learned. The
learning curve is steep and when errors made
can directly impact sales it really doesn’t
make sense to take chances.
The process of integrating games
onto a new platform and all
that an online launch involves
can divert attention away from
the equally important job of
running what is essentially an
ecommerce solution on a lottery
website. Launching a portfolio
to build their own online solution we were
given the chance to develop a partnership
that spans many aspects of launching and
running an online platform, especially the
mobile offering which launched alongside
desktop in February after a period of very
rapid development. IWG were able to share
our significant experience with HTML5
and mobile to make sure that Loto-Québec
could hit their target of a dual launch.
With that done we are now focusing on
how best to grow the audience by helping
to analyze sales data and player behavior.
One of the driving forces behind the success of
ecommerce with any consumer product is the
ability to have access to key data and analytics
that allow you to assess the performance of
products and adjust and optimize how they
are presented. In most places where we work
our lottery customers are sharing with us sales
data and detailed analytics that tells us who
is playing, how often and when and this is a
big advantage, not just in terms of developing
the product roadmap but also in how to target
players through promotion and advertising.
With every launch we have been involved
in it has become clear that the really hard
work begins when the games go live. This
is why we aim to develop partnerships with
every lottery we work with and are shifting
the focus of what we do from game supplier
to a strategic partner. The openness of
the lottery industry allows us to share our
experience and understanding with the wider
lottery community and we firmly believe that
everyone, especially the players, will benefit.
“Loto-Québec is very pleased to have benefited from IWG’s
games but moreover in their strategic input in launching our
new online Experience game category. With their expertise
and extended portfolio, we were able to offer games playable
on mobile, tablet and PC. This key element is important to
us to maximise the reach and stay relevant to our players.”
Clément Aubin - Head of Internet Lotteries Loto-Québec
March/April 2015 // Public Gaming International //
61
