Public Gaming International Gaming July/August 2021

14 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021 I n the scope of lottery industry history, iLottery spans just a short period of time. So you will pardon the iLottery states if this new-ish brand of game has kept them juggling many balls, acting like ducks on water (calm on top, flurry of activity under water), busy as beavers. Pick your “really busy” idiom and it fits. Some of the frontline workers on iLottery were featured on a panel titled Player Retention/New Player Acquisition. The panel, moderated by Drew Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Lottery, included: Shannon DeHaven, Vice President of Digital Engagement, Pollard Banknote Stephanie DuVal, Digital Engagement Manager, Virginia Lottery Jessica Fritz, Digital Marketing Manager, Michigan Lottery Merv Huber-Calvo, Senior Director, Growth Marketing, Scientific Games Karri Paavilainen, Senior Director, PlayLottery Content, Operations and Connected Play, IGT Jessica Powell, Director of Ignite Player Marketing, NeoPollard Interactive Peter Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer, Jackpocket For those lotteries featuring digital sales options for their players, the workday is filled with discussions and activities centered on how to attract new players to the site and, once they have taken the steps to sign on, how to keep them active in the digital world. Drew kicked off the discussion by posing a vexing question: How would you describe the tradeoff between, or the relative importance of, new player acquisition versus player retention? The predominant answer? Don’t make me choose. “I see this as two independent but crucially important work streams that actually deliver better results when they’re working together,” said Merv Huber-Calvo of Scientific Games. “When budgeting, you’ll spend more as your program grows and matures. Player acquisition costs are a bit more fixed as you’re making ROI calculations based on your cost-per-acquisition versus what is the lifetime value of the players you’re actually bringing in. You then apply the calculations across all of your campaigns and digital channels. The retention of players is a bit more complicated The following article is based on a Roundtable Discussion conducted at PGRI Digital Lottery eConference on June 17. PLAYER RETENTION AS WELL AS NEW PLAYER ACQUISITION D I S C U S S I O N R O U N D T A B L E