Public Gaming International Gaming July/August 2021

38 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021 meeting software. Could this be the start of the evolution of business meetings, perhaps even moving to Facetime calls instead of regular phone calls? Perhaps, but the bottom line is that we have an incredible number of options for communicating with each other. So while in-person connection is always preferable, we’ve successfully proven remote work is possible with technology.” As Co-CEO of Pollard Banknote and NeoPollard, Doug said he is hopeful we’ll return to as close to normal as possible – for everyone’s good. “I’m really worried about the long-term impact if we don’t get back to physical conversation and informal meetings,” he said. “That might be in the workplace, it might be company executives calling on lotteries, it might be going to tradeshows. Video calls are efficient and functional, but they do not invite the kind of informal interaction that can actually be the key to important insights and relationship- building. The meeting concludes, we all hang up, and I wonder if we are not missing out on some of the most vital aspects of what happens when we are together in person. I think I have come to appreciate the value of small-talk as a pathway to big ideas.” “A company like ours has survived because of innovation and it’s hard to get innovation right. So, if we don’t get back to more in-person meetings, even under a hybrid model, we’re going to have to figure out a way to have better Zoom or MS Teams conversations than we have right now. I think we are all looking forward to a return to more personal interaction and conversation.” On the lottery side of the business, both FDJ and the Pennsylvania Lottery are taking a measured approach to their employees’ return. “One positive outcome of this period has been that our employees are now much more at ease with the use of digital meetings and other meeting tools,” said Stephane. “I agree with Doug and think everyone realizes that this completely remote work-style is not sustainable. On a positive note, I’m hearing that more people want to get back into the office, not on a full-time basis, but they want to frequently interact with colleagues and sit together and discuss initiatives. Our employees want choice, though – just like our customers.” Drew said, “I don’t see Pennsylvania moving back quickly to a full normal model, but we are certainly moving towards a hybrid model that allows us flexibility for some work units to work remotely and others to not. We’re turning more offices into hoteling space, a space that anyone can use and schedule online. We’re paying more attention to our long-term space planning, deciding what we need for the future. In the end, decisions need to be made based on what is best for our employees and the lottery organization.” Those – and many other – decisions will help guide the lottery industry into this post- pandemic period. If the leaders of lotteries and vendors are any gauge, the future should be bright for many years to come. n applicable for the retail player database,” he said. “Retail has the same player lifecycle – new, active and churning players - and this data is invaluable to identify your best players, even without iLottery. You gain so much information about the player, particularly on what games they are playing and at what price points. Just like iLottery, you can then provide players with offers for either digital or retail purchases. With this information, lotteries can more ac- curately market to their players. Drew asked the panelists to comment on how they will focus their retention marketing this year. “At Pollard, we’re very focused on helping our customers with retention based on brand loyalty, whether that’s an iLottery customer or a traditional lottery customer,” Shannon said. “We want to focus on experiences that allow us to continuously gather insights on our players. And we can build programs that allow for frequent and quick changes, like swapping our prizing options. Attention spans aren’t what they used to be and we need to be ready to change at a moment’s notice. We want to be more nimble in the products and services we bring to market. This will help us reach and keep our players.” NeoPollard is staying focused. “We have two big themes for the year,” Jessica said. “It’s always putting the players first and that’s the reason that we joined marketing with our business intelligence group. We use all of that data and come up with big insights and really challenge ourselves to ask ‘why is the player doing this?’. Our second initiative is to ‘fail faster.’ We need to test and learn and continue to push ourselves and understand what is working. Start small and build into bigger programs, and learn from the players what they want.” IGT is making sure the player is at the core of all they do. “We are rolling out some new tools and platforms to accommodate the data management and reporting that provides the player insights,” said Karri. “Retention marketing should include personalization that reflects the player’s activities on your platform. We also will deploy omnichannel communications, a mix of paid media with emails and texts, that reach the players at different levels.” Merv and his Scientific Games CRM experts are focused on reaching players as they are interacting with the program. “Everything is heading towards real time delivery of messages and reaching players in the moment,” he said. “Along with that is personalization of messages which can be done when you have identified your segments. Omnichannel is critical, reseg- menting in Facebook and Google so the player is responding. You’ve seen a lot of investment by the operators in front end and mobile app development. This allows a focus on the conversion funnel and providing the player with a feature-rich program and accompanying tools.” As Drew aptly pointed out in his wrapping remarks, most lotteries have increased or new competition, whether it’s casinos or sports gaming, and lotteries have to compete like any other business. “People have all sorts of options for spending their entertainment dollars,” he said. “Casinos, restaurants, bars, sporting events, movie theaters. In Pennsylvania, we consider all of those as our competition. And we all need to be ready to compete for the attention and spend of our players, both current and future.” n The Big Picture continued from page 28 Player Retention from page 35