12 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2022 Continued on page 21 Arizona Lottery Executive Director Gregg Edgar knows something about brands. Prior to joining the lottery industry, Gregg spent more than 20 years as a marketing and communications strategist, working with U.S. and international companies to build and expand their brands. In addition to his work as Executive Director, Gregg has been a member of MUSL’s Marketing & Promotions Committee for a number of years. So moderating a panel focused on the brand of lottery – from games to beneficiaries – was “on brand” for Gregg. Joining Gregg were industry experts with their own wealth of experience in branding: Brad Cummings, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, EQL Games Stephen Durrell, Executive Director, Kansas Lottery Ryan Mindell, Lottery Operations Director, Texas Lottery Brian Rockey, Director, Nebraska Lottery Gregg began by recounting the recent work of his MUSL committee to expand the reach and impact of the Powerball brand. The group has been meeting with potential partners for more than a year and the results have been interesting. “When we’ve been in corporate board rooms talking about lottery and how we operate, it becomes obvious that our message of ‘giving back’ still has room to grow,” he said. “In jurisdictions where the word ‘education’ is in the name, people might know that the lottery supports education. But they are stunned at just how much revenue the Lottery actually generates for education. Increasing that awareness is something we need to continue to focus on. Lottery’s role of service to society is a unique gem that we need to use more in our discussions with our corporate partners, our players, and our retailers. “Our committee has been quite actively looking at some big initiatives to help build the Powerball brand,” he said. “Of course, the Powerball First Millionaire of the Year promotion is now in its fourth year and our collaboration with the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve program has been very successful. We’ve been in discussions with the NFL and NASCAR as well as consumer product brands like Pepsi. But beyond that, we are also looking at how we can continue to adapt in a changing consumer environment. How are we approaching our brands and conveying our brand message to our many constituents?” Brad Cummings of EQL Games said it is the uniqueness of lottery and our offerings that needs to be communicated. “The consumer is now faced with more gaming options than ever. What separates lottery from everything else is the incredible reach of its network of retailers,” he said. “We should leverage that competitive advantage to even better effect – look for new ways to deliver more product, service, and an always improving POS player experience. When EQL is creating games, we always keep the retail reach in mind – making sure the content is interesting, understandable, and fun for the retail player. We have such a unique channel to connect with our players and we should always be stretching to help our retail partners separate our offerings from our competitors.” For Ryan Mindell in Texas, advertising budget cuts have made it challenging for the lottery to communicate with its players. But with challenges FOCUSING ON THE BRAND – LOTTERIES, GAMES AND MISSION OF SERVICE TO SOCIETY P A N E L D I S C U S S I O N Executive Summary from PGRI Smart-Tech 2022 Miami Conference
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