11 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • MARCH/APRIL 2022 Digital Partner for Lotteries www.bedegaming.com any product with a life-cycle of more than half a millennium? But it is Lottery’s mission of service to society that has kept the brand, the products, and the business so alive and relevant for hundreds of years. Do players value Lottery’s mission to serve society and good causes? Or do people really only play for the opportunity to win a jackpot? R. Dernovšek: I think that is a false dichotomy. All state lotteries in Europe dedicate most of their GGR to public causes. They are a key source of finance for organizations that provide services for social purposes, sports, the disabled and the disadvantaged, health, culture, heritage and more. In 2020 members of EL collected 16 billion Euros for good causes. The fact that the motivational driver is to win a jackpot does not mean that the role of Lottery as leader in CSR with a mission to serve good is not integral to the brand, the message, and the playing experience itself. Are you buying a Tesla because you like the car or because you affiliate with the values of the community of Tesla drivers? It’s both, of course. You wouldn’t buy it if it wasn’t a good car; but the fact that it is a good car isn’t really what motivated you to buy it. There are lots of good cars. The Tesla driver is buying into the shared experience of affiliating with millions of other Tesla owners with like-minded values. Apple makes great consumer products and Starbucks makes great coffee, but their success is based on a consumer connection that goes deeper than the specific attributes of the product. These companies combine great products with great stories. Like you said, people are looking for meaning, perhaps now more than ever. Successful companies know this and that is why they stretch to integrate a compelling story into their brand. And now social media has elevated the importance of meaning, purpose, and affiliation. People share their brand preferences, their likes and dislikes on all manner of topics and products, with everyone. We want others to know who we are and what we stand for. We want to be a part of a like-minded community. Behavioral economists have shown how our decision-making is driven by a multitude of factors, very few of which are “rational”. Sure, the Tesla is a good car, the Apple a good computer, Starbucks a good cup of coffee. But the real buying impulse is driven by other factors, like the values, ethos, community that the products represent. And unlike these other consumer products, these values are already baked right into the Lottery playing experience. Or at least they should be. We need to appreciate the value that our “why” The next generation of consumer is more sophisticated, more capable of recognizing authenticity and truth and seeing though marketing hype, and even brand ‘story’.
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