14 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • MARCH/APRIL 2022 With many decades of lottery marketing behind us, EL and WLA brought together 370 participants to celebrate 20 years of their annual iconic marketing event, normally held in London and seen as the opening of the new lottery year. Moderated by EL Secretary General, Arjan van’t Veer and WLA Executive Director, Luca Esposito, for the second year in a row the event had to take place online. EL President Hansjörg Höltkemeier and WLA President Rebecca Paul opened the webinar highlighting how marketing has evolved over the last two decades. Technological advancements, innovation, behavioural change, responsible gaming and sustainability have all had a fundamental influence on marketing trends. During the pandemic, we can even say there has been a revolution in marketing. Partial or full closures of retail outlets and national lockdowns all had differentiating effects on the game verticals. Lotteries put contingency measures in place and found innovation solutions to continue regulated services to their players. The online channel was further developed as a safe alternative with popularity continuing to grow in the post pandemic era. Marketing strategies have continued to be adapted to support society both financially and non-financially. Opportunities and challenges of course remain but the past years have shown the versatility, flexibility, and efficiency of national lotteries. TWO DECADES OF THE BIGGEST LOTTERY MARKETING TRENDS Ray Bates, Honorary EL President outlined a shift in marketing trends during his Keynote speech. From Amazon and Google in the late 90s to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube and more recently Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, the development of social media platforms has played a role in changing advertising and branding, also in the lottery sector. The attention span of individuals is much less and nowadays society and culture often dictate what ‘’matters’’ and happens in branding. As ‘’Cultural Branding’’ depicts a lifestyle that is culturally relevant to the brand audience, it has become more relevant, especially during the recent crisis where society falls back on ‘’culture’’ to influence decisions. According to Ray, ‘’ in 20 years, lotteries have shown resilience, innovation, and creativity, but within constraints of regulation, responsible gaming for the good of society. In the words of Leonardo da Vinci, lottery is like Art. Art lives from constraints and dies from freedom’’. POST PANDEMIC ERA: THE GREAT MARKETING OUTLOOK 2022 The webinar was enriched by discussions with CEOs from lotteries and suppliers. Moderated by Ray Bates, the panel with lottery CEOs - Gretchen Corbin, Georgia Lottery, USA and NASPL President; Romana Dernovsek, Loterija Slovenije, d.d., Slovenia; Hansjörg Höltkemeier, Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin and EL President, Germany; Mario Musa, Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o., Croatia, and Francesco Parola, IGT Lottery S.p.A., Italy – discussed interesting learnings BACK TO THE FUTURE! CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF LOTTERY MARKETING SUCCESS
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