36 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • MARCH/APRIL 2024 Trend 2: Stakeholder Customer The era of passive consumption is over. Empowered consumers expect a more reciprocal relationship with the companies they do business with. Many are open to being treated like peers and collaborators or consulted as stakeholders, with the power to co-create and ultimately determine commercial offerings for themselves. In effect, they are no longer consumers but prosumers: a prospective consumer involved with the design, manufacture, or development of a product. Consumers have been given a voice – and they want their feedback to be taken seriously. Channels, including social media and review platforms, amplify the voices of everyday people. Brands can more easily follow consumer conversations and spot emerging needs, but they also should confront comments about their actions. There is an expectation among consumers that feedback – whether about brand offerings, tone, or behavior – should be respected, and that they be treated as prosumers in influencing future improvements in a brand’s products or services. Meanwhile, individuals are increasingly able to directly finance their favorite campaigns, projects, and products into being, via crowdfunding platforms and followerfunded content models. With this trend in mind, lotteries are tasked with having in-depth conversations and research with players, involving them in the development of new games, tailored prize offerings, or engaging with players through digital feedback integration. Some of these options can be presented with convenience in mind, via a lottery’s app. What are companies doing? Convié, which launched on social media in November 2022, is a beauty brand that invites customers to become members who will contribute to the product development process. Interested consumers submit an application that asks them their level of skincare and beauty knowledge, types of products they like, their usual skincare routine, trends they’re interested in, and more. If accepted, members receive an invitation to co-create specific products or lines based on expressed interests and areas of expertise. When chosen, members receive samples from Convié to test and review. The brand also engages the community on social media to vote on product aspects, such as packaging and design. Co-founders Christina Harrell and Isabelle Salas said: “We want to work with talented and like-minded micro-influencers who wouldn’t have the opportunities or volumes to pursue this kind of endeavor themselves.” What are lotteries doing? Over the past 10 years, Northstar New Jersey (NSNJ), which provides sales and marketing services for the New Jersey Lottery, has managed Game Changers — a group of thousands of dedicated and engaged lottery players — to answer questions pertaining to features and symbols of instant tickets, draw games, and promotional activities that the Lottery engages in. A wildly popular instant game in 2023, “The Jersey Debate”, which is a breakfast meat naming point of contention in the Garden State, had a number of ticket options during the exploratory and development stage of the ticket-creation process. NSNJ turned to Game Changers to get real-time feedback on some of the elements of the game, having the design narrowed down and selected directly by players. What is IGT doing? IGT conducts research studies across the globe with both players and retailers. The company’s goals include understanding and benchmarking the success of its products and services in the field, studying retail execution and player habits, and conducting research to inform product and portfolio optimization. IGT also test concepts and new games as part of these studies and commissions VOID VOID 123-123456789-123456 1 CASH POP $5.00 per DRAW 1234567 123456 $5.00 DRAW #00235 Player Card PLAYER ID: BALANCE . ★ ... PLAYER ID: TYPE: FULL SHAMRCK RAINBOW LADYBUG CHRRIES CHRRIES SEVEN HORSHOE HORSHOE DICE 63.6% Weekly Lottery Players 54.2% Non-Lottery Players I would like it if my favorite brands asked for my ideas for new products. Source: Foresight Factory | Base: 32437 online respondents aged 18+, Global 24 Country Average, March 2023
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