10 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • MAY/JUNE 2024 Multi-Prong Approach to the Most Time-Efficient Implementation of an Online Selling Channel Ionut-Valeriu Andrei General Manager and member of the board of the Loteria Română (Romanian Lottery) PGRI INTERVIEWS Paul Jason: The Romanian Lottery dove into the process of digitalizing its lottery products and channel mix with a bold 2-way approach, which included both developing its own in-house platform, as well as engaging in partnerships with 3rd-party apps. Describe the process of deciding how to approach the goal of building an online sales presence from scratch? Ionuț Valeriu Andrei: It is true, we made a bold decision regarding the method of going online. What we might point out is that right from the beginning we took it from scratch which provided a lot of latitude and flexibility for developing our own unique strategy. Two years ago when I took the challenge of running the Romanian Lottery, the company was stuck in an old paradigm in which consumer access to classical lottery games was mainly the same for as long as the history remembers. And the Romanian Lottery has, indeed, a great history behind, a legacy of which we are very proud. For more than 117 years, the company has been present in the lives of Romanians as one of the most trusted public-owned companies. But, in terms of approaching the latest trends of the market, the company had very little experience. And here is where our team decided to tackle hard. We chose a pathway of switching the entire paradigm. We worked for several months on developing a comprehensive marketing and sales strategy, which took into account all the aspects involved in creating a new image of the Romanian Lottery on the market. We decided to use our objective of building an online platform as a catalyst to transform our whole approach to the business. In 2023 we went through a comprehensive rebranding process, in which we combined our tradition with modern and minimalistic elements, aiming to address, in terms of visual identity, a wider range PGRI Introduction: Loteria Română wanted to implement the online selling channel quickly and cost-effectively, and then nurture its growth over time. The initial goal was to reach 5% of total sales by the end of the first year of implementation. Ambitious but do-able. Then grow online sales steadily. As the process unfolded, though, Ionut-Valeriu Andrei discovered creative ways to drive sales at an increased rate. The result is that the initial target of 5% of total sales was reached in just three weeks. But that is not the interesting part of this story. Projections were adjusted accordingly, increased to 10% of sales over the next ten weeks. They blew past that goal in seven weeks. Projections increased again and again. Online sales continued to increase at a breakneck pace to the point of exceeding 20% in a grand total of thirty weeks time. Last time we checked, they were at 26% of total sales. This interview is based on a presentation made by Ionut-Valeriu Andrei at the EL/WLA Marketing Seminar in London in February. Mr. Andrei was recently appointed to the Executive Committee of EL (European Lotteries Association).
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