21 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • MAY/JUNE 2024 Continued on page 34 is beneficial for both parties. “Every time the draw takes place, the show’s ratings spike. So, Powerball brings value to our brand collaborators like Dick Clark Productions and ABC; and featuring on literally the highest-rated nationally syndicated show also delivers tremendous promotional value for Powerball.” Bret observed that the promotion’s power is that viewers see the winner’s live reaction. “We have Powerball winners all the time, but they’re at home, so we don’t see the reaction. But on the New Year’s Eve show you get a reaction from a real person who has just won millions, and that’s a really priceless example for all of our players.” Agreeing with that, Jay Finks emphasized that more pooling of resources would enable the Lottery to fulfill its potential as a powerful brand. “We are a big national brand, but do we always act like one? Partnering with Dick Clark Productions is great, but that’s just the start of a process. We now need to keep pushing to make it even bigger and better. Let’s work with other leading brands to really leverage our power to connect with other consumer groups and bring in new players.” Stephen reflected on another partnership with a major national brand. “When the NASCAR promotion came up on a national level for Powerball, some states were concerned about how it might affect the strong relationships we had with NASCAR locally. But it’s actually been very beneficial. It’s lifted us all up and put the icing on the NASCAR cake. Our players can still enjoy playing a Kansas NASCAR game, but they can also participate nationally, go to events in Arizona, and have the chance to win even bigger prizes.” Highlighting the learning from that, Stephen explained, "We all have to apply that open-minded thinking to other partnership opportunities. Obviously, all states have different regulatory requirements, philosophies, agendas, priorities, marketing plans, brand relationships, etc. But NASCAR shows how a national promotion can work even for states that have existing strong relationships with a big brand at a local level. And the folks who made that deal very diligently ensured that it’s beneficial for everyone.” Adding to that, Norm Lingle commented. “We couldn’t do these big promotions with NASCAR on our own in a small state like South Dakota. Our advertising budget just wouldn’t allow it. So, it’s great for us to be able to participate in these promotions, which have been lots of fun for our players and provided a huge promotional boost for the South Dakota Lottery.” Jay explained further how MUSL’s marketing fund has enabled these big-brand promotions to happen. “By pooling some of our resources, we can amplify the impact we each have in our own markets. This benefits all states, especially some of the smaller ones with limited budgets or those constrained by legislative restrictions. The fund enables us all to ask, ‘How can we get creative and unlock new promotional pathways?’” Building on that, Jay argued for an “aggressive” further push on national partnerships with big brands. “We have already seen how productive these collaborations can be on a return-oninvestment basis, a brand messaging basis, a short-term promotional basis, and a long-term brand development basis. So, let’s increase the scale and push these collaborations much further.” Jay outlined his vision for doing that. “I think we should be pooling ten times the amount of dollars that we’re spending right now and looking at not only national promotions but also national media and advertising. It would still be a very small portion of our revenues, and the record shows that every increase in investment delivers a huge return. So, let’s grow our brand to be big enough to be talking to the ESPNs and the NFLs, and let’s show them the value that collaborating with lottery brands will bring.” Echoing that, Stephen said, “We must be more aggressive with the Powerball brand and stress its value. Traditionally, the lottery business has presumed that we should pay for the privilege of licensing other brands’ intellectual property. But we now have a much better grasp of how to leverage or monetize our own brands’ value. Consumer brands like NASCAR, Dick Clark Productions, and even the NFL now appreciate the value that a partnership with Powerball confers.” “These are not one-sided relationships,” Stephen added, “with us just paying to access their audience. We are increasing their viewing figures and giving their brands greater visibility in tens of thousands of retailers nationwide. So, let’s continue being more assertive and pushing the power of our brand. Let’s build that value into our partnership agreements. And instead of just licensing a brand for a fee, let’s share the value of Powerball to offset that cost. And if Powerball’s value exceeds our partner’s value, they can absorb some of the costs of promotion or deliver compensatory value to us in another way.” Next, the panel discussed MUSL’s forthcoming collaboration with one of the world’s biggest brands: the NFL. Jay explained that MUSL and the NFL are “building a national game for all states, which will complement our current national games and tie our two brands together. We’re still in the early research stage, but the goal is to launch the game in September 2025. And this is a true partnership, we’re not paying any fee because they want to work with us. This is a massive and very exciting opportunity. So, watch this space because there’ll be a lot more news soon.” Reflecting again on how national partnerships impact states, Stephen praised the team working on the NFL agreement. “We already have a good relationship with our local NFL team, and we wanted to ensure that wouldn’t be affected by the national agreement. But it’s vital that everyone working on it understands and respects the existing local agreements. The new partnership is clearly going to be a benefit to those states that don’t have a local team and an additional benefit to those states that do.” “By pooling some of our resources, we can amplify the impact we each have in our own markets. This benefits all states.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTg4MTM=