Public Gaming International November/December 2021

25 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 • Technological advancement will yield man-made materials Demographics and social change could see labor shortage, demand on healthcare and change consumer demands • Substantial healthcare spending will create huge opportunity in this sector • Robots will replace people to plug the labor gap • People will need more money to fund a lengthy retirement Technological breakthrough means machines will learn faster than humans and personal data will be a valuable commodity. • Traditional consumer goods produced by technology companies • The global economy should grow as the world becomes more productive • Technology will enable solutions to climate change and population problems Rapid urbanization will result in space and accommodation becoming more of an issue in major cities. • A whole new city infrastructure could be required • Car ownership will become obsolete as autonomous, summon-able cars become mainstream • The healthcare system will need to change to cope with demand Shifting economic power is focused China as the new superpower, Asia’s rapidly growing population and the changing global demographics. • The political sphere of influence could shift fromWashington to Beijing • Businesses could become more powerful than countries • We’re all going to need to talk Mandarin MEGATRENDS AND THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 One thing that is notable about BlackRock’s MegaTrends is that they don’t directly address the number one global topic since the beginning of 2020 – COVID 19. Certainly no one in the lottery industry can talk about revenue results without discussing the positive jolt most lotteries received during the pandemic. Overall, nothing has impacted our recent lives more than the pandemic and looking to the future, particularly the future of consumer activity, the effects of COVID-19 have to be examined. Will the forces that contributed to increased lottery sales continue or were the past 20 months just an outlier? Focusing on the consumer, and the changing landscape of consumer behaviours and activities, is one way to glean insights into what the future may hold. Market research company Frost & Sullivan recently released its “Transformative Mega Trends Shaping Post-COVID Consumer Behavior”, looking at five areas of influence: Home: The pandemic has compelled consumers to interact with and embrace contactless technologies because of concerns about health and hygiene. The home has morphed into a center of work, entertain- ment, and wellness. Work: The conditions that enable workplace bonding are dissolving as many people continue to work from home and express reluctance to return to an office. Employees will demand more visibility and transparency in this environment through digital collaboration. Technology and work cultures have changed to enable the engagement of global talent pools working from remote locations. Healthcare: Many aspects of the healthcare journey will become inherently data based. Consumers will demand control over their personal health data to manage their health and wellness and make better-informed decisions. Leisure: Price-sensitive consumers are pivoting to marketplaces (e.g., Amazon) from individual brands. Targeted outreach will be a must in spreading awareness about products and service to smaller audiences with similar values and traits on social platforms. Virtual entertainment will be in demand. Mobility: Enabled by new connectivity technologies, cars will become points of health, wellness, and well-being with end- to-end, omnichannel experiences. With an emphasis on health, safety, and perhaps an ongoing preference for social distancing, shared mobility/carpooling will be on the decline. What this means for consumer-focused industries such as lottery is that while our products continue to be highly popular, the avenues for sales and consumption have been altered. As society, consumer shopping behaviour, and the market-place is reshaped by COVID-19; so too must lottery change, adapt, and re-align with the “new normal”. Frost & Sullivan suggests the following: