24 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 them to remain active lottery players. With these types of programs in place, and the CRM platform to orchestrate an integrated approach, lotteries can provide the kind of customer experience that the consumer has come to expect based on their experiences with all other consumer-facing companies.” Keeping with the focus on “harmonizing” CRM initiatives both at retail and iLottery, Drew, who oversees a lottery that offers a full iLottery program, said his team in Pennsylvania focuses on its “mindset” when formulating its CRM-related plans. “Everything we do is powered by the data collected through our CRM platform which in turn is collecting as much data as possible from both the retail and iLottery sides of our business,” he said. “Obviously the iLottery information is a bit easier to collect as all phases of the consumer interaction leave a digital footprint. But we also have a robust VIP club and popular second-chance drawings and we’re extracting a large amount of player information from both of those. We have built one view of many of our players and we can now tailor messages to them and deliver those messages at the right times. These capabilities all serve to enhance the player experience. The collection and use of data has become an incredibly powerful tool for us, and it will only grow in the future.” Like Pennsylvania, Georgia offers both traditional retail sales and an iLottery program. Gretchen said that having both channels provides them with a wealth of opportunities to communicate with their players. And it allows the lottery to operate like its competition in the retail space. “Like most businesses, we now have measurements on how our products are performing and which customers are responding to which games,” she said. “With this knowledge, we can do better by the players, apply the data and business intelligence to our game planning process to make more educated decisions. We can give players what they want, where they want it, when they want it. In turn, as the customer experience continually improves, those players become advocates for us.” Stefano’s efforts at IGT are informed by his belief that the lottery industry must keep its focus on how to use retail information to power CRM programs. While iLottery is expected to grow over time, it is still a small part of overall lottery activity. So, like Starbucks, which sells nothing online but has a powerful CRM program based on its mobile app and mobile payments system, he said that lottery should also apply modern tools to promote its time-tested sales channels. “We have the technology that allows us to collect data from players, even for the lotteries that don’t have iLottery,” he said. “Think about vending machines. We don’t know the identity of the players, but we are collecting information on how they paid – cash, credit card, mobile wallet, how much they spent and what they played. Many states offer digital play slips, some offer the ability to have a ticket purchased at retail sent to their mobile device in a digital form. The point is that even if you don’t have iLottery, there are many ways to better understand your players and build an experience tailor-made for them. This information can ultimately inform how you create your products and what promotions you offer to your players. Data allows you to segment your players and test ideas for different groups of players.” The state of Washington is another jurisdiction that can’t sell online but which is building a strong digital presence, nonetheless. Marcus said that he asks his team to consider the outcomes they want and build programs that will best achieve those desired results. “We always need to ask, ‘how do we measure engagement, how do we measure loyalty,’” he said. “Our program is about three years old and we look at registrations, retention, points entered, points redeemed. I also see our digital offerings as a way to extend the at-retail purchase. We know that most of our customers don’t win a prize. If we can offer a robust online experience, whether through an app or web site, we’ll be extending the value of purchases and allowing players to feel good about their interactions with us. We expect that positive feeling to lead to building a longer-term customer.” Merv said that since lottery partners like Scientific Games are working with both iLottery and non-iLottery customers, it is important to understand each jurisdiction’s CRM goals. “Having worked with customers with a range of digital tools, I know that the goals of CRM differ from lottery to lottery,” he said. “For iLottery, it might be to drive topline revenue. For those who aren’t currently selling online, it’s about growing the player-base and enhancing engagement with current players. And on both sides of the sales process, it’s about the retention of players. I’m looking for how we use data to keep our players, grow their play levels and bring new players into the fold. The strategies might differ, but the desired end-result is usually the same.” The relationship between retail and digital is critical because retail will be the primary sales channel for decades to come. Making lottery retailers comfortable with all forms of digital marketing is critical. In Pennsylvania, the Lottery uses the data collected through its CRM program to include retailers in its initiatives. “It is important that retailers feel like they are part of our overall initiatives and not simply living with the results of digital marketing decisions,” Merv said. “We want retailers to share in the upside potential of iLottery. We’ve created affiliate programs that allow retailers to benefit financially when they drive players to our iLottery program. And we are extending that to our loyalty program to encourage players to get digitally involved for the first time and rewarding retailers when they help in that process. Now the Lottery is not only moving more players to online activity but it’s benefiting from the wealth of data from CRM. This data is helping us create effective programs and games which also help drive retail sales.” Stefano pointed out that IGT has used the data it collects to track trends among players and retailers. Lately, there has been much focus on the “big box” stores, like Walmart and Costco, and how we can increase the lottery footprint at these stores. CRM programs have helped by capturing the data needed to tell our story. “Like most large companies, the big box stores don’t make many moves that aren’t backed up by supportive data,” he said. “We’ve been able to provide them with data which informs how they offer lottery to their customers. In many cases, it’s led to an increase in on-premises vending machines. Everything we do is powered by the data collected through our CRM platform which in turn is collecting as much data as possible from both the retail and iLottery sides of our business. Continued on page 59
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