28 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022 players already familiar with your products,” he said. “But digital games are played completely differently – they’re faster and more interactive. Because of this, you have to increase the return to play because the whole experience is quicker. So you return more winnings back to the players but then they are spending at a higher, quicker level. Of course, online you can do things like offer bonus rounds and add-on games which increase the entertainment experience. The purchase cycle is faster so you must provide an experience that will make the player keep playing and want to come back. We work with lotteries in Europe who are legally obligated to offer returns as low as 49% and it is a stark experience for players. In the U.S., we’ve found that 85-90% return is the sweet spot. This is where we can retain the players and drive revenue for the lotteries.” Steve Hickson said that at Scientific Games, they continuously study player data and use the data to enhance their games and prize payouts. “The dynamic of the return to the player for iLottery in the U.S. is still a work in progress and we all need to keep crunching the data,” he said. “I think that the overarching success model for iLottery is a result of cultivating the VIP players and maintaining their interest. Those players want returns much greater than 80 percent, certainly closer to 85-90 percent. That is how we will retain those high value players that are so important to driving revenue, just like at retail.” At Jackpocket, they deliver a different kind of entertainment – bringing the draw game directly to the player no matter where they are. Peter Sullivan said that it still comes down to entertaining the players. “Whether the player is winning or losing, it’s important that you have some great entertainment built into the experience you’re offering to your customers,” he said. “I don’t see that any differently on the draw-based games side. For right now, iLottery has taken the paper-based games and brought them online and recreated those games. For draw games, we haven’t yet done that. At Jackpocket, we’ve certainly worked to create a fun, engaging environment for our players. But I think as an industry, there is a lot of innovation coming in the future. We need to reimagine how we present draw games and certainly working within the framework of iLottery programs can lead us in that direction.” Adam continued with the draw game direction, as JUMBO has been focused on offering online options for this game segment. “We think there’s blatant demand in the draw-based games for online options,” he said. “Data analytics have provided us with a better understanding of our online players and shown us that there is a real opportunity to market your core games and maximize their long-term value. In Australia and the UK, we’ve seen examples of using large jackpots to offer new players opportunities to stay on the sites and play other games. We can’t underestimate the potential from draw-based games, particularly given that it is the highest profit element of our portfolios.” Managing the eInstant Portfolio The panel’s attention turned to one of the most important components of an iLottery program – eInstant portfolio management. “Most of us understand how game introductions work for scratchers, ,” Rob said. “New scratch games are launched and sales spike during the launch week, and then decline until the next new gamelaunch. But does that same happen with eInstants?How do jurisdictions with eInstants manage new game introductions? What’s the most effective approach for bringing new games to market?” Stephanie said the iLottery division of the Pennsylvania Lottery continues to evolve as their business matures. “Compared with the traditional side of the business, iLottery is still relatively new and we’re still working on honing our best practices,” she said. “The two sides of the business are so different. With traditional lottery, we’re focused on activations, keeping bins full, making sure the player activated terminals are operating efficiently, and other activities in support of our retailers. With iLottery, we’re selling directly to the consumers and that allows for more flexibility. As we grow, we’re learning new things and can make changes on the fly. We now know that we don’t want to go longer than two weeks without launching a new game. We’ve landed on Thursday as our day to launch new games. The great thing about iLottery is that you can test, you get the results quickly and you can implement your response immediately. We’re always working to maximize our sales and keep players engaged.” Shannon said the differences between traditional and online play must be recognized and respected when making decisions. “iLottery is focused on smaller, more frequent wins, with an expanded timeline and a desire for fresh games from players,” she said. “At retail, we get a lot of impulse purchases but that is certainly not the case online. They have come to your site intentionally, so you have to market to them a bit differently. Concentrate on the user experience and how they’re actually interacting with the product. The beauty of iLottery is that if you have a really successful game, you can make it available for as long as you want and keep marketing it to players. You don’t have to clear out bin space for new games like retail. Games don’t have to go away, they can just move down in your portfolio of game offerings. It’s critical to consider the differences between the retail and iLottery product when looking at your overall portfolio.” Rhydian expounded on how players see the iLottery product. “In IWG’s experience, we see that in the beginning, new iLottery programs are treated similar to retail with players thinking there’s a limited amount of prizes and newly launched games have more prizes,” he said. “As the audience is educated, we see play patterns change. For example, over the last couple of years, the most successful game in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New Hampshire is actually more than two years old. I’ve never seen that happen before. My belief is that the player base is maturing and they have found games they like, they understand that prizes are always available and they don’t want to stop playing that game. So you continue to market the game and enjoy the steady revenue. This hearkens back to portfolio management and not treating online the same as retail. Use the wealth of data you’re collecting to make informed decisions. Launch, analyze and respond.” Focus on Marketing Rob asked the panelists to turn to marketing. “We’ve provided players with a great portfolio of games but how do we market these games to players?” he asked. “Since iLottery has now be been available in a number of states for a few years, we have some best practices that can be shared with newer states and those looking at iLottery programs.” As this is one component of Steve’s job at Scientific Games, he offered a few pieces of advice for portfolio management. “Personalization is key, from the landing page to the games,” he said. “Follow what the data is telling you. It allows you to segment across your platform as well as each piece of content so players aren’t having to scroll through lines of different titles. Whatever is of greatest interest to them is available in an easy-to-find location. This is the beauty of what digital can offer. You’re able to keep up with an ever-changing environment.” Adam discussed some of the differences in what is being offered in the United States from other countries. “Some jurisdictions offer platforms free of charge and some with a small levy to gain access,” he said. “What we actually find is that players migrate more to the platform with a levy as they believe that will be the better customer experience. The lotteries can then reinvest the levy into marketing and the acquisition of new players. Basically, players are paying for the Continued on page 58
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