24 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024 Omnichannel has been the buzzword du jour across the lottery industry for awhile now. Everyone appreciates its importance, but what exactly does omnichannel mean for the Lottery? And how can we best implement it to generate data, provide seamless player experiences, and maximize player engagement across distributional channels? These were just some of the issues addressed in the panel discussion that brought together experts from the vendor and lottery communities, and moderated by Mark Michalko, Executive Director of the North Carolina Education Lottery. Mark was joined on the panel by: • Richard Bateson, Chief Commercial Officer, INTRALOT • Shannon DeHaven, Vice-President of Digital Engagement, Pollard Banknote • Helene Keeley, Executive Director, Delaware Lottery • Randy Spielman, Deputy Executive Director Product Development & Digital Gaming, North Carolina Education Lottery • Lorne Weil, Executive Chairman, Inspired Entertainment Mark began by asking the panelists what omnichannel means to them. “Is it just about driving engagement at both landbased retail and online? Or is there more to it than that?” From the perspective of INTRALOT and the vendor community, Richard Bateson emphasized the importance of connection and integration. “As vendors, we sit at the apex of marketing and technology. The omnichannel relationship enables us to identify what players want and allows them to play by whatever means they would like to interact with us. So, having a customer data platform that sits underneath everything else is at the heart of omnichannel.” Similarly, Randy Spielman defined omnichannel as “a player-centric approach to engagement. Omnichannel engagement goes beyond the player purchase of a lottery ticket to encompass marketing, communication, and even the culture of Lottery itself.” Sounding a note of caution, Lorne Weil took a broader perspective on questions of omni or multichannel. “Lottery is not a closed system, and Draft Kings’ acquisition of Jackpocket shows that the lottery industry is not working in its own isolated universe. For some of our competitors, Lottery is the primary if not only product category with retail as the primary channel of distribution. For others, their strategy is focused on multiple channels like sports bettors online and retail sports bettors as well as lottery players. That’s why we need to think as much about how to defend our turf from competition as we do about the opportunities that omnichannel presents.” Helene Keeley also described how omnichannel is “a new challenge” for the Delaware Lottery. “In Delaware, all P A N E L D I S C U S S I O N This article is based on a panel discussion held at the PGRI Smart-Tech Conference on March 13 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Driving the Omni-Channel Experience: What are the promotional tools, levers, game concepts, and strategies to entice the player to engage with Lottery on multiple channels? L-R: Mark Michalko, Richard Bateson, Shannon DeHaven, Helene Keeley, Randy Spielman, Lorne Weil “Omnichannel offers a seamless experience with the same product no matter how a player chooses to play. Continued on page 44
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