The California Lottery will be making substantial changes to how it markets holiday instant tickets as a result of COVID-19.
“As one of the first states to close down in the pandemic, Californians have been navigating substantial changes to their lives, including how they shop, interact with brands, consume media, and evaluate their purchases,” explained Whitney Alderson, Assistant Deputy Director, Marketing, California Lottery. “We have taken those changes in consumer behavior into account for our advertising and media planning for the Holidays. We are shifting more dollars into vehicles like streaming video environments, moving away from rush hour traffic radio buys that rely on heavy commuter volume, and eliminating event-based activations and experiential marketing. Additionally, this year we opted to forego a TV commercial production shoot and instead leveraged existing footage from past campaigns to produce a new holiday montage spot that feels reflective of the moment.”
The lottery is also applying its learnings from its recent Pac-Man Scratchers campaign, which led to record-setting sales. “For our holiday campaign, we’ll continue to leverage digital and social media to bring the community together virtually, with efforts ranging from influencer partnerships to Spotify playlists,” said Alderson. “Our holiday influencer program will create entertaining, relatable content across Instagram and YouTube, including holiday gifting ‘How-to’s,’ DIY crafting videos, and a virtual ‘Pass the Joy’ challenge on Instagram Reels.”
California Lottery will also be running dedicated marketing support around its “2021” New Year’s ticket. This will include paid support, owned media and a dedicated 2nd Chance promotion. “Last year, our 2020 ticket was a strong seller throughout the year, and we believe this annual theme will perform very well again—especially as consumers look forward to turning the page on 2020 and welcoming 2021,” said Alderson.
