While most of us want to leave 2020 behind, the year saw trends that are continuing into 2022 and may be here to stay. One explosive trend is consumers’ continued demand for high price point instant games.
Hazen Paper introduced the first holographic game to the lottery industry more than 20 years ago. The company evolved and adapted to meet the continuously changing instant game ecosystem. In 2002, the average lottery launched just two instant games of $10, about 2% of the mix. Today, double-digit price point games are 29% of new game launches.
“As the price points go higher, the breakeven for holography drops,” noted Robert Hazen, Executive Vice President, Hazen Paper Company. “A 1% increase in sales on a $30 game pays for the added cost of holographic board. Sales beyond that 1% increase generate incremental profit.”
Lotteries use premium stock to launch higher price point games, mark organizational milestones and, increasingly, to add continuity to families of games (FOG) launches. “The strongest trend we see is the use of holographic material for FOGs,” said Hazen. “The holographic material visually pulls all of the games of the whole family together.”
Hazen Paper makes extensive use of data analytics to demonstrate the efficacy of holography, using indexing and other key performance indicators (KPIs) to make its case. In one particularly interesting example, Hazen’s data wizards compared a FOG with some games printed on plain stock, others on holographic board.
“In North Carolina, half of the family was plain board versus holographic,” explained Hazen. “The holographic games indexed between 165 to 197 while plain board stock indexed between 119 to 137. The main difference between the games was the stock.”
Other states have seen similar results. “The Texas Lottery recently ran a holographic FOG,” said Hazen. “The average index across this entire series was 143. Their $5 game was the top performing game in this series which generated an exceptional index score of 202.”
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and there are imitators in the market,” quipped Hazen. “We bring several unique differentiators to the lottery. Everything Hazen produces is made in the U.S. Over the years, we have brought every aspect of production in-house. Hazen has invested in creating custom designs and industry-leading proofing abilities. All of those features benefit the lottery with quality, reliability and eye-popping results.”
Hazen continues to innovate for the lottery industry with particular attention to holiday games. “We have recently developed a series of custom holographic patterns for the 2022 holiday season,” promised Hazen. “Since the holiday season is a major selling season for instant games, we anticipate that these new patterns will be very well received.”