La Fleur’s 2022 Austin Conference two-day educational program (November 15-16) will feature presentations on ticket-by-ticket activations, mobile prize claim payments, experiential programs, hybrid instant/draw games, loyalty club programs, Powerball and Mega Millions’ growth plans, higher price point scratchers, novel in-state instant game programs, digital advertising, beneficiary marketing, and in-store POP.
“We are delighted to return to Austin for our fall conference. Our first conference was held in Austin in 2014. I would like to thank Texas Lottery (co-host of La Fleur’s 2022 Austin Conference) as well as our Platinum Sponsors (Atlas Experiences, IGT, Pollard Banknote, and Scientific Games), our Gold Sponsors (Jackpocket, Marcus Thomas, Meta, National CineMedia, and Sightline Payments), and our Silver Sponsors (Brandmovers, Captiv8, Lotto.com, and Pro-Lite),” said Terri Markle, Founder & Co-CEO, TLF Publications.
A rundown of presentations follows below:
Texas Lottery’s Ticket by Ticket Activation
Ryan Mindell, Deputy Executive Director, Texas Lottery
Lottery must keep up with the changing retail environment. In-lane sales have started to grow, but scratch tickets must be sold in-lane to meet sales expectations. Three big technical initiatives will keep lotteries relevant in retail by allowing the sale of scratch tickets at the point of sale. Ticket by ticket activation, a universal scratch ticket inventory bar code and smart in-lane dispensers will let the Texas Lottery sell existing scratch tickets in-lane.
Platinum Sponsor Presentation: IGT
Jennifer Seymour, VP, Lottery Product Management, Global Sales Support, IGT
The lack of a single-player view providing insights into individual player behaviors and preferences is a problem that lotteries have wanted to solve for decades. There is now a solution that all lotteries can deploy and benefit from – not only those who sell online. This presentation will detail how IGT’s Connected Play offering, powered by IGT OMNIA™, works to deliver an end-to-end, 360-view of a player – whether at retail, online, or both – providing operators with valuable insights to optimize product offerings, personalize player communications, and support Responsible Gaming measures.
Scratch-Off Innovations & Upcoming Omnichannel Plans for the Pennsylvania Lottery
Kelly McGranaghan, Deputy Director, Products, Pennsylvania Lottery
The Pennsylvania Lottery is planning to launch its second $50 Scratch-Off game at the end of December, following the success of the first $50 game in 2021. Various specialty print features used on this game and prize structure highlights will be discussed. In addition, the second half of the fiscal year is filled with omnichannel plans for various themes and licensed brands. Get ready to PAW-ty, hit the open road, and take a spin in this game called LIFE.
Platinum Sponsor Presentation: Scientific Games
Driving Sustainable Growth and Success in a Dynamic Market
Robert Fisher, Director, Marketing, Scientific Games
Scientific Games is connecting games, technology and analytics to engage and entertain the most players, the most effectively, and driving many of our partners to record proceeds. This cohesive view of the game portfolio across a connected lottery ecosystem is key to sustainable growth. Bob will provide an overview of how the partnership in Pennsylvania, where SG provides games and technology across the entire retail and digital portfolio as well as on the SGEP program, is driving long-term growth and success in this dynamic market.
Texas Lottery’s $100 Price Point Initiative
Dale Bowersock, Scratch Ticket Strategy Coordinator, Texas Lottery
With the Texas Lottery’s restriction on game categories to basic draw games and paper scratch tickets, the agency is continually seeking new game initiatives for those two categories to ensure continued sales and revenue increases. The $50 price point was introduced in 2007 and 15 years later the Texas Lottery has introduced their first $100 ticket. This presentation will review the game development and introduction efforts which were required to bring this game to market as well as a review of how the sales ensured a successful fiscal year for Texas.
Platinum Sponsor Presentation: Pollard Banknote
Loyalty & Player Experience
Sadia Baig, Director, Loyalty & Digital Engagement, Pollard Banknote
Sadia Baig, Director, Loyalty & Digital Engagement, is Pollard Banknote’s leading expert on player engagement solutions. She will explore the multi-faceted relationship between loyalty, customer experience, and player engagement, leveraging industry research to define the role of technology in Pollard Banknote’s customer centric approach.
Segment: Games & Marketing
Wisconsin Lottery: Living Lucky with Luke Combs
John Sams, Instant Product Coordinator, Wisconsin Lottery
The presentation will be about the marketing support put behind our Living Lucky with Luke Combs scratch campaign. This includes the initial decisions to launch the game on an expedited timeline; the kick-off event at the Midwest’s largest County Music festival; organizing the first ticket purchase by a celebrity; special events held at a Luke Combs concert; social media posts that reached across the country; the creation of augmented reality and Wisconsin-specific videos; and other marketing initiatives.
Platinum Sponsor Presentation: Atlas Experiences
The Emotional Connection to Winning Experiences
Derek Gwaltney, Founder & CEO, Atlas Experiences
Awarding lottery players with once-in-a-lifetime Bucket List experiences creates an emotional connection to the prize that differs from a cash prize. Players dream of the opportunity to travel to amazing destinations and having their lottery fulfill those dreams builds a long-lasting relationship. Cash prizes have a different connection with players as very often their prize goes towards different life responsibilities or obligations. Atlas will share the emotional connection from actual experiences and how to continue to create promotional packages that deliver the WOW Factor by integrating even more winning moments to experiential programs.
The Hunt for a Threequel
Adam Caughill, Director, Lottery Innovation, Ontario Lottery & Gaming (OLG)
OLG struck gold in 2017 with THE BIG SPIN, a once-in-a-generation product phenomenon and the genesis of a new category of INSTANT games at OLG – Scratch Watch Win Games. Lightning struck a second time when OLG introduced PLINKO® to the SWW category in 2021, proving the strength of the SWW formula. OLG’s quest to identify a third installment to the category is well underway. Lottery Innovation Director Adam Caughill will talk to the category’s magic and the latest exciting concepts being tested with players for purchase intent and allure.
Gold Sponsor Presentation: National Cinemedia (NCM)
NCM: Helping State Lotteries Reach ‘The Unreachables’
Stacie Tursi, SVP, Major Markets, NCM
NCM will present to La Fleur’s 2022 Austin Conference attendees our Value Proposition. This includes:
- NCM’s unique and valuable audience—’The Unreachables’, who are young, multicultural, educated, and have large spending power.
- NCM moviegoers are avid lottery players who are more likely to play 5+ lottery games a month
- Our ability to reach ‘The Unreachables’ at movie theaters and beyond through an omni-channel of screens that follow the moviegoer wherever they go on their daily journey.
- Upcoming movies that will draw large audiences to movie theaters
How Do We Keep the Momentum Going?
Amber Seale, Deputy Secretary of Marketing, Florida Lottery
As we’re entering our third year of record-breaking sales, we want to think about how we stay there. I’ll touch on marketing innovations, connecting with our players, engaging creative, and enhancing our beneficiary story (our WHY).
Gold Sponsor Presentation: Meta
Measurement Case Study: How The West Virginia Lottery Unlocked Efficiency with Organic & Paid Social Strategies
Emre Goksu, Growth Manager, Lottery & RMG, Meta & Danielle Snidow, Deputy Director, Marketing, West Virginia Lottery
To drive in-store lottery ticket sales, the West Virginia Lottery widened the scope of its influencer marketing from organic to paid media. The new campaign approach leveraged conversion lift tests, net-new creatives, and a cross media strategy.
Wyoming Lottery’s Keno Launch
Robin Medina, Chief Operations Officer, Wyoming Lottery Corporation
With a law prohibiting instant products in Wyoming and a small product portfolio, WyoLotto was challenged with determining which game would be our next to add that would increase our net income for maximizing transfers to our state but also provide entertainment value to our players. Through extensive research, WyoLotto determined that a Keno draw game would enhance our portfolio which consisted of three jackpot games out of six offered. The game launched on September 18.. I will share how we executed the new game, including development, testing and marketing the product and results.
Segment: Experiential/Engagement
Ohio Lottery’s Players Club
Ohio Lottery’s Interim Deputy Director, Office of Information Technology Maureen Hall will take us through a case history of MyLotto Rewards and how this powerful central platform is driving player engagement, helping to collect first-party data, and informing marketing decision-making.
Gold Sponsor Presentation: Marcus Thomas
Marcus Thomas Lottery Solution – Helping Lotteries Win
Chris Abate, VP, Lottery Solutions, Marcus Thomas
Lottery Solutions Chief Chris Abate will introduce the group to Marcus Thomas Lottery Solutions, beginning with a look at the team’s origins with early lottery innovator Marcus Advertising and leading up to its latest digital innovations for mobile cashing and its recently introduced lottery marketing ecosystem — AdaptEP™
The Idaho Lottery Players Club
Sherie Moody-St. Clair, Deputy Director, Marketing, Idaho Lottery
From the launch of the Idaho Lottery VIP Club in 1999 to present day, our VIP Club continues to be the most valued asset when it comes to engaging with our consumers. We’ve looked at best-in-class loyalty platforms to continue to evolve our loyalty program and we are excited to share our new features, website and a new mobile app that integrates our customer intelligence to improve our customer experience.
Washington’s Lottery Players Club
Lance Anderson, Assistant Sales Director, Washington’s Lottery
This presentation will address the strategic reason for developing and enhancing MY LOTTERY 360. Since the launch of our new app and loyalty program, we have seen engagement with our players expand. We look at how many unique players are interacting with our app, how many points are earned and how many points are being redeemed. Since we launched about three years ago in November 2019 and through the end of 2021, our players earned 270 million points and redeemed 189 million points for over 62,000 items. Scientific Games manages our app and loyalty program and in June of this year, we launched their Optimove Platform which tracks and analyzes interactions with players.
Platinum Sponsor Panel
- Derek Gwaltney, Founder & CEO, Atlas Experiences
- Jennifer Seymour, VP, Lottery Product Management, Global Sales Support, IGT
- Brad Thompson, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Pollard Banknote
- Jeanna King, VP Creative Engagement & Events, Scientific Games
- Ryan Mindell, Deputy Executive Director, Texas Lottery
- Moderator: Byron La Fleur, Co-Publisher, La Fleur’s Magazine
Wednesday, November 16
The second day of the program will spotlight lottery draw and scratcher games, player-friendly program, such as mobile cashing, and digital/advertising programs.
Segment: The Player
Lottery Draw Game Panel
- Jay Finks, Executive Director, Oklahoma Lottery
- Adam Caughill, Director, Lottery Innovation, Ontario Lottery & Gaming (OLG)
- Drew Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Lottery
- Moderator: Terri Markle, Co-Publisher, La Fleur’s Magazine
Gold Sponsor (Video) Presentation: Sightline Payments
Andrew Crowe, SVP Business Development, Sightline Payments
Texas Lottery Panel: Implementing Mobile Claims
- Moderator: Ryan Mindell, Deputy Executive Director, Texas Lottery
- Kelly Stuckey, Controller, Texas Lottery
- Fattah Elyabouri, Info Tech Analyst, Texas Lottery
- Brandon Rylee, Validations Supervisor, Texas Lottery
Texas Lottery staff discuss their approach to validating tickets over the Texas Lottery mobile app, while sharing lessons learned and roads not taken.
Oklahoma Lottery: No Paper Play Slips
Jay Finks, Executive Director, Oklahoma Lottery
Why would a Lottery completely eliminate paper playslips? Why would they risk player backlash over a staple of Lottery play? The answer is more complex and much more strategic than you think. As the digital age continues to expand, Lottery modernization becomes not only a priority but a necessity. Let’s discuss how a simple change can help move the business forward in order to embrace this digital age.
Transforming the Lottery Players’ Experience in Retail
Kristin Pugliese, Senior Retail Marketing Manager, Camelot Illinois
The Illinois Lottery has successfully launched Fast Play into an offering that is delivering significant revenue. The go-to-market strategy included bringing the omnichannel product and experience to life in retail. The integrated marketing plan focused on B2B and B2C communication to drive portfolio awareness and game education. Additionally, the strategy behind digital engagement and the results of the QR code that was developed to make it easy for the shopper to download the app to reveal, blurring the channel lines and enhancing the player experience through the app. Lastly, future plans to grow and leverage tools such as retail promotions.
The Impacts of Inflation on the Lottery Industry
Russ Harben, Deputy Director, Operations, Arizona Lottery
Inflation in the United States is at its highest levels in over 40 years. For most of the U.S. lottery industry’s existence, inflation has not been a significant macroeconomic factor. However, the last two years have seen persistent levels of inflation well above recent historical norms. This presentation will examine the historical and potential future impacts of inflation in several key areas of lottery operations: lottery sales and profits, product price points, jackpots, financial operations, and contracts / procurements. Lotteries may need to adapt to a new economic reality where inflation remains elevated for the foreseeable future.
MUSL Panel: What’s Ahead After World’s Biggest Jackpot?
- Bret Toyne, Executive Director, Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL)
- Armando Perez Cruz, Executive Director, Loteria Electronica (Puerto Rico)
- Drew Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Lottery
Segment: Instant Games
South Carolina Education Lottery: College Licensing Sports Workshop
Josh Whiteside, Director, Marketing, South Carolina Lottery Education Lottery
There are some unique sponsorship ideas and concepts SCEL used with the University of South Carolina and Clemson University to really identify the best use of the lottery’s money with the schools. And now that SCEL is tying in licensed tickets, the lottery is adding to its sponsorship to create a larger overall program.
Licensed Games & Customer Acquisition
Scott Kenyon, Strategic Games Manager, Virginia Lottery
Licensed property games have always been an important part of the Virginia Lottery’s strategy, but how is the analysis and strategy for licensed property games different for online games than retail games?
Arizona Adventure
Shelby Alessi, Senior Marketing Manager, Arizona Lottery
The Arizona Lottery is encouraging players to get outside and explore the state with an interactive ticket and promotion called “Arizona Adventure.” Launched in partnership with Arizona State Parks & Trails, the promotion features an unconventional approach to both ticket design and user experience, proving to be a risk worth taking as the promotion outpaces instant sales and continues to engage players at a high rate. Learn how the Arizona Lottery set up the game for success, the support the agency is providing to keep awareness high, and the surprising sales success of this aesthetically striking game.
Living the Dream: Pulling Out All the Stops for My Lottery Dream Home
Carolyn Cabell, Chief Operating Officer, New Mexico Lottery Authority
The New Mexico Lottery launched the first instant game based on the popular My Lottery Dream Home television show on HGTV. With big dreams but a limited budget, the Lottery leveraged vendor partnerships to develop a comprehensive program full of firsts for New Mexico. TV and point-of-sale materials featuring the show’s energetic host, special printing features, new live-stream events, retailer incentives, and a record second-chance prize opportunity were all part of the game plan.
Segment: Advertising & Digital Marketing
Lottery Marketing Panel
- Amber Seale, Deputy Secretary of Marketing, Florida Lottery
- Terri Rose, Deputy Executive Director, Brand Management & Communications, North Carolina Education Lottery
- Josh Whiteside, Director, Marketing, South Carolina Lottery Education Lottery
- Robert Tirloni, Lottery Operations Director, Texas Lottery
- Moderator: Terri Markle, Co-Publisher, La Fleur’s Magazine
Social Media Engagement & Analytics
Terri Rose, Deputy Executive Director, Brand Management & Communications, North Carolina Education Lottery
We will take a look at the implementation of new technology in our campaigns – from AR to AI and beyond! We will also take a look into the future at what platforms, technology and tools North Carolina Education Lottery will explore and embrace to further engage with its players.
Championing the Power of Play through Connected Brand Experiences
Brittany D’Haenens, Director, Marketing, IGT Indiana on behalf of Hoosier Lottery
The lottery experience is rooted in play. But how do we champion it beyond the transaction of our products to create meaningful moments of connection with our players? In this presentation we will showcase how the Hoosier Lottery has developed exclusive promotional experiences, engaging content and relevant media, data and planning decisions to enhance the power of play. Through connected brand experiences, we can help demonstrate to players that play can do more than they ever imagined.
Leveraging Product & Purpose: Celebrating 100 years of State Parks in Oregon
Shad Barnes, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing, Oregon Lottery
When connected properly, a product, a beneficiary and a campaign can be exponentially greater than the sum of its parts. Over Summer 2022, the Oregon Lottery leveraged a healthy partnership with one of their six beneficiaries to create an outstanding ticket launch, advertising campaign and statewide celebration that exceeded all goals and expectations. You’ll be delighted to experience the journey of celebrating 100 years of state parks in Oregon. Before it’s over, you’ll learn how the results of the Oregon Lottery’s efforts “rose all boats”, disproved some myths and created a template for an approach to win-win collaboration.
Weaving Conservation Message into Product Campaigns
Christian Hawley, Advertising & Marketing Manager, Colorado Lottery
Danielle Deats, Account Director, Cactus
We understand how challenging it can be to drive awareness of a lottery’s beneficiary message without detracting from its core mission of selling tickets to generate revenue that supports all proceeds partners. The Colorado Lottery and their “Play On” platform has created more opportunities to weave conservation messaging into campaigns that also drive sales. While they have always supported proceeds with an annual campaign, they work to incorporate their outdoor conservation story wherever they can in their product campaigns.
Digital Marketers’ Panel
- Christian Hawley, Advertising & Marketing Manager, Colorado Lottery
- Danielle Deats, Account Director, Cactus
- Brittany D’Haenens, Director, Marketing, IGT Indiana on behalf of Hoosier Lottery
- Shad Barnes, Senior Manager, Digital Marketing, Oregon Lottery
- Moderator: Terri Markle, Co-Publisher, La Fleur’s Magazine