PANELISTS
– Jenna Mastalir, Associate Connections Director, Cole & Weber
– Yumi Prentice, President, David&Goliath
– Andrea Bohorova, Senior Brand Strategist, Third Ear
– Moderator: Terri Markle, Publisher, La Fleur’s Magazine
The Ad Agency Executive Panel addressed why lotteries need storytelling in their advertising campaigns.
“We all have stories to tell and stories we need to hear,” said Prentice. “It is fundamentally human to want to connect. A brand can inform and entertain through storytelling. Companies build rational and emotional stickiness through narrative.”
Listening to a story focuses the mind. “The movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding was popular because a lot of people could see themselves in it. In advertising we aim to relate on an emotional level,” said Bohorova.
“In storytelling, we ask if this is a territory we have a right to speak to. We strike fantastical and realistic. It cannot be too whimsical. We try to embrace the constraints we face,” said Mastalir.
Each agency provided lottery examples of storytelling campaigns.
“We wanted to tell the story of MONOPOLY Scratchers that made California the hero, not MONOPOLY—what memories are evoked when you think of MONOPOLY. Our promise is that you can actually play MONOPOLY in real life. If you want to own a bank, you can. If you want to own a utility company, you can,” said Prentice.
“We use the ‘Luck Happens’ idea, based on research that shows people do not see luck as a single event,” said Bohorova. “Luck can be the tiny things that happen every day like finding just the right parking spot. We started with the idea that something small can grow into something big . . . We have a campaign that suggests it all begins with a scratch.”
“Washington has leveraged the idea of the Department of Imagination for 12 years. We want to speak to the moderate and non-players with stories that resonate with the players’ first fleeting experience with playing,” said Mastalir.