Panel – Event Marketing (Terry Rich, Laura Solano)

The panel on event marketing focused on high value propositions.
“The Powerball Power Cruise is an interesting deal,” said Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich. “This cruise will be a real experience for our players. The killer in our industry is it takes a long time. There are national organizations like NASCAR who would like to do experiential promotions with Powerball. Power Cruise shows that we can get it done.”
Event marketing also delivers the beneficiary message. “All of our promotion, sales and branding activities reinforce the notion that all of our proceeds go to Colorado outdoor programs,” said Colorado’s Solano. “Most people think it just comes from statutory requirements. Everybody in the organization lives that experiential journey for the player.”
Both directors stressed that employees should have fun at work. “Memories are the new souvenirs,” stressed Rich. “Where does it say lottery employees can’t have fun? Most of us sit up in our corporate offices. You have to get out.”
Solano said after the lottery ran a lucky dog promotion, “we invited the employees to bring in their dogs for photographs. Staff voted on the top three and those dogs got on an instant.”