– Brent Scrimshaw, CEO, Atlantic Lottery Corp. (ALC)
– Jim Lightbody, President & CEO, BCLC
– Lynne Roiter, President & CEO, Loto-Québec
– Paul Erickson, President, WCLC
– Moderator: Terri Markle, Publisher, La Fleur’s Magazine
The Canadian Lottery CEO Panel focused on the big takeaways generated from the program.
o Brent Scrimshaw, CEO, ALC: “What we tend to do is see the lottery as single-dimensional. What we have seen over the last couple of days is other products and initiative are deep in emotional engagement. A lot of what we are doing is building around the brand as opposed to inside the brand. The future is to build brand that has an intrinsic engagement. My two favorite external speakers are already lottery partners. Bell Media in many ways has faced the same challenges that the lottery industry has faced. They have reinvent themselves. We should reach out to them immediately.”
o Jim Lightbody, President & CEO, BCLC: “What we value from conferences is the learning together. I have three takeaways. There is great value in the perspectives from these speakers, many of whom said ‘take action now.’ You don’t have to stretch too far to learn a lot from outside companies. I like what GSP said about learning from other peoples’ mistakes. I was also reminded to consider the players’ experience. We focus on the product but there is a lot wrapped up around the product. The third thing is, if it ain’t broke, break it.”
o Lynne Roiter, President & CEO, Loto-Québec: “To me the theme is creating entertainment that is more than the game. To invoke emotion, you have to be emotional yourself. You have to live the experience. We have to try new things and not be afraid to learn and sometimes fail. We know that we are facing competitors that we have never faced before. The disruptors are a serious threat to our industry. Our best chance to grow is to be authentic and be responsible. It is tempting to step over the line but that would not be true to who we are.”
o Paul Erickson, President, WCLC: “This is a perfect time to be more creative and innovative. In the past, we have looked outside WCLC for ideas from other lotteries and vendor partners. My takeaway is that we can expand the universe to companies outside the lottery space.”