Greg McKenzie, EVP & COO, OLG, discussed OLG’s modernization efforts. While OLG generated C$3.4 billion in revenue, setting records, their current business model will not carry into the future with the same success.
“We believe fundamentally that we need to modernize and we need to carry forward in order to be able to continue the great results that we have produced,” stated McKenzie.
OLG has five primary areas of business. These being lottery, land-based gaming, internet gaming, charitable gaming, and horse-racing. “Every one of those areas has an ambition through modernization to grow,” McKenzie explained.
They are focusing on three key areas during their modernization phase. These areas are, educating consumers on the substantial benefits of lotteries, improving OLG’s capacity to compete by shifting the company culture to competitive-centered and incorporating new technology, and finally, by developing a social license.
OLG has taken many steps towards these goals. To educate, they released a commercial that debuted in last year’s Pan Am games. “The campaign was called ‘All for Here,’ and it was our initiating step in being able to relate the value that OLG creates, the value that lottery creates,” McKenzie said.
To compete, they are shifting their mindset. They are learning from other companies, looking at models that are successful with this market, especially the millennial age group. A truth they’ve come to is, “Games need to create the promise of freedom and the experience of fun,” McKenzie said.
