2021/22 NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTIONS UNIT ANNUAL REPORT

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

REFLECTING

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

The National Lottery Promotions Unit (NLPU) raises positive public awareness of National Lottery funding towards good causes, thereby contributing to the overall health of The National Lottery brand.

Through the One National Lottery approach (an agreed internal protocol within The National Lottery family to ensure consistency of messaging and promotion), the NLPU delivers campaigns that encompass traditional and digital media which unite the National Lottery family, raise public awareness, and thank National Lottery players for funding thousands of incredible projects across the UK.

The NLPU is a joint venture between the 12 National Lottery distributors, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the current operator, Camelot. Six of the 12 Distributors and The Gambling Commission (who license The National Lottery to comply with any regulations made by the Secretary of State under Section 12 of the National Lottery Act) also sit on the NLPU’s Management Board to make decisions and steer strategy.

As a promotional unit that reports into the Management Board, the NLPU is uniquely placed to act and drive programmes of work forward in a way that nobody else in The National Lottery family can.

INTRODUCTION

A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR

A Record-Breaking Year – How The NLPU Stepped Up in 2021-22

In my first year as the Chair of the National Lottery Promotions Unit Management Board, I want to begin by highlighting what an extraordinary year it has been, working with some extraordinary people. I would also like to thank my predecessor, Ros Kerslake, for all her skill, diligence, and commitment whilst undertaking this role, and I wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

When I look back over the year covered by this annual review, I feel immense pride at the way the NLPU and the wider National Lottery family have worked together and continued to respond positively to the unprecedented challenges of operating effectively and safely during a global pandemic.

What’s even more impressive is that the NLPU secured the largest amount of coverage in its history by a significant margin in 2021-22 - achieving a recordbreaking 94,469 pieces of media coverage across all its campaigns and activities, and over 94.3 million impressions on its multiple social media platforms.

Through various campaigns and activities, the NLPU has again been at the forefront of sharing the amazing stories of National Lottery funded good causes the length and breadth of the UK, and has brought them to life by working effectively with the National Lottery family and innovatively with external media partners and stakeholders across multiple campaigns and media channels. This has helped the NLPU deliver against all its objectives to generate outstanding results.

Being innovative, creative, and switching seamlessly to a more digital way of storytelling has no doubt been a crucial driver in the NLPU’s continued success and evolution – all of which has come into fruition this year with this substantial and impressive haul of coverage.

Of equal importance is their principles of delivering Fewer, Bigger, Better media campaigns and activities, which are delivering well for The National Lottery family.

The changing world beyond COVID-19 now requires our focus and it is pleasing to see the NLPU developing its longer-term strategic framework and plans. As we look forward and move into a world where COVID-19 is no longer a constraint on our operations, I am assured the NLPU and the wider National Lottery family will continue to learn lessons from the past year and continue to deliver our mission effectively in support of the good causes we fund, whatever challenges come our way.

In the worst of times, you often see the best of people. In 2021-22, the NLPU showed great character and I thank every one of the team. I firmly believe their efforts mean they will continue to succeed. As we prepare for the years ahead, they can draw confidence from how they rose to the challenges of the last year.

Darren Henley, CEO Arts Council England, Chair of the National Lottery Promotions Unit Management Board

PART ONE

2021/22 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

Our 2021/22 Priority Areas

1 To increase awareness of the breadth, scale, and impact of National Lottery funding across the UK.

2 To promote the values of The National Lottery and increase positivity towards the good causes The National Lottery supports at a local and national level.

3 To reach as many people as possible in the UK in telling that story.

4 To champion One National Lottery best practice across The National Lottery family.

PART ONE

2021/22 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

Fewer, Bigger, Better: NLPU Strategic Framework and Plan

(see Annex A page 36)

In 2020, the NLPU launched its strategic framework and set out what it will do over the coming years to achieve its vision through its adopted mantra of Fewer, Bigger, Better.

At the start of 2021, the NLPU Management Board and all the CEOs for the distributors, including the devolved nations, also identified four priorities for joint activity for our future focus which are:

1 Data – improving our collective ability to talk about what The National Lottery good causes are achieving in areas of common interest.

2 Government – ensuring we are sharing evidence of our collective impact/ achievements effectively across UK Government and devolved Governments in the nations.

3 Communications – distributors and the wider family supporting cross-cutting campaigns run by NLPU, and amplifying this with their own activity.

4 Grantee acknowledgement – leveraging support from our grant holders to highlight National Lottery impact.

The entire portfolio of campaigns delivered by the NLPU is now underpinned by its Strategic Framework 202123 and Strategic Plan 2021/22, encompassed by the four Management Board priorities highlighted above. With the framework and plan now firmly established, the NLPU has identified areas (including possible joint funding opportunities) that The National Lottery family can collaborate on, including Government initiatives.

The Framework enables the NLPU to clearly determine where to spend time, resource, and campaign investment across the team and provides a further long-term focus to the work it delivers. The agreed

priorities within the framework provides the NLPU with a clearer focus and a better ability to work even closer alongside the family whilst concentrating its efforts on key identified moments.

This annual review highlights how the NLPU has built on the work it did in 2020 to 2021 against the priorities listed above for 2021-22.

The NLPU Strategic Framework and annual Strategic Plan has certainly improved how the family can get involved and get behind activities. This planning is something that is particularly important to the National Lottery family and the NLPU is in distinctly good shape with regards to its strategic planning.

Review of the Framework and Planning for 2023-26 and Beyond

The NLPU continues to work closely with Strategy Directors to ensure it is aligned with any emerging thematic area of joint family activity identified for 2023 and beyond. After reviewing the existing framework and plan, the NLPU is currently developing its new Strategic Framework for 2023-26 which encompasses the new National Lottery licence period and includes the 30th Birthday in 2024, another key moment for the National Lottery family to get behind. The strength and clarity of its strategy will enable the NLPU to reap continuous success in the years ahead.

PART ONE

2021/22 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

10 CAMPAIGNS 94,469 PIECES OF MEDIA COVERAGE

4.2 BILLION MEDIA REACH

4.69 MILLION OWNED SOCIAL MEDIA IMPRESSIONS

94.3 MILLION POTENTIAL SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN IMPRESSIONS

PART ONE

2021/22 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

Traditional Media

• The NLPU achieved a record-breaking total of 94,469 media clippings (up from 11,314 in 2020/21 and up over 1,240% from 7,046 in 19/20) with a reach of 4.173 billion (up from 632 million in 20/21 across both national and regional titles). The coverage was 99.95% positive, with the other 0.5% being neutral.

• The record-breaking year of media coverage for the NLPU can be attributed to a number of key factors including better planning with the whole family through its strategic framework; The Track to Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic campaign (which secured the lion’s share of coverage); the bigger, better and fewer approach to campaign activities; developed partnerships with key internal and external stakeholders (including advanced media syndication partnerships) which have come into fruition; and targeted campaigns and media activities which resonate well with National Lottery players.

• This year, 94% of media items hit key messages (up from 84.75% last year and 82.5% in 19/20). The first quarter of the year saw an 86% penetration of key messages. However, for the remaining quarters (two to four), the NLPU averaged 94% message penetration across 94,469 clippings. This is likely due to the NLPU’s increased focus on improving One National Lottery messaging across The National Lottery family.

94,469 MEDIA CLIPPINGS 99.95% POSITIVE COVERAGE 94% OF MEDIA ITEMS HIT KEY MESSAGES

PART ONE

2021/22 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

Digital Media

• The National Lottery Good Causes website achieved 1.4 million page views in 202122, which was up from 413,849 page views in 2020-21. This impressive increase can be attributed to National Lottery Open Week (this hugely boosts NLPU website views), which did not take place in 2020 (due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions).

• The NLPU’s owned social channels achieved over 4.69 million impressions (which is the number of times your content is shown in a social media feed). This was up from 4.6 million in 2020/21 and up from 2.3 million in 18/19. On channels beyond the NLPU’s owned channels (generated through paid partnerships), over 84.5 million impressions were achieved, bringing the total social media impressions to 94.3 million.

• The ‘potential’ impressions delivered (e.g., impressions achieved through its campaign hashtags) in 2021-22 - equates to 451.7 million impressions, up from 82.8 million impressions achieved in 2020-21 and up from 158.7 million impressions in 2019-20.

• The increase in overall social impressions this year is attributed to the focus on placing content on external channels and using paid partnerships to increase wider reach. The figures for 2021-22 demonstrate an impressive level of reach and impressions across social channels, which remains an area of continuous growth for the NLPU.

• The NLPU digital team have a robust content strategy in place to produce engaging public facing assets throughout the year, working effectively with the National Lottery family across all channels to deliver comprehensive results.

The NLPU’s external impact has contributed to the following outcomes for The National Lottery (TNL):

• The same as the previous year, 65.5% of people agree that The National Lottery (TNL) supports meaningful causes (65.5% in 20/21 and 63.5% in 19/20).

• 80.1% of people agree that TNL supports good causes (80.3.% in 20/21 and 80.2.% in 19/20) (N.B. this based on a sample of circa 18,000 people. This is not a statistically different result and could be due to variations in the sample rather than a true softening).

• Overall brand positivity also remains stable at 47.7% (47.5% in 20/21 and 45.1% in 19/20). N.B. This again is statistically stable and it’s worth noting this is against a backdrop of declining consumer confidence and increasing costs from September 2021, which has a downward pressure on positivity.

• 29% (29.4%) of people agreeing TNL benefits their local area (28% in 20/21 and 26% in 19/20).

4.69M IMPRESSIONS ON SOCIAL CHANNELS

451.7M ‘POTENTIAL’ IMPRESSIONS ON SOCIAL CHANNELS

65.5% AGREE THAT TNL SUPPORTS MEANINGFUL CAUSES

80.1% AGREE THAT TNL SUPPORTS GOOD CAUSES

29% AGREE THAT TNL SUPPORTS BENEFITS THEIR LOCAL AREA

PART ONE

2021/22 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT

Across multiple campaigns and activities, in 2021/22, the NLPU worked with each distributor to support and amplify the pan-National Lottery message. This included:

• Providing a clear set of key messages for all the National Lottery family to include and use across all their media channels and when developing media activities.

• Developing and delivering key media moments which all distributors could support.

• Establishing toolkits/online hub for assets for distributors for each campaign and grant beneficiaryincluding press releases, media lists and example social media posts; and

• Identifying themes and stories for campaigns with a digital focus at the forefront.

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

Environment Campaign 2021 (Phase 1 and 2)

• Over 3,000 pieces of positive traditional media coverage with a reach of over 183 million.

• Coverage included The Sun, The Express, The Independent, Mail online and The Evening Standard.

• 10 million impressions across social media with a reach of over 4.5 million.

• More than 700K combined views for films produced with LADBible generating over 2 million impressions.

In the year which saw Glasgow host the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), the NLPU capitalised on the opportunity and worked with the entire National Lottery family to deliver a series of campaigns which united distributors in telling a collective One National Lottery story. The aim was to highlight the large amount of funding that has been (and continues to be) awarded to environmental projects by the distributors to make our communities greener.

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

Phase 1 - £2.2 Billion to Environmental Good Causes

The first phase of the campaign launched in April 2021 and resulted in five days of coordinated activity with the family aimed at highlighting the impact of investment in this area.

Launching the campaign, the NLPU announced that The National Lottery has contributed more than £2.2 billion to environmental good causes in the last decade (2010-2020). This was published alongside the findings of consumer research which created the headline ‘70 per cent of people believe they don’t do enough to be green’.

Naturalist and TV personality, Chris Packham, supported the campaign and provided a credible voice by taking part in a media day to support the launch. Five digital films were created, highlighting some of the National Lottery funded projects throughout the UK which have made their communities greener. Three of the films were shared by LADBible via their channels as display adverts, targeting those who already had a captive interest in this area. More than 300,000 viewed the films (300,193) which generated 754,614 impressions.

To further engage audiences, National Lottery distributors, beneficiaries, athletes, and players unified in making a #PlanetaryPromise on social media, achieving over 1000 uses of the hashtag throughout the week and amounting to 250 pledges. One of the highlights came from The National Lottery Heritage Fund who announced their aim of becoming carbon net-zero by 2030.

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

Phase 2 – Imagine a World if...

Under the creative concept of ‘Imagine a World if...’ the second phase was launched on the 5th of November to coincide with the COP26 conference.

To secure a shared voice in the conversation, the NLPU worked alongside Getty Images to release a series of striking manipulated before and after images at iconic National Lottery funded venues and landmarks across the UK, illustrating the potential impact on the environment if we do not start making some real changes.

To generate further buzz and excitement, a partnership was forged with the fashion model and activist, Daisy Lowe, who was photographed at two of the iconic locations and took part in a media day to highlight her support. The images were bolstered by new research from The National Lottery Community Fund which explored what people in the UK are most concerned about when it comes to addressing climate change.

A UK-wide release was issued as well as a series of regional releases which featured a package of the iconic images, the research results, and bespoke project case studies for each nation.

To resonate with younger audiences, a media partnership was agreed with LADBible who created a piece of user generated content for their Instagram account based around the narrative ‘Imagine a world if” whilst also highlighting how National Lottery funding has helped environment projects across the UK and how projects can apply for funding. The video generated 1.3 million impressions, almost 400k views, over 13k likes and garnered over 150 comments encouraging audiences to have a frank and open discussion around climate change.

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

OVER 1,500 NOMINATIONS

7,345 PIECES OF POSITIVE TRADITIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE

8.85M DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS

5M VIEWS FOR DIGITAL FILMS PRODUCED WITH DIGITAL PARTNERS

National Lottery Awards 2021

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

In 2021, The National Lottery Awards continued with its successful format of honouring individual heroes over projects. However, to ensure as many elements as possible of National Lottery funding were celebrated, the NLPU introduced some new categories: National Lottery Project of the Year and National Lottery Olympian and Paralympian of the Year.

The NLAs 2021 were launched at the end of April with a six-week Nomination Phase that saw a three-pronged approach to PR dovetailed with a media partnership with Reach PLC. There was also the addition of two celebrity ambassadors- former Eastenders star Jacqueline Jossa and Strictly Come Dancing judge, Shirley Ballas. The launch secured over 1500 entries.

In 2021, the finalists of the individual categories (Community and Charity, Art, Culture and Film, Sport, and Heritage) were sold into the media in July, prior to the judging day, something which had not been undertaken previously. Continuing with a phased approach, the following month, the finalists of the National Lottery Project of the Year and Olympian and Paralympian of the Year went to a public vote, which generated even more coverage.

In October, the Winner Reveals phase began for all categories with a huge PR drive that included a media sell-in orchestrated by the NLPU, media days with our broadcast PR partners, Markettiers, radio advertorials with Bauer Media and digital content throughout the 6-week period, as well as the final phase of our Reach partnership which saw interviews with all our winners and winning athletes, as well as an editorial piece with Arlene Phillips across titles such as the Daily Mirror, Express, Daily Star and OK! Magazine.

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

Always On Content Highlights for 2021/22: Always On

An area of continued growth for the NLPU this year was around the delivery of its Always On content, helping to increase the numbers of media coverage achieved across traditional and digital platforms.

Through Always On, the NLPU generates responsive, proactive, and opportunistic content for the National Lottery family throughout the year. This includes developing and producing content around human-interest stories, key awareness dates, stories that have a UK-wide potential and reach, specific topical themes, reacting to current media trends and news, being innovative, and working across the family.

4 SETS OF MEDIA ACTIVITIES

118 MILLION PEOPLE REACHED

3,100 PIECES OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE SECURED

706,347 DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS FOR CONTENT

PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

World Animal Day Monday October 4

To mark World Animal Day 2021, the NLPU highlighted the wonderful stories of how animals through some of its funded projects and charities throughout the UK are putting their best paw forward to help people in need across the country. A total of 5 regional and national releases and 17 bespoke case studies were issued throughout the UK, displaying the impact of how more than £17 million awarded to around almost 200 animal-related projects over the last five years has helped support people most in need. A digital film was also produced by the NLPU with Cariad Pet Therapy, a Pembrokeshire-based project providing pet therapy visits in a range of settings, from schools and hospitals to workplaces and care homes.

The story generated a significant amount of media coverage, landing in national and online outlets such as Yahoo and AOL (with the embedded film featuring as a link in all online titles).

Results:

• 577 pieces of traditional media coverage with a reach of 15.7 million.

• Digital film produced by NLPU with Cariad Pet Therapy achieved over 30K impressions on NLPU social channels.

577 PIECES OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE 30K

IMPRESSIONS ON NLPU SOCIAL CHANNELS

PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

Baby Loss Awareness Week

October 9 - 15

During Baby Loss Awareness Week (October 9-15), the NLPU supported a National Lottery funded charity to launch the You’re Not Alone campaign and exhibition. Created by the Same but Different charity, the campaign called for more open discussion and aimed to offer more support to parents whose children have passed away through life limiting genetic birth disorders known as Trisomy 13 (Patau’s Syndrome) or 18 (Edwards’ Syndrome).

One UK-wide national release and several photo led case studies featuring mothers who took part in the campaign and exhibition were issued to regional and national media outlets. A film produced by the project was also shared across the NLPU media channels and embedded in the content issued to the media. This resulted in strongly messaged and significant national coverage including 9 national titles such as Metro, BBC News, Daily Mirror, Daily Express, i News, Yahoo and AOL.

Results:

• 316 pieces of media coverage were generated overall, with a potential reach of more than 21.2 million.

Christmas Homelessness Activity

December 2021

In the build up to Christmas the NLPU worked with Strictly Come Dancing star, Neil Jones, who struggled with homelessness as a teenager, to highlight how more than half a billion pounds of National Lottery funding has supported more than 3,000 projects that involve or support homeless people or help tackle homelessness across the UK in the last 10 years. One UK wide release, a release for each of the nations and 10 photo led regional case studies were issued alongside a digital film produced by the NLPU featuring case studies from the St Giles Trust charity.

Results:

• 1,180 pieces of traditional media coverage reaching 37 million.

• Highlights include interviews with Strictly Star Neil Jones in the Metro, Daily Express, Sunday Express and Daily Mirror and BBC Radio.

• Short film featuring St Giles Trust secured over 20K impressions on twitter.

• Content shared by Neil Jones on his Instagram account (240K followers)

PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

LGBT History Month February 2022

To coincide with LGBT History Month in February 2022, the NLPU delivered a multi-platform campaign aimed at highlighting how National Lottery funded projects (throughout the UK) are chronicling, celebrating, commemorating, and raising awareness of the history of the LGBTQ+ community. Working with The National Lottery Heritage Fund (TNLHF), 10 x photo led features, which encompassed projects from all UK nations, were produced and issued to the media. For its digital platforms, the NLPU also commissioned a film featuring the story of code breaker Alan Turing through the National Lottery funded Bletchley Park Museum, and the story of Anne Lister (featured in the Gentleman Jack TV series) through the National Lottery funded Anne Lister Edinburgh Tour.

Results:

• 1,085 pieces of traditional media coverage secured reaching an estimated 43.4 million.

• The film featuring Alan Turing and Anne Lister secured over 550k impressions across all social media channels.

• Content shared by Bletchley Park and TNLHF across their channels.

The NLPU is proactively encouraging distributors to contact them with their ideas / suggestions for Always on Content.

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

Sporting Success: NLPU Sports Campaigns 2021/22

2021/22 was certainly a monumental year for sport, packed with major international events back-to-back. The NLPU’s Sports Campaigns focuses on major events in the sporting calendar and utilises them as a platform to demonstrate to National Lottery players how their funding makes a real positive difference to sport at all levels – from grassroots to elite. The focus for the NLPU was on the Tokyo Summer and Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Track to Tokyo 2020

• 38,666 pieces of media coverage with a reach of 1.43 billion

• 218.4M impressions for all campaign hashtags on social media

• 25 Athlete media days held

• All campaign key performance indicators exceeded

Track to Tokyo was a multi-platform storytelling campaign, covering both paid and earned traditional and digital media, with the aim of reaching a wide range of audiences. The NLPU worked effectively alongside all parts of the National Lottery family involved in sport including UK Sport, Camelot, sports councils in the nations, National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and grassroots sports clubs.

Track to Tokyo is one of the most successful campaigns the NLPU has ever delivered in terms of media coverage and social and digital media reach. As has been the case with previous Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tokyo 2020 once again had a significant impact on the health of The National Lottery brand. Research shows that the combined efforts across all partners produced positive results which saw an uplift in awareness, positivity, and propensity to play The National Lottery.

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

£ 31 29 LOTTERY 10 08

28%

AWARENESS THAT TNL FUND TEAM GB ATHLETES BEFORE OLYMPICS

54% AWARENESS THAT TNL FUND TEAM GB ATHLETES AFTER OLYMPICS

68% OF NATIONAL LOTTERY PLAYERS SAID AWARENESS OF TNL’S FUNDING TO TEAM GB MADE THEM FEEL MORE POSITIVE ABOUT TNL

29

29% OF NATIONAL LOTTERY PLAYERS (34% OF WEEKLY LOTTO PLAYERS) SAID IT ENCOURAGED THEM TO CONTINUE PLAYING OR TO PLAY MORE AND 6% OF NON-PLAYERS SAID IT ENCOURAGED THEM TO START PLAYING

PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

The NLPU’s campaign resulted in:

Traditional Media:

• From July 2020 (one year to go activity begins) through to November 2021 38,666 pieces of media coverage were achieved (far exceeding the KPI of 9,818) with a reach of 1.43 billion (again, exceeding the KPI of 532.5M).

• Over 25 athlete media days were set-up by the NLPU to garner earned media over the course of the campaign, which resulted in coverage in titles including The Sun, Telegraph, Daily Mail and Independent.

• Successful syndication partnership with SportBEAT who achieved 36,095 pieces of coverage with a reach of 1.25 billion from June 2020 to November 2021.

• Paid partnership with the Metro resulted in 24 print and online pieces with a reach of 11.5M

• Media days for the voting and winner reveal stages of The National Lottery Awards Olympian and Paralympian of the Year resulting in a wide spread of national and regional print and broadcast coverage, including BBC Sport online, The Guardian and Sky News radio.

Social and Digital:

• From July 2020 through to September 2021, our hashtags for the campaign (#TrackToTokyo, #TNLAthletes and #MakeAmazingHappen) achieved 218.4M impressions (exceeding the KPI of 45M), with a reach of 17.7M (exceeding the KPI of 15M).

• Exceptional paid partnerships with LADBible/SPORTBible, SportsJoe and Nile Wilson, which garnered over 6 million views, reaching new younger audiences, and building engagement.

• Good Luck campaigns – messages from MPs, MSPs MSs & AMs, sport’s governing bodies and notable sports figures, as well as support from all sports distributors, achieving 15.2M impressions, with a reach of 5.6M.

38,666 PIECES OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE

25+ ATHLETE MEDIA DAYS

24 PRINT AND ONLINE PIECES FROM PARTNERSHIP WITH THE METRO

218.4M IMPRESSIONS WITH THE HASHTAGS... #TrackToTokyo, #TNLAthletes and #MakeAmazingHappen

15.2M IMPRESSIONS FROM GOOD LUCK CAMPAIGN

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

Beijing Winter Games 2022

• Over 37,000 pieces of media coverage with a reach of 1.61 billion.

• 13 million impressions for all campaign hashtags on social media.

• 8 Athlete media days held.

• All campaign key performance indicators exceeded.

Hot on the heels of the success of Track to Tokyo during the summer, the NLPU conducted another strong multi-channel PR campaign for the Beijing Winter Games 2022. Much like its summer counterpart, the campaign covered both paid and earned traditional and digital media, aiming to reach a range of audiences, whilst complimenting the marketing and PR activity of the wider TNL family.

PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

The NLPU’s Beijing Winter Games campaign ran from October 2021 – March 2022, covering both the Olympic and Paralympic cycles. The results of the campaign are as follows:

Traditional media:

• Phenomenally successful syndication partnership with SportsBEAT who covered squad announcements, games time news content, Winter Olympic video content and the Engaging the Nation activity.

• From October 2021 to March 2022 over 37,000 pieces of media coverage was achieved (far exceeding the KPI of 16.9k) with a reach of 1.61 billion

• 8 athlete media days were set-up by the NLPU to garner earned media over the course of the campaign, which resulted in coverage in titles including the Daily Mail, the Yorkshire Post, and the Scotsman.

• 50 days to go activity with broadcast agency Markettiers and Sportsbeat, across both the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which reached 510 radio stations (2,213 items of coverage) with 204M total reach as well as 614 pieces of coverage with a reach of 28.9M

Social and Digital:

• From October 2021 to 18 March 2022, our hashtags for the campaign (#TNLAthletes and #MakeAmazingHappen) achieved 13M impressions, with a reach of 4.2M (exceeding the KPI of 3.4M).

• Successful paid partnership with Sport Bible, which garnered over 1.5M impressions and a reach of almost 1M across their Facebook channel.

• Another positive paid partnership with Nile Wilson on YouTube, which achieved over 480K views and 6.7M impressions over four videos (curling, skeleton, snowboarding, speedskating). Nile’s wrap up video on Instagram (main grid post) achieved 134k impressions with a reach of 106k

• 6.1M impressions, with a reach of 1M for our good luck winter campaigns, which included messages of support from MPs, MSPs, MSs & AMs, sport’s governing bodies and notable sports figures, as well as support from all sports distributors.

OVER

37,000 PIECES OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE

8 ATHLETE MEDIA DAYS

510 RADIO STATIONS REACHED

6.1M IMPRESSIONS FOR OUR GOOD LUCK WINTER CAMPAIGNS

6.7M IMPRESSIONS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP WITH NILE WILSON ON YOUTUBE

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

Build Dreams, Create Change –The Cross-Distributor Programme 2021

• 2253 pieces of high quality national, regional, and local coverage with a reach of 674M.

• 126 million digital impressions across all social channels.

• 3 million views for films produced and broadcast by social media partner.

• #ThanksToYou trended on Twitter, peaking as the sixth highest trend.

In November 2021, the NLPU alongside Camelot, led The National Lottery family to deliver a campaign celebrating funding achievements and asking the nation to consider what is important to them in their communities.

To coincide with the anniversary of the first National Lottery draw (19 November), the Build Dreams, Create Change campaign highlighted the contribution of projects across the UK to their sectors and challenged the public to think how they might use some of the £30 million raised for good causes each week to inspire change in their communities.

Four unique pieces of anamorphic art installations, displaying the words BUILD, DREAMS, CREATE, CHANGE, were unveiled in Edinburgh, Antrim, Cardiff, and London over the birthday week. They were made from 636 National Lottery balls, to provide a visual representation of the 636,000 organisations in the UK that had benefitted from National Lottery funding, across Sports, Art, Heritage, and Community.

Included within each design were four personal items from four National Lottery funded projects in each nation, with unveilings led by Sir Chris Hoy, Nadine Coyle, Liam Reardon, and Alexandra Burke.

In total, the campaign secured 2253 pieces of high quality national, regional, and local coverage were secured with highlights including stories on Good Morning Britain, UTV, The Daily Mirror, The Mail Online, The Sun, OK! The Scotsman, the Belfast Telegraph, and many other regional titles.

The week concluded with the Cross-Fingered Selfie activity which saw the National Lottery family, partners and beneficiaries post their images on social media delivering 126 million impressions, a reach of 17 million and trending on Twitter.

A partnership with social media platform JOE.co.uk featured films of four projects, one in each nation, on their channel secured almost three million views.

The campaign surpassed all its KPIs.

PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

Young Adults Campaign

• Five films featuring and starring young adults created for Tik Tok.

• Combined views of more than 2.3 million and counting.

• Over 1.7 million digital impressions in the UK.

Early in 2021, the National Lottery family identified joint working around children and young people as an area of future focus.

In the final quarter of this budget year, the NLPU partnered with leading social media publishers Jungle Creations on a digital first campaign aimed at young adults. Traditionally, this target audience has a weaker connection to the brand than older demographics which makes them a strategic priority for targeted communication to raise awareness and positivity levels.

This campaign was unique in the sense that its entire KPIs and outputs focussed on achieving reach and engagement on digital and social media only. Moreover, Tik Tok was selected as the preferred platform for the creative content given its popularity with this demographic.

The NLPU and our creative partners worked with several National Lottery funded projects to promote a positive mental health message by creating content which aligned with popular trends and formats on the platform to engage young people.

Five films were created for Tik Tok working with five different young adults. To date, the five-part series has amassed over 2.3 million views combined, generating over 1.7 million digital impressions in the UK (with the numbers still increasing for views and impressions).

PART TWO

MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

National Lottery Open Week 2021/22

To say thank you for the £30m raised for good causes every week by players, The National Lottery offers free entry and exclusive offers at a range of National Lottery funded venues across the UK as part of annual initiative The National Lottery Open Week #ThanksToYou. Due to the pandemic, this was a unique year which saw the NLPU delivering two Open Weeks in the same fiscal year; one in June 2021 (originally planned for March) and one in March 2022.

National Lottery Unlocked: Open Week and Cinema

Weekend 2021, 5th – 13th June

• 350 offers

• 1,521 pieces of media coverage with a combined reach of 184 million

• 79.1 million impressions of #ThanksToYou

The National Lottery Open Week and National Lottery Cinema Weekend took place on 5-13 June and 19 - 20 June, respectively. These two activities sat under Camelot’s above-the-line brand campaign ‘National Lottery Unlocked,’ the aim of which is to make the public aware that The National Lottery funds ‘fun stuff.’

Surpassing expectations due to the COVID19 climate, there were 350 Open Week offers available to players across the UK (and online). The PR campaign, ‘A Ticket to Your Happy Place’ landed extremely well with 1,521 pieces of media coverage and 79.1 million impressions of #ThanksToYou.

PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN

The Insider’s Guide: Open Week 2022, 19th – 27th March

• 493 offers

• 1,730 pieces of media coverage with a combined reach of 161 million

• 120 million impressions of #ThanksToYou

In 2022, the annual National Lottery Open Week took place from 19 – 27 March with 452 venues across the UK taking part and 493 offers.

Supported by a national PR campaign ‘The Insider’s Guide to National Lottery Open Week.’ The Insider’s Guide revealed local tips and expert knowledge on The National Lottery-funded venues taking part in Open Week. From where to spot rare wildlife on a reserve, to favourite film & TV locations, through to historic facts and the best attractions to take dogs - the Insider’s Guide provided inspiration for all types of days out.

The campaign was promoted via a series of PR activities to drive quality coverage and social buzz as well as a national advertising promotion with Reach and Camelot. This years’ campaign marked the start of a significant partnership with the National Trust, with 130 National Trust properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland offering free entry to the players and 22 National Trust for Scotland venues offered the same.

Due to unforeseen circumstances Cinema Weekend was cancelled in 2022, with the view to it returning in 2023.

PART THREE

FINANCIAL PROFILE

The NLPU Management Board determines the budget on an annual basis. The NLPU worked to a budget of £3m in 2021-22. Camelot is liable for one third of the budget (up to £1 million inclusive of VAT). The remaining two thirds is deducted from the contribution payable to the Secretary of State under Camelot’s Section 5 Licence.

The day-to-day management of the budget is delegated to the Head of Campaigns UK with the overall responsibility and approval assigned to the Director of the NLPU.

For most of 2021-22, the NLPU was operating against a budget of £3m.

INCOME: £3,000,000

EXPENDITURE: £2,730,561

UNDERSPEND: £269,439

CROSS DISTRIBUTOR PROGRAMME: £656,500

CHANNELS: £60,000

NATIONAL LOTTERY AWARDS: £350,000

TRACK TO TOKYO: £367,000

STAFFING, PEOPLE AND OPERATIONAL COSTS: £837,998

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

2022/23 Objectives

• To increase awareness of the breadth, scale, and impact of National Lottery funding across the UK.

• To promote the values of The National Lottery and increase positivity towards the good causes The National Lottery supports at a local and national level.

• To reach as many people as possible in the UK in telling that story.

• To champion One National Lottery best practice across The National Lottery family.

The National Lottery Awards 2022

The 2022 National Lottery Awards will launch in April. Two years on since the format was modified to celebrate individuals within projects rather than the projects themselves, the National Lottery Awards 2022 will continue along a similar format. The purpose of the National Lottery Awards remains the same: To celebrate the inspirational work of the ordinary people and projects who do extraordinary things with the help of National Lottery funding.

There are a few changes this year that will have a positive impact on the NLAs. Firstly, there is the introduction of an Environmental category, to highlight

all the funding that goes towards climate conscious projects. There will be a National Lottery Athlete of the Year category that will replace the National Lottery Olympian and Paralympian of the Year Awards. This will consist of both Olympians and Paralympians from the winter Games as well as athletes who will have competed in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. The age of the Young Hero category will be increased from under-18 to under-25, with the aim of casting the net out wider to include even more young people in the Awards. Following constructive feedback and to encourage more competition, the NLPU plans to increase the prize money from £3000 to £5000 in 2022.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

Platinum Jubilee

In June 2022, the country will come together to celebrate the Queen’s 70 years on the throne and there was a strong interest from DCMS to identify the National Lottery’s offering, whether that be via direct funding or communications channels.

In December 2021, a joint press release between TNLCF, Sport England and Arts Council England announced grants that would be on offer for Jubileerelated activity. Since this announcement, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has also added to the joint pot and there is now £22m available for projects to apply for in honour of the Jubilee.

Aside from funding, the family also agreed on themes for the Jubilee activity, and they were: Community spirit, intergenerational and environment. Discussions have begun between the NLPU and the operator alongside FREUDS agency who will be developing a PR campaign that will have the National Lottery’s offering at its heart. To avoid what will no doubt become a very saturated media landscape around the time of the Platinum Jubilee in June, current plans by the NLPU are to launch digitally focussed activity at the very beginning of May with a emphasis on the projects who will have applied and been awarded Jubilee funding from the £22m programme.

Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022

2022 is set to be another massive year for sport and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games will build on the momentum from Tokyo and Beijing. The NLPU will be celebrating all four nations via a multi-channel PR campaign to reach a wide range of audiences. Working closely with Team England, Team Scotland, Team Northern Ireland, and Team Wales, the NLPU will be supporting them in their campaigns to elevate the National Lottery branding and messages. They will also be working alongside all parts of the National Lottery family involved in sport including Camelot, sports distributors in the nations, NGBs and grassroots sports clubs.

Whilst plans for this campaign are still in their infancy, the NLPU will again be working with their traditional media partner, SportsBEAT, to highlight the journeys of athletes from each nation and to encourage coverage of these ‘hometown heroes’ as they embark on their Commonwealth experience.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

Cross Distributor Programme 2022 and 2023

As set out in the Strategic Framework, the NLPU intends to build on the success of the Cross Distributor campaign in 2021 and deliver PR campaigns alongside the family in 2022 and 2023, building towards the 30th Birthday of The National Lottery in 2024.

Always On Content 2022-23

A plan of action has been formulated by the NLPU for the next financial year with regards to delivering media activities under the Always On banner. The aim is to reinforce the reach of National Lottery messaging with our target audiences across all channels. In addition to reactive and proactive digital and traditional media activities being delivered throughout the year, four areas of focus have also been identified by the NLPU in between the major campaigns to ensure a consistent drumbeat of activities.

These include:

1 Working with projects supporting victims of honour-based violence to coincide with the National Memorial Day for Victims of Honour-based Violence in July.

2 A focus on projects supporting those with Alzheimer’s during World Alzheimer’s Month in September.

3 A campaign around loneliness in the build up to Christmas 2022; and

4 Activities around World Autism Acceptance Week in March 2023.

National Lottery Open Week and Cinema Weekend 2023 and Beyond

As we look ahead to March 2023, the NLPU plans to build upon the momentum of National Lottery Open Week to become an annual promotion that engages and encompasses the work of all 12 Lottery distributors. It aims to build on their partnership with the National Trust and look for opportunities to further the reach of the campaign by working with other arm’s length bodies and Camelot to develop the proposition to make it bigger and better in 2023. Open Week will no doubt help the NLPU to gather momentum as they build up to the 30th birthday.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

Amazing Starts Here Podcast Series

Building on a pilot in 2021, the NLPU will release a new six-part podcast series with the working title of ‘Amazing Starts Here…’ in June and July 2022. The podcast will feature inspirational individuals from National Lottery funded projects across all our main sectors and will champion their transformative impact on their communities throughout the UK. While the target audience for this series is primarily a younger one, each episode will celebrate universal values which can be related to by a mass market.

Hosted by television star Amber Gill, the episodes will be marketed on popular podcasting platforms with the aim of driving downloads, subscriptions, and listeners. This will be bolstered by a robust traditional and social media promotion plan focussing on earned media and owned channels.

The NLPU are working with podcast production agency Fresh Air Production on this activity and the series is a mixture of on location, studio, and remote recordings. Evaluations and learnings from this exciting project will be shared across the National Lottery family later in the year, with a view to embarking on a second series in 2022/23.

Grant Acknowledgment

Improving Grant Acknowledgement- that of a beneficiary acknowledging National Lottery fundingwas one of the four priorities for joint action that CEOs across the National Lottery family agreed at the start 2021. Through the operator’s Insight Team, it highlighted how fundamental third-party endorsement was for awareness raising – 7 of the 8 top sources of awareness come from third parties and not National Lottery advertising.

The NLPU is currently working with distributors to establish what changes and improvements can be made with regards to the terms of conditions of grants received by larger organisations. It is estimated that there are around 250 organisations a year who receive a large slice of approximately £1bn in National Lottery funding.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

A Final Word from the Chair

All of us in the National Lottery family have a key and enduring role of connecting the good causes to those who are playing the National Lottery. Over the last 28 years we have awarded over £45 billion to more than 660,000 amazing causes right across the country.

Improving our collective ability to talk about what The National Lottery good causes are achieving through a clear data story has been a challenging path for us. Whilst the picture is improving, the quality of data we receive and how this can be used in our family communications activities throughout the year is an area that we still need to be better at. It is an area of common interest for the National Lottery family, and it is important that we have that collective data at our disposal.

The improvement in data quality can only serve to ensure that family planning around campaigns is much better in future. The pivotal work the NLPU delivers around tying gameplay to good causes is key in this respect and this picture will only improve even further once the new DCMS database gets off the ground. It is all about highlighting that cause and effect—if you buy a ticket, you make something good happen in your locality, or more nationally.

With national events such as the Platinum Jubilee and the Commonwealth Games on the horizon this summer, there are some substantial opportunities to tell the collective story and make the most of the data we have.

The National Lottery family also has a common interest in providing greater evidence of the impact the £30 million raised each week for good causes by the National Lottery’s players is making. It is important that those who are benefiting from good causes funding, and those who are playing the National Lottery, clearly see that impact. Our goal is to have a strong National Lottery brand that is part of our national life and continues to provide amazing resources for good causes. The NLPU plays a key role in spreading that message everywhere in the UK during key moments for us as a family.

How the National Lottery brand and the link to good causes can be maximised is something the NLPU is proactively working on with the wider family. Grant acknowledgment from our beneficiaries is key where publicising the brand is concerned and the family is looking at numerous ways to leverage support from our grant holders to highlight National Lottery impact –some of our largest grant holders which are likely to have a greater reach and, arguably, the greatest responsibility.

Work is underway on developing and testing a universal toolkit to identify the most suitable actions and tactics to help grantees better acknowledge The National Lottery. This includes telling the National Lottery story through digital platforms.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE PART FOUR

I believe that everybody, everywhere, wherever they live in the country, should have access to great National Lottery funded projects on their doorstep. In that respect, the National Lottery family are already doing their bit with regards to complementing the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and the NLPU continues to play a key role in telling the One National Lottery story in those areas and in ensuring we are sharing evidence of our collective impact and achievements effectively across Government, including Governments in the devolved nations.

Progress has not always been straightforward here but there is now an established practice in place of ensuring that joint National Lottery communications and activity is highlighted to DCMS and other elected Government officials. This has included Open Week, the environment campaign, Commonwealth Games and the Platinum Jubilee.

In 2023/4 our focus for joint working will be around children and young people and the 30th Birthday in 2024 will also be another excellent opportunity to tell the collective National Lottery story. For me, the National Lottery is a set of powerful stories, and the more we can get those stories out there, the better. It is something that we have worked on as a family quite a lot now to see how we can bring those stories together.

The thing that makes the National Lottery special is that it makes all these wonderful things happen. The National Lottery is an important part of UK life and we want to see a strong and vibrant National Lottery moving forward. We want everyone to talk about and care about Our National Lottery and the NLPU will continue to ensure all parts of the family promote a shared National Lottery brand which is embedded in every family wide campaign and the wider culture.

APPENDIX THE NLPU STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 2021-23

MISSION

VISION

The National Lottery Promotions Unit (NLPU) raises positive public awareness of National Lottery funding, thereby contributing to the overall brand health of The National Lottery. Through storytelling we demonstrate where NL funding has been delivered and showcase the impact across the UK.

By 2023, working alongside the whole NL family we will showcase the extraordinary positive impact Good Causes funding has across every corner of the UK, and increase overall levels of consideration to play.

OBJECTIVES

By 2023, Increase awareness of the breadth, scale and impact of National Lottery funding across the UK. To promote the values of The National Lottery and increase positivity towards the good causes The National Lottery supports at a local and national level. Increase positivity towards the good causes The National Lottery supports at a local and national level. To reach as many people as possible in the UK in telling that story. To champion One National Lottery best practice across The National Lottery family.

GUIDING ONE NATIONAL LOTTERY PRINCIPLES OF NLPU

INTERNAL & EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS

INCLUSIVE – DIVERSE – POSITIVE – TRUSTWORTHY – SOLUTION FOCUSED – ONL – CREATIVE

LDB’S – NL PROJECTS – GAM COMM – DCMS – NLPU MGT BOARD - OPERATORNL PLAYERS – MEDIA – NON PLAYER CONSUMERS – WIDER GOVERNMENT – DEVOLVED GOVS

STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES STRATEGIC PLANNING CAMPAIGNS

STRATEGIC THEMES AND PRIORITIES 202123

Strategic Framework and Plans 2021-23

Further develop family planning cycles (working with Strat Directors)

Preparing for 4NL

Longer term procurement exercise for CDP work

CROSS FAMILY THEMATIC ACTIVITY DIGITAL BROADCAST DATA, RESEARCH & INSIGHT & EVAL

NLPU business as usual activity to be delivered during this period

The National Lottery Awards

Sports campaigns including: Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics 2021, The  Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, Paris 2024 Olympics

Cross Distributor Programme and Thanks To You Environment

Queens Platinum Jubilee 2022 and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

Young People (18-25) & Skills

The Festival of Great Britain and NI 2022

Delivering Digital Strategy

Supporting Digital campaigns

Strengthen relationships with digital contacts across family

Deliver key broadcast NL moments for the family

Identifying content across the family to work on potential treatments

Execution of longer term broadcast strategy

One National Lottery Media Analysis

Cross family data analysis of good cause funding

DMCS Lottery Grants Database

Strengthen NLPU role in evidence led consumer insight

BRAND POSITIONING & AMBASSADORS

Longer term, tailored recruitment of celebrities who align to TNL good cause projects and funding for consistent low-cost activity, to complement large scale, paid, celebrity campaign work

One National Lottery branding & Internal communications

APPENDIX

BUSINESS AS USUAL ACTIVITY 2021-23

• Champions of One National Lottery – Further embed One National Lottery within the NL family by sharing best practice and developing and sharing assets, including;

• Stakeholder Management across the family

• Strategic Communications Planner (Trello)

• One National Lottery Family Media analysis (DCMS)

• Support family campaigns

• Delivery of ‘always on’ content (for example Health and Wellbeing) for digital and placement of stories across traditional media.

• Storytelling – NLPU will continue to adopt a storytelling approach to National Lottery case studies to amplify good cause messaging for the whole family to tell across their channels through the lens of the pandemic recovery.

• Data and Insight – NLPU will continue to deliver The National Lottery Index but also investigate opportunities to develop intelligence gathering on impact of National Lottery funding.

APPENDIX THE NLPU STRATEGIC PLAN

2021/22

1. To increase awareness of the breadth, scale and impact of National Lottery funding across the UK.

OBJECTIVES

2. To promote the values of The National Lottery and increase positivity towards the good causes The National Lottery supports at a local and national level.

3. To reach as many people as possible in the UK in telling that story.

4. To champion One National Lottery best practice across The National Lottery family.

‘Always on’ content throughout the year to support key calender moments

Always on Contentreacting to calendar events- digital and traditional media

Track To Tokyo - first social media partner content launches

Evaluation of Cross Distributor Activity

Internal audit Strategic Framework and drafting of Strat plan 2022/23 (NLPU) June/July

NLA’s Launch

Environment/ wellbeing

Cross distributor activity: Open Week and National Cinema weekend

Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics 2021 Games content (pre/ during Games time)

Broadcast planning and development for NLA TV Show

NLA’s: Announce the finalists

Digital Strategy delivery

Cross distributor activity (Oct/Nov)

NLA Winner Reveals / TV show is broadcast

Consultation with family on annual Strategic Plan for 2022/23. Draft plan presented to Mgt Board for approval in Dec.

Cross distributor activity around the theme of Young People & Skills

Broadcast –develop proposals for next financial year 2022/23

Open Week 2022