MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
National Lottery Promotions Unit Annual Review and Accounts 2022/23
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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 4
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Who We Are and What We Do A Message From the Chair
PART ONE: 2022/23 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT 5 6 8
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2022/23 Priority Areas for the NLPU Fewer, Bigger, Better: NLPU Strategic Framework and Plan Summary of Overall Impact
PART TWO: MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN 13 14 15 18 23 25 27 29
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National Lottery Awards 2022 Platinum Projects - Celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Always On Content Sporting Success: NLPU Sports Campaigns 2022/23 The People’s Portraits - The Cross-Distributor Programme 2022 Young People Campaign National Lottery Open Week 2023 Amazing Starts Here Podcast Series
PART THREE: FINANCIAL PROFILE 31 |
Financial Report
PART FOUR: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE 32 33 34 34 35 36 36 37 38 39 39 40
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2023/24 Objectives National Lottery Awards 2023 Coronation Eurovision Sports Campaign - 2023 and Beyond Cross Distributor Programme 2023 Always On Content National Lottery Open Week 2024 Amazing Starts Here Podcast Series Grant Acknowledgment The National Lottery 30th Birthday A Final Word From the Chair
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
CONTENTS | 2
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.
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
INTRODUCTION | 3
INTRODUCTION A MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
It seems as if every year at the moment, our communities are facing increasing challenges of immense magnitude. As we reflect on 2022/23, it has indeed been another ‘unprecedented’ year. We are living in times of heightened uncertainty and our communities, still recovering from the impacts of COVID-19, have had to face new challenges, most acutely, the rising cost of living.
2022/23 was also the year where we saw the devastating humanitarian impact of the war in Ukraine, with millions of people fleeing the country for their lives, many of them to the UK. Stark issues around climate change came to the fore, and we also mourned the passing of our longest serving monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Despite all these challenges, The National Lottery family, as ever, has been at the forefront of bringing much needed support to our communities – helping them to recover, rebuild, grow, and continue to do extraordinary things to improve people’s lives with the £30 million raised every week for good causes by The National Lottery’ players. The NLPU has yet again been in the vanguard where sharing these remarkable stories is concerned, and, through its various innovative campaigns and activities, has played a pivotal role in bringing these amazing stories to life. The NLPU team continues to show resilience and demonstrates its ability to adapt in ever changing conditions. However, we cannot deliver our ambitions alone, and that is why the NLPU should be proud of the way it has worked effectively with the wider National Lottery family and key external stakeholders to transform its creative thinking into reality. I was pleased to report last year that the NLPU had a significant record-breaking year in 2021-22 in terms of both the amount of traditional and digital media coverage it secured across all its campaigns and activities. However, this review is an opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved in the past 12 months and I’m delighted to see
that, yet again, the unit has surpassed the record for last year in terms of audience reach across digital and traditional channels against all its objectives in 2022-23, generating outstanding results and an impressive haul of quality media coverage across multiple channels. The NLPU has been able to seamlessly react to trends and findings whilst exploring areas of interest on behalf of the family over the years. This, coupled with their innovative approach and creative storytelling abilities, ensures the unit consistently delivers well for The National Lottery family. I am hugely proud of all that the NLPU has achieved in 2022/23 and I look forward to their campaigns continuing to grow from strength-to-strength. We know there is much more to do in 2023/24, which will no doubt be another colossal year as we prepare to highlight The National Lottery’ story around Eurovision being hosted in Liverpool, the Coronation of His Majesty The King Charles III, The National Lottery’s 30th Birthday and another Olympic and Paralympic Games on the horizon in Paris 2024. I would like to thank the NLPU team for all it has delivered in the last financial year, in particular during these challenging times, and I look forward to writing another exciting and successful chapter in 2023-24.
Darren Henley, CEO Arts Council England, Chair of the National Lottery Promotions Unit Management Board
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
INTRODUCTION | 4
PART ONE
2022/23 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT
Our 2022/23 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 3 4
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.
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PART ONE
2022/23 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT
Fewer, Bigger, Better: NLPU Strategic Framework and Plan (see Annex A page 39)
The entire portfolio of campaigns delivered by the NLPU in the last financial year is underpinned by its Strategic Framework 2021-23 and Strategic Plan 2022/23. The activities are encompassed by the four Management Board priorities identified 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 G overnment – 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 Significant progress has been made on our priorities in the last year and this annual review highlights how the NLPU has built on the work it did in 2021 to 2022 against the priorities listed above for 2022-23.
Data One of the areas outlined for improvement last year was around how the NLPU can make better use of data to tell the National Lottery story. We are certainly seeing some green shoots here and the NLPU is in the process of recruiting both a Data Journalist and a Data Analyst to drive this work forward. The dedicated Data Journalist resource will provide insights and create data content based on the relevant data from across the National Lottery distributors to better complement our business intelligence and start to tell the National Lottery story through the measurement of our impact and data outcomes across the whole of the UK. The Data Journalist will work alongside a new Business Analyst and the lead data specialists from across the National Lottery family to create an authoritative voice for the integrity, consistency, accuracy, of National Lottery data and proof points.
Governments Whether it’s through informal catchups, regular meetings with DCMS colleagues or through discussions and scrutiny at the National Lottery Management Board, The NLPU ensures that it shares evidence of its collective impact/ achievements effectively across UK Government and devolved Governments in the nations where appropriate. Events such as the Coronation in May are also areas where we can work effectively with our colleagues at DCMS.
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART ONE
2022/23 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT
Communications The annual Cross Distributor programme, The National Lottery Awards and activities surrounding events like the Platinum Jubilee and Open Week have been supported across the family and there is now a regular dialogue across multiple forums where the NLPU and the family discuss how they can work collaboratively for mutual gain. The record-breaking cross-finger selfie day is a prime example of how this works effectively across the family.
Grantee Acknowledgement The Grant Acknowledgement Forum with representatives from the NLPU and all distributors was formed in October 2022 to explore ways to step change the approach to how beneficiaries acknowledge The National Lottery, to increase brand awareness and positivity. There has been significant progress in this area, with all distributors having addressed their approach to large beneficiaries and are now making changes to ensure that National Lottery funding is acknowledged more frequently amongst small and medium sized grants.
Review of the Framework and planning for 2023-25 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 has developed its new Strategic Framework for 2023-25 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 (see Annex B page 40).
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART ONE
2022/23 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT
9 CAMPAIGNS 70,736
NEWS
PIECES OF MEDIA COVERAGE
6.9 BILLION MEDIA REACH
8.8 MILLION
OWNED SOCIAL MEDIA IMPRESSIONS
538 MILLION
POTENTIAL SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN IMPRESSIONS
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART ONE
2022/23 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT
Traditional Media
• The NLPU achieved a total of 70,736 media clippings (down from 94,469 in 2021/22 but up from 11,314 in 2020/21) with a reach of 6.9 billion (up from 4.173 billion in 2021/22 and 632 million in 20/21). The coverage was 99.25% positive, with the other 0.75% being neutral.
• Despite a reduction in the number of media clippings and delivering fewer campaigns, the NLPU still broke last year’s impressive record in terms of audience reach by a significant margin. This can be attributed to a number of key factors, including:
• The focus on securing quality media coverage over quantity. • Better planning with the whole family through its strategic framework. • Birmingham Commonwealth Games (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). • Targeted campaigns and media activities which resonate well with National Lottery players and capture the mood of the nation.
• And for the fourth consecutive year, the NLPU saw an increase in the percentage of media items hitting key messages at 95.25% (up from the 94% in 21/22, 84.75% in 20/21 and 82.5% in 19/20). The first quarter of the year saw a 91% penetration of key messages (up from 86% the previous year). However, for the remaining quarters (two to four), the NLPU averaged 97% key message penetration (up from 94% the previous year) across 70,736 media clippings. This is likely due to the NLPU’s increased focus on quality and consistency of messaging and the increased focus on improving One National Lottery messaging and Grant Acknowledgement across The National Lottery family.
70,736 MEDIA CLIPPINGS
99.25% 95.25% POSITIVE COVERAGE
OF MEDIA ITEMS HIT KEY MESSAGES
NEWS
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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2022/23 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT
Digital Media
• The NLPU’s Digital Team have also been breaking records and
have doubled impressions on their owned social media channels in comparison to last year. They achieved over 8.8 million impressions (which is the number of times your content is shown in a social media feed), up from 4.69 million impressions in 2021/22, 4.6 million in 2020/21 and 2.3 million in 2019/20. Again, this trajectory has been heading in the right direction over a number of years and this increase could in part be attributed to opening the Athlete of the Year and Project of the Year vote in the National Lottery Awards to platforms other than Twitter. The vote proved very popular across Instagram and Facebook, which boosted statistics considerably.
8.8M
IMPRESSIONS ON SOCIAL CHANNELS
451.7M
‘POTENTIAL’ IMPRESSIONS ON SOCIAL CHANNELS
• On channels beyond the NLPU’s owned channels (generated through
paid partnerships), over 42.9 million impressions were achieved, bringing the total social media impressions to 50.3 million.
• The National Lottery Good Causes website achieved 2.8 million page views (significantly up on 1.4 million page views in 202122- and 413,849-page views in 2020-21). This impressive increase can be attributed to National Lottery Open Week (this hugely boosts our website views).
• 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 202223 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.
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART ONE
2022/23 OBJECTIVES & IMPACT
The NLPU’s external impact has contributed to the following outcomes for The National Lottery (TNL):
• 66.6% of people agree that The National Lottery (TNL) supports meaningful causes (65.5% in 21/22, 65.5% in 20/21 and 63.5% in 19/20).
• 80.5% of people agree that TNL supports good causes (80.1% in 21/22, 80.3% in 20/21 and 80.2% in 19/20). • Overall brand positivity is statistically down, driven by the same factors (consumers' confidence primarily remaining low) 46.2% (47.7% in 21/22, 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.
• 30.1% of people agreeing TNL benefits their local area (29.4% in 21/22, 28% in 20/21 and 26% in 19/20).
66.6% AGREE THAT TNL SUPPORTS MEANINGFUL CAUSES
80.5% AGREE THAT TNL SUPPORTS GOOD CAUSES
30.1%
AGREE THAT TNL SUPPORTS BENEFITS THEIR LOCAL AREA
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
Across multiple campaigns and activities, in 2022/23, the NLPU worked with each distributor to support and amplify the panNational Lottery message. This included: 1. 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. 2. Developing and delivering key media moments which all distributors could support. 3. Establishing toolkits/online hub for assets for distributors for each campaign and grant beneficiary- including press releases, media lists and example social media posts; and 4. Identifying themes and stories for campaigns with a digital focus at the forefront.
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
National Lottery Awards 2022 The National Lottery Awards are the annual search for the UK’s favourite National Lottery funded projects. They celebrate the inspirational people who do extraordinary things with the help of National Lottery funding.
A judging panel comprising members of The National Lottery family and media partners selected the individual winners of the Community & Charity, Arts, Culture & Film, Heritage, Sport, Environment and Young Hero categories. A public vote took place to determine The National Lottery Athlete of the Year and National Lottery Project of the Year. In addition, projects who polled highest in either Scotland, Wales, England or Northern Ireland were also crowned as regional winners. In 2022, more than 1,300 nominations were received following a launch period which involved a sustained media campaign including a partnership with Reach Plc to promote The National Lottery Awards. Ambassadors Kelly Brook and Louise Minchin lent their support by taking part in media days to encourage the public to nominate. Each National Lottery Award winner received a visit from a celebrity to present them with their award and participated in a media day. A continuation of the Reach media partnership saw winners and ambassadors profiled across their main titles including the Daily Mirror, Daily Express and Daily Star to conclude the campaign. In total, the National Lottery Awards achieved 3,830 pieces of media coverage which was down on the year before – largely due to a change in broadcast partner who did not offer a pre-recorded syndication service, the decision not to undertake PR activities around shortlisted nominees in case they were required for another campaign and the location of several winners in the London area where it is difficult to secure media coverage.
1,300+ NOMINATIONS
3,830
POSITIVE PIECES OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE
278M REACH
THROUGH TRADITIONAL MEDIA OUTPUT
5M (ALMOST)
VIEWS FOR FILMS PRODUCED WITH DIGITAL PARTNER However, the 2022 campaign reached a significantly greater number of people than the year before – 278 million in comparison with 197 million the previous year, suggesting an increase in the quality of coverage. The campaign continued to excel on social and digital media. A partnership with Jungle Creations, publisher of the VT social media channel, saw content viewed almost 5 million times compared to 1.6 million views in 2021 by utilising different platforms including Tik Tok.
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
Platinum Projects – Celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee In June 2022, the country came together to celebrate the Queen’s 70 years on the throne. Under the creative banner of Platinum Projects, the NLPU partnered with a social media publisher to highlight four projects supported by the National Lottery through the £22 million Platinum Jubilee funding stream.
The campaign was entirely digitally focussed and aimed to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee in a way that was meaningful and relevant to a range of audiences. The four National Lottery funded projects to star in the digital series were: 1. The Headway Worcestershire charity, which created the world’s first Acquired Brain Injury Games, allowing people with brain injuries to compete in sporting activities. 2. Empowering Deaf Society in Redbridge who were investing in their Jubilee Legacy for the Deaf project. 3. The East Liverpool Riding for the Disabled Association – which utilises the healing power of horses to bring disabled and non-disabled communities together to participate in fun and therapeutic activities; and 4. The Seeds for Growth charity and their Urban Farmers project in Tower Hamlets London, which had been working with social housing tenants to transform disused outdoor communal areas into community growing spaces and a Jubilee Orchard. 4 x Instagram story series were produced featuring all the projects - highlighting the difference they are making to people’s lives. Two mini documentary style series were also produced on the Headway Worcestershire and the Empowering Deaf Society projects. They featured across the digital publisher Tik Tok, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. All the content went live in the build up to and during the Jubilee weekend.
4
PROJECTS
4.3M
VIEWS FOR FILMS PRODUCED WITH DIGITAL PARTNER
6.9M
DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS
4.2M UK REACH
In total, the campaign delivered 6.9 million impressions, 4.2 million UK reach, 4.3 million views, 43,000 engagements and a 43.6% over-delivery on all original guarantees. There was a positive sentiment rate of over 98%, and many comments of the audience’s own personal experiences, showing that the content clearly resonated with people on an emotional level.
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
Always On Content 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.
Always On Content Highlights for 2022/23 :
2
SETS OF MEDIA ACTIVITIES
1,361
PIECES OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE REACHING MORE THAN 53 MILLION PEOPLE
1.7M+
DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS FOR SOCIAL CONTENT
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
Honour Based Violence July 2022 In the lead up to the Day of Memory for Victims of Honour Based Abuse (July 14th), the NLPU worked with National Lottery funded charities throughout the UK who used the moment as an opportunity to call for increased visibility, reporting and understanding of Honour-Based Abuse (HBA), to ensure survivors get the right support they need. The NLPU produced a film with one of the National Lottery funded charities taking part, Southall Black Sisters. The award-winning journalist and broadcaster, Samira Ahmed, also lent her voice, encouraging a more open dialogue around the issue of HBA. The short film and a series of video case studies were shared on the NLPUs National Lottery Good Causes social media channels throughout the week in the build-up to July 14th.
789
PIECES OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA COVERAGE
1M+
IMPRESSIONS ACHIEVED FOR DIGITAL FIM PRODUCED BY NLPU
In addition to a UK-wide news release, the NLPU also produced and issued several written case studies and features with imagery featuring projects from across the UK to the media. Across traditional media, the content generated 789 pieces of media coverage with a total reach of nearly 32 million. This included national titles such as Yahoo and AOL. The film produced by the NLPU generated a reach of over one million across the NLPU owned social media channels. In terms of audience interest, the evidence shows that the content clearly resonated with audiences on an emotional level, with the honour-based violence article being one of the most read stories on the National Lottery Good Causes website. It again demonstrates that stories around projects which resonate with people on an emotional level are popular on NLPU channels.
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
Cost of Living January 2023 In these challenging times, National Lottery funding takes on even greater significance and, in January 2023, the NLPU produced a multi-media content package to demonstrate how organisations supporting communities bearing the brunt of the cost-of-living pressures are being given access to vital support from The National Lottery distributors. The purpose was to highlight how National Lottery funding is making a positive difference and making people’s lives that little bit easier during these challenging times.
572
PIECES OF MEDIA COVERAGE
740K+
IMPRESSIONS FOR THE DIGITAL CONTENT
As part of the package, the NLPU worked with The National Lottery Community Fund to highlight their latest Community Research Index which demonstrated how people throughout the UK saw cost of living pressures affecting their daily lives in various ways. The findings from the Community Fund were weaved into the creative developed by the NLPU. In addition to issuing a national news release, the NLPU published 14 written case studies / features with imagery to the media throughout the UK. To engage audiences digitally, an emotive short film was produced with the We are Plas Madoc project in Wrexham, which highlighted the positive difference they were having in their community with the support of The National Lottery (link to film here), and a series of case studies featured on the National Lottery Good Causes social media channels. To enhance the digital offering, the NLPU boosted its Facebook and Twitter hero video posts and created a paid campaign on Facebook and Instagram testing 15 and 35 second social cut downs of the hero video. Both activities together achieved more than 740K impressions, with an engagement of more than 347K and more than 639K views. The shorter clip (15 seconds) was the most successful video of the two they tested, (463K impressions), providing evidence that the shorter clips are much more successful in these types of campaigns a key learning to take forward for future activity.
Results
• 572 pieces of media coverage were generated overall, with a potential reach of more than 20.5 million UK adults.
• More than 740K impressions for the digital
content, with an engagement of more than 347K and more than 639K views.
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
Sporting Success: NLPU Sports Campaigns 2022/23 With a home Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and crowds returning to stadia to watch live sport for the first time since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, 2022/23 was certainly a joyous year for sport in the UK.
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 this year was on the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 and the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
• Awareness of funding to sport during
the Birmingham Commonwealth Games peaked at a similar level to Tokyo 2020.
• Sport continues to be a highly effective
way to drive coverage for TNL and impact public sentiment.
• All campaign key performance indicators exceeded.
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (B2022) was identified as a significant moment for the National Lottery family to activate around given the level of investment across the distributors (in total over £40M) and the experience of activations around the Olympic/Paralympic Games taking brand awareness, positivity and sales to record levels.
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
56,796
PIECES OF MEDIA COVERAGE WITH A REACH OF 2.2 BILLION
47M
IMPRESSIONS FOR CAMPAIGN HASHTAGS WITH A REACH OF 12.6 MILLION This was the first time that the TNL family had come together to focus on a Commonwealth Games (CWG). Camelot insight showed that awareness that TNL funds Commonwealth Games athletes after B2022 was at 52% - a similar level to post Tokyo 2020 and the first time this has happened for a CWG. Once again, the drumbeat of sporting coverage over 2021/2022 has shown that
TNL awareness is high, and that these events have a significant impact on the overall health on The National Lottery. Sport continues to be a highly effective way to drive coverage for TNL and impact public sentiment. Whilst working closely with the TNL family including Camelot, the home nations Sport Councils, Arts Council England, TNLCF and TNLHF, the NLPU team were able to generate an impressive drumbeat of media coverage and digital content to show National Lottery players the role they’ve played in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games success within each of the four nations as well as highlighting TNL investment into grassroots sport. Following on from successful campaigns with Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022, the NLPU conducted another strong multi-channel PR storytelling campaign for B2022, covering both paid traditional and digital media, reaching a wide range of audiences. Working with key TNL partners the campaign complemented the marketing and PR activity of the wider TNL family.
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Traditional media results:
• From June 2022 to October 2022 56,796 pieces of media coverage were achieved through our partnership with Sportsbeat (exceeding the KPI of 31,000) and Shout Communications, with a reach of 2.2 billion. This breaks down as:
•
• 107 national print and 1,450 national online pieces • 149 regional print and 55,071 regional online pieces • 5national broadcast and 14 regional broadcast pieces
Eight 2-hour athlete media days were set up by Sportsbeat with athletes such as Anna Hursey, Aled Davies, James MacSorley, Danielle Hill, Jonny Brownlee, Ed Clancy, Robyn Love and Charlotte Watson – as well as joining existing media days set up by sports with the likes of the Scottish cycling team, Olivia Broome, Reece Lynch, Sam Hickey and Rosie Eccles.
• These media days resulted in 2,285 pieces of
coverage with a reach of 95 million in titles such as The Daily Mail, The Daily Express, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Star, The Independent, i news, talkSPORT and many more regional titles.
• 150 ‘grassroots to glory’ stories featuring athletes
from each of the four nations written and syndicated out to regional and national media.
• Media days for the voting and winner reveal stages
Social and digital media results:
• The hashtags for the campaign (#TNLAthletes
and #MakeAmazingHappen) achieved 47 million impressions with a reach of 12.6 million.
• National Lottery Athlete of the Year saw our
hashtag (#NLAwards) achieve 7 million impressions with a reach of 1.91 million. Plus, over 75.5K post impressions, and over 1.4k post engagements, with shares from First Date’s Fred Sirieix, Team GB, Gymnast Beth Tweddle and DCMS.
• Successful paid partnership with SportBible, which
garnered 9.8 million impressions (exceeding the KPI of 8.2M), with a reach of 7.1 million and 1.1 million video views.
• Another positive paid partnership with former
Team GB gymnast turned influencer, Nile Wilson on YouTube, which achieved over 404K views and over 4.8 million impressions over five videos (Track Cycling, Weightlifting, Judo, MMA, and Wheelchair Basketball). Additional influencer social content achieved 812.7K views and 1.61 million impressions.
• 8.5 million impressions, with a reach of 1.91 million
for our good luck moment, which included messages of support from MPs, MSPs & AMs, sport's governing bodies and notable sports figures, as well as support from all sports distributors and home nations teams.
of the National Lottery Awards Athlete of the Year, resulting in widespread national and regional coverage with the likes of Mail on Sunday, Scottish Mail on Sunday, Mail online, Telegraph online and Independent.
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Women’s Rugby World Cup October - November 2022 To coincide with the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand (8th October – 12th November 2022), the NLPU worked with media content creators SportsBEAT to deliver a series of traditional media stories and develop social media assets and content to celebrate the significant role TNL players have had in developing women and girls’ rugby across the UK for all ages - from grassroots to elite level.
3,000+
PIECES OF MEDIA COVERAGE WITH A REACH OF OVER 63.5 MILLION
3,000+
VIEWS AND 15,000 ORGANIC IMPRESSIONS FOR DIGITAL FILM
The aim was to celebrate the £94.6 million awarded to over 3,200 grassroots rugby union projects in the UK since 1994, including vital support to hundreds of projects that develop women and girl’s rugby in each nation. To highlight the true impact of the funding, the NLPU worked with notable ambassadors in the women’s game in the UK to generate earned coverage. This included former England player and 2014 World Cup winner, Maggie Alphonsi, who herself was National Lottery funded, both as an athlete and through her club, Saracens. In Wales, the NLPU worked with former Welsh international and now Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) Female Age Grade Lead, Liza Burgess, who is responsible for overseeing how National Lottery funding is invested in developing the women’s and girls’ game in Wales.
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For the traditional media offering, a media day with Maggie Alphonsi was arranged at TNL funded club Haringey Rhinos RFC in north London. As well as sharing her own personal TNL story, Maggie also found out how Haringey Rhinos had been investing TNL money in attracting female rugby participation in one of the poorest London boroughs. A digital film was produced with Maggie during her visit, to be shared across all the relevant stakeholder channels.
Results
• Over 3,000 pieces of media coverage with a reach of over 63.5 million, including national features in titles such as The Daily Express, Daily Mirror, the i and Sky Sports.
• The digital film, which was shared by Maggie Alphonsi, was viewed more than 3,000 times and generated over 15,000 impressions.
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
The People’s Portraits – The CrossDistributor Programme 2022 In November 2022, the NLPU, alongside Camelot, led The National Lottery family to deliver a cross-family campaign. The multifaceted activity celebrated local heroes throughout the UK who have achieved extraordinary things with the help of National Lottery funding.
As part of The People’s Portraits campaign, the stories of 16 remarkable individuals were celebrated across the four core funding pillars of community, arts, heritage and sport. Four unique ‘hero’ moments were created around the themes of supporting refugees, improving accessibility in the arts, tackling climate change and increasing female participation in sport.
4
UNIQUE ‘HERO’ MOMENTS
3,505
PIECES OF HIGH-QUALITY MEDIA COVERAGE WITH A REACH OF 4 BILLION
121M
DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS ACROSS ALL SOCIAL CHANNELS
2.7M+
VIEWS FOR FILMS PRODUCED AND BROADCAST BY SOCIAL MEDIA PARTNER
#THANKSTOYOU TRENDING ON TWITTER AGAIN THIS YEAR
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN • Aprojection of a Ukrainian refugee case worker
was unveiled in Liverpool, host city of the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine, by broadcaster Chris Tarrant, who has hosted a refugee family at his property.
• Asculpture representing the word ‘Victory’ in British Sign Language was created in honour of a National Lottery funded deaf rapper at the Roundhouse and supported by reality TV star Tasha Ghouri, who suffers from hearing difficulties.
• Environmentalist Chris Packham recognised the
work of a National Lottery funded climate change activist by revealing a mural located at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
• While England Women’s Football team captain Leah
Williamson attended Wembley Stadium to showcase the work of a trailblazing football coach whose image was depicted on the Spanish Steps at the home of English football.
The campaign exceeded almost all its KPIs attracting 3,505 pieces of high quality national, regional and local media coverage with a reach in excess of 4 billion. This included 18 pieces of national broadcast compared to one the year before. Notable highlights were appearances on Good Morning Britain, Sky News, Sky Sports, The Sun, Mail Online, Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star and Hello. This was supplemented by strong regional coverage across the UK. A digital partnership with social media platform JOE, featured former National Lottery funded athlete Lutalo Muhammad visiting four of the campaign case studies. These films were hosted on JOE’s various social media channels attracting more than 2.7 million views. The campaign culminated with the annual crossfinger selfie activity where National Lottery funded organisations are encouraged to thank National Lottery players by posting an image of themselves on social media recreating The National Lottery logo. This delivered 121 million impressions with a reach of 18 million and trended on Twitter.
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
Young People Campaign In February 2023 the NLPU worked closely with the National Lottery family to launch its first campaign centred around young people, after the audience was identified as a key priority and an area of future focus by CEOs.
4
HERO FILMS FEATURING YOUNG PEOPLE
5.9M+
COMBINED VIEWS AND COUNTING
6.4M+
DIGITAL IMPRESSIONS IN THE UK The focus of this campaign was around young people and the environment. The aim was to raise awareness and highlight the positive impact of National Lottery funding into projects that support and help young people through traditional and digital elements.
1,500
PIECES OF MEDIA COVERAGE WITH A REACH OF 25 MILLION
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
The campaign was launched with a UK-wide press release, highlighting the £3 billion of National Lottery funding invested over the last decade to projects across the UK which specifically support and develop children and young people.
In each of the films, a different young contributor from a TNL funded environmental project took us on a typical ‘day in the life’ with them – this trend is a more socially relevant way to utilise more emotive storytelling and appeals to our target audience as they are easy to watch and digest.
The release was supported by a media day with young TV wildlife presenter and conservationist, Megan McCubbin. The launch garnered over 1,500 pieces of media coverage with a reach of 25 million. Notable coverage highlights included the Sun online (including the US, Scottish and Irish editions), the Express online, Wales online, the Evening Times online, Belfast247 radio, London Live TV, The Yorkshire Post and multiple BBC regional radio stations. The release included four strong case studies from each nation as examples of organisations that have used this money to make the lives of young people better. Further write-ups on regional case studies were syndicated out to gain additional UK wide coverage.
The overall results from the series delivered over 6.4 million impressions, over 5.9 million videos views, and over 55.8K of engagements – an over delivery of 7.27% on total video views against the pre-set KPI. 60% of the audience on our hero videos were between the ages of 18-34, which was the primary target audience. As expected, Tik Tok held the highest number for the 18–24-year-old audience which validated that the correct channels had been chosen to reach a younger audience for the campaign.
The NLPU also launched a ‘day in the life’ video series aimed at 18–34-year-olds on their digital partner’ social channels. The four-part video series went live on their partners Tik Tok and Instagram channels, as well as two of the four videos also going live on their female focused Tik Tok and Instagram channel.
Whilst Tik Tok delivered on views, the most interesting figure is the engagement rates; a 1.18% engagement rate against a 0.1% benchmark which is 100 times the norm. Our An Tobar (Heritage Fund) Tik Tok video and Instagram reels had the highest views out of the four videos and our Outside Lives (Community Fund) Tik Tok video and Instagram reels had the highest engagement rate. This proves that a strong protagonist is key to getting those high viewing and engagement figures.
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
National Lottery Open Week 2023 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.
This year National Lottery Open Week ran from 18th – 26th March with 500 organisations participating across the UK. These ranged from large ‘hero’ partner organisations such as the National Trust, National Trust for Scotland, English Heritage and RSPB offering free entry, to sporting venues providing discounted stadium tours, arts organisations offering discounted tickets and smaller community projects providing taster sessions to National Lottery players.
1,724
PIECES OF EARNED MEDIA COVERAGE
500
NATIONAL LOTTERY FUNDED ORGANISATIONS TAKING PART
140+
NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTIES PARTICIPATING
33,000+ REDEMPTIONS TO NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTIES
2M+
WEBSITE PAGE VIEWS
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
The PR campaign ‘Feel Good Dates’ was fronted by TV personality, Fred Sirieix which resulted in national coverage in the Daily Mirror, Daily Star, Mail Online, Evening Standard, The Sun and the Independent plus in a wide range of regional titles. Prime-time TV broadcast coverage was also achieved on ITV’s This Morning as well as across regional radio. Paid media partnerships were secured with Time Out and the parenting app, Peanut. A variety of influencers were engaged to promote National Lottery Open Week to their followers as well as a TikTok activation with Black Country Living Museum to attract a younger audience. The operator, Camelot, supported with a significant marketing package including out of home advertising at various sites across the UK, Global Radio and Reach Plc promotions, and a feature episode in their podcast series with historian Dan Snow, as well as social support on their owned channels. In partnership with DCMS and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the NLPU co-ordinated a ministerial visit for elected members to showcase the campaign and the benefits to participating venues and National Lottery players.
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PART TWO MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
Amazing Starts Here Podcast Series Building on a pilot project in 2021, the NLPU released a six-part award winning podcast series entitled ‘Amazing Starts Here.’
Hosted by television star Amber Rose-Gill, the podcast featured inspirational individuals from National Lottery funded projects across all our main funding sectors and championed their transformative impact on their communities throughout the UK. While the target audience for this series is primarily a younger one, each episode celebrated universal values which can be related to by a mass market.
25,000+ DOWNLOADS
14,000+ SUBSCRIBERS
239
DAYS SPENT LISTENING TO THE PODCAST SERIES
RECOGNISED AT THE CORPORATE CONTENT AWARDS EUROPE 2023
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It carried a ‘Superhero’ sub-theme examining the origin stories behind our National Lottery funded cast and uncovering the events and inspirations behind their remarkable exploits in their chosen field. The episodes were marketed on popular podcasting platforms with the aim of driving downloads, subscriptions and listeners. The podcast achieved a much sought after spot on Apple’s podcast carousel. This was bolstered by a robust traditional and social media promotion plan focussing on earned media and owned channels. In addition, the series was promoted by the host on her popular social media channels and she took part in media interviews to highlight the podcast and its subjects. The NLPU worked with podcast production agency Fresh Air Productions on this activity and completed the series via a mixture of on location, studio and remote recordings.
Overall, the podcast achieved more than 25,000 downloads with a listen-through rate of 34 per cent and attracted 14,000 subscribers. These largely exceeded KPIs and gave a benchmark for the second series. The episodes were in the top 5-10 per cent of podcasts made in 2022. Time spent listening to the podcast reached 239 days. While ads for the podcasts reached 1.5 million listens. Audiograms of the elements of the podcast, created in-house by the NLPU team, were viewed more than 100,000 times while social media content created by Amber Rose-Gill for her channels achieved views of more than 1.1 million. The podcast series was recognised at the Corporate Content Awards Europe 2023. It picked up a Silver in the Best Use of Celebrity Category and came highly recommended the Best Use of Audio or Podcast category.
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PART THREE FINANCIAL PROFILE
The NLPU Management Board determines the budget on an annual basis. In 2022/23, the NLPU worked to a budget of £2,992,295. The current operator, Camelot is liable for one third of the budget with remaining two thirds is deducted from the contribution payable to the Secretary of State under Camelot’s Section 5 Licence. INCOME:
£2,992,295 EXPENDITURE:
£2,888,690 UNDERSPEND:
£103,605
CAMPAIGN BUDGETS CROSS-DISTRIBUTOR PROGRAMME:
£652,000
NATIONAL LOTTERY AWARDS:
£391,500 SPORT:
£503,000 PLATINUM JUBILEE:
£150,000 YOUNG ADULTS:
£100,000 OPEN WEEK:
£40,000
STAFFING, OPERATIONAL & ADMINISTRATION COSTS:
£809,910 National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
2023/24 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.
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
The National Lottery Awards 2023 The ‘nomination phase’ of the 2023 National Lottery Awards will launch on 3rd April, looking to highlight the exceptional work of local heroes who have gone the extra mile to make a difference in their communities, especially during these challenging times. The Awards will encourage the public to nominate inspirational heroes across the categories of Community & Charity / Arts, Culture & Film / Heritage / Sport / Environment / Young Hero / Project of the Year. There will also be a Special Achievement Award this year to mark the accomplishments of an exceptional individual who has gone above and beyond to make the lives of people that little bit better in their local community. Individual winners will be chosen by a judging panel made up of members from The National Lottery family. In addition, any projects that have benefitted from National Lottery funding are eligible to enter the Project of the Year category. These nominees will be whittled down to 16 finalists, with a UK-wide public vote in September deciding the winner. As part of Camelot’s Reach Plc media partnership, a full-page advertorial is planned to run in the Daily
Mirror, Express, Star and Record (print and online), showcasing the inspirational stories of 2022 Winners and 2023 Nominees. The Reach partnership has adopted a ‘digital first’ approach for 2023 and is set to deliver a KPI of 3.1 million impressions across Reach social channels during the ‘nomination phase’. This paid partnership will be substantiated by national and regional press releases, as well as digital content across NLPU and distributor channels. The drive for nominations will culminate with a ‘Last Chance to Nominate’ call to action on 10th May, supported by an NLA ambassador, with an editorial interview running across all national Reach titles. The new broadcast PR partner will also conduct a media day to secure national and regional television and radio coverage. Nominations for the 2023 National Lottery Awards will close on 16th May, with finalists due to be shortlisted in mid-June. The NLPU is also in the process of tendering for a new digital media partner to celebrate and promote our 2023 winners across their own owned channels. This contract will be awarded in June.
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Coronation
Eurovision
To celebrate the King’s Coronation whilst raising awareness of National Lottery funding to projects throughout the UK which are marking the occasion in various ways, the NLPU is looking to partner with a social media publisher to create and publish content to sit on the publishers’ own owned channels.
With the Eurovision Song Contest coming to Liverpool in May, the NLPU is planning a campaign to highlight how National Lottery funding is supporting refugees throughout the UK, as well as supporting the arts and community groups.
The aim is for the digital partner to publish four branded hero videos across its own owned channels, generating viewing figures and digital impressions in the millions. The plan is for the content to encompass projects from areas of sport, arts, heritage, and community. In addition, the NLPU is also looking to work with a media partner to produce and syndicate traditional media content to ensure stories reach as wide an audience as possible throughout the UK (online, print and broadcast). This content will be rolled out during the week leading up to the Coronation.
As part of this campaign, the NLPU is partnering up with the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest runner up Sonia Evans (who hails from Merseyside) and the National Lottery funded (ACE and Community Fund) European Youth Music Refugee Choir (EYMRC) which brings together young refugees and asylum seekers living in England, enabling them to meet new people in a fun way whilst developing crucial skills needed to continue living in a new country. The choir has several Ukrainian refugee members in their ranks and supports young refugees from all over the world including Syria, Eritrea, and Afghanistan. A social media filming day is being planned for April where Sonia will perform her 1989 number 1 song ‘You’ll Never Stop Me from Lovin’ You’ with the choir for the first time. The singer, and a range refugees, will be interviewed for a series of digital films commissioned by the NLPU. The NLPU is also planning a media day at the National Lottery funded Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, where Sonia and the choir will perform in front of the invited media once more, with further opportunities to interview the singer and the refugees. The NLPU is also working with a media partner to produce and syndicate a range of features on some of other projects relating to Eurovision funded by The National Lottery family across the UK. These will be issued and published in the media in the weeks leading up to Eurovision.
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Sports Campaign - 2023 and Beyond Building on the NLPU’s success from the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the focus of the sport campaign in 2023/2024 will be to lay the best possible foundations for the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris 2024. This event presents a huge opportunity to promote The National Lottery brand and the substantial investment it has provided for a wide variety of sports and sporting activity throughout the UK. Working with media partners, the NLPU will activate around the One Year to Go (OYTG) to Paris 2024 mark in July/August 2023 and commence a programme of activity that will use the various sporting events and milestones of 2023/24 to garner coverage that highlights TNL investment into sport at all levels – from elite to grassroots.
These hooks will be used as a springboard to ensure there is a clear link between investment in sport, not just at elite level, but also at a community grassroots level – with the aim of telling the whole National Lottery story. The NLPU’s intention is to feed media appetite and harness interest in key awareness dates big sporting events throughout the year by using TNL athlete media days to create a sustained drumbeat of media coverage across the year as well as highlighting the impact of TNL support on and eclectic range of sports – from grassroots to elite.
Image credit: Bryan Turner / Unsplash
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Cross Distributor Programme 2023 The 2023 cross-distributor programme will be the final consumer facing PR campaign to mark the anniversary of first National Lottery draw in November 1994. It will be the last delivered by the NLPU and Camelot, the current operator, ahead of the new licence and 30th birthday next year. Planning for the 2023 campaign involves a number of factors including acting upon the learnings and experiences from the previous four. Achieving broadcast media remains a key priority of this work as a key driver in improving awareness and positivity towards the brand. The broad direction of travel for 2023 includes the continuation of exploring media friendly themes which can be applied across The National Lottery’s funding sectors rather than being allocated to single areas. Furthermore, aligning activations to ‘moments that matter’ to the media and to the strategic priorities of The National Lottery family to secure greater media coverage. Finally, consideration is being given to elongating the campaign rather than trying to condense multiple activities around the weeks leading up to the birthday moment. This is to avoid media saturation and maximise broadcast opportunities. It is intended the campaign would still climax at the birthday moment.
Always On Content 2023 – 2024 A plan of action is currently being formulated by the NLPU for the next financial year with regards to delivering media activities under the Always On Content banner. The aim will remain the same with regards to reinforcing the reach of National Lottery messaging with our target audiences across all channels. Areas of focus are being identified by the NLPU in between the major campaigns to ensure a consistent drumbeat of activities.
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
National Lottery Open Week 2024 As we look ahead to March 2024, the NLPU plans to build upon the momentum of National Lottery Open Week and continue the work forged with all 12 Lottery distributors over the years. The proposed date for Open Week 2024 is Saturday 16th – Sunday 24th March and the aim is to keep and improve the current tried, tested and successful campaign format. The aim is to position Open Week 2024 as the "curtain raiser" to the 30th Birthday, both internally across the TNL family and externally with partners, stakeholders and the media - with a focus on securing high quality offers rather than quantity of offers.
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Amazing Starts Here Podcast Series The second series of the award winning NLPU’s podcast series, Amazing Starts Here, will return in 2023/24. The NLPU is working with a new podcast production agency, Listen Entertainment to create an eight-episode series featuring ordinary people who have done extraordinary things with the help of National Lottery funding. A new host will take over the reins from Amber Rose-Gill for the latest instalment of the podcast and the format will be adapted to take in the learnings and evaluation of the first series. Once again, the target market for the podcast will be predominantly a younger one – ages 18-25, but each episode will celebrate individuals and projects which can be related to by people of all ages. The NLPU will again market the series on popular podcasting platforms and the aim is to have the podcast listened to as large a relevant audience as possible. This will be complemented by a promotion via traditional social media on ours and the National Lottery family’s own channels, those of our guests and the chosen host.
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Grant Acknowledgment The Grant Acknowledgement Forum – with representatives from the NLPU and all distributors – was formed in October 2022 to explore ways to step change the approach to how beneficiaries acknowledge The National Lottery, to increase brand awareness and positivity. The Forum focused on larger grant recipients (£500k-£1m+) as a priority, as these beneficiaries often have more sophisticated communications functions and larger engaged audiences, with maximum potential for spreading the good causes message. All distributors have addressed their approach to large beneficiaries and are making changes to ensure that National Lottery funding is acknowledged more frequently.
The National Lottery 30th Birthday The National Lottery 30th Birthday in 2024 will be a key moment for the National Lottery family and is born out of the success of the 25th Birthday programme. It provides the opportunity to celebrate its achievements and connect the public back to the good causes The National Lottery supports. Building on learning from the 25th Birthday, the NLPU chairs the Working Group for the 30th Birthday, which also includes a Funding Strand working group, with a goal for every distributor to have a funding programme open and branded under the 30th Birthday.
Examples across the family include:
• Creative Scotland – have launched two new funds, The National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations and The National Lottery Extended Programme Fund, to ensure that they are being more overt in their acknowledgement ask.
• UK Sport – are piloting a new media training
programme to ensure athletes are aware of the importance of acknowledging TNL.
• The National Lottery Heritage Fund - have
consulted their legal team and put formal protocols in place to ensure that beneficiaries are required to acknowledge The National Lottery.
Distributors are also progressing their ask of small (-£10k) and medium (£10-500k) grant recipients, with many providing digital toolkits to support and encourage beneficiaries to acknowledge The National Lottery. Ahead of next year's 30th Birthday celebrations and move over to our new operator, this is a crucial time to refine our work around Grant Acknowledgement. The ‘What Next for The National Lottery’ report is due for the Select Committee in September 2023, so it’s important that distributors continue to strengthen their approach to grant acknowledgement and commit to making continued improvements.
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
A Final Word From the Chair The NLPU have navigated well the challenges of the last year and 2023/24 is already shaping up to be an exciting year of activity. Considerable progress has been made over the last year to enhance the resilience of the NLPU and it’s evident the unit is determined to remain resilient in all respects, whilst performing at a consistently high level.
And whilst we can’t predict all that 2023 and beyond will involve, we’re already looking forward to supporting some key moments as a National Lottery family. In May, we will celebrate the King’s Coronation, and the Eurovision song contest being hosted in the UK on behalf of Ukraine. The NLPU will once again play a key role in bringing those stories to life and there is an exciting summer of sport ahead as we gear up to the Olympics and Paralympics in Paris in 2024. The NLPU has exciting plans to launch a story-led campaign to reach a wide audience as we celebrate the one year to go mark to Paris 2024. The 30th Birthday next year will be a significant milestone for the whole National Lottery family and provides us with a clear opportunity to celebrate the last 30 years, but also look to how we shape the future. The NLPU is firmly focussed on delivering a highly successful and effective National Lottery 30th Birthday programme in 2024, taking onboard some of the key lessons learnt and recommendations from the 25th Birthday in 2019. I have no doubt the NLPU will once again develop and deliver a successful campaign on behalf of the whole family to celebrate the incredible difference The National Lottery has made and continues to make every day.
Through the 30th Birthday programme, it's important to ensure that all parts of the family promote and share the National Lottery brand, amplifying inspiring stories of the individuals and projects that have benefitted from National Lottery funding. The programme will no doubt have a significant scale and ambition and will see the NLPU working across The National Lottery family and the new operator on ways to amplify the 30th Programme to achieve the best results. All of this activity will ensure that The National Lottery remains front of mind at key national moments and continues to strengthen the connection between playing National Lottery games and the difference that makes to good causes. With such big moments on the horizon, the quality of data we receive and how this can be used in our family communications activities throughout the year is an area of common interest for the National Lottery family, and it is important that we have that collective data at our disposal.
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PART FOUR LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
The NLPU continues to work alongside The National Lottery Family to refine success measures and highlight what The National Lottery good causes are achieving through a clear data story. The appointment of a Data Journalist and Data Analyst are certainly a step in the right direction and can only serve to ensure that family planning around campaigns is much better in future. This area of work will no doubt provide a sustainable body of evidence for the NLPU across all its campaigns and activities, including the National Lottery 30th Birthday next year. It is also pleasing to see the new DCMS database of National Lottery funded grants now up and running and the NLPU has already been using the resource effectively across its campaigns, including collating data for the upcoming launch of the 2023 National Lottery Awards. There are further substantial opportunities to tell the collective story and make the most of the data we have in the year ahead and beyond. Grant acknowledgment from our beneficiaries is also key where publicising The National Lottery brand is concerned. The NLPU is committed 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. It’s pleasing to see the NLPU driving forward progress in this area with the wider family, especially around some of our largest grant holders. Significant progress is also being made with smaller beneficiaries where publicising and acknowledging grant funding is concerned. Our collective 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. It’s therefore pertinent that distributors continue to strengthen their approach to grant acknowledgement and commit to making continued improvements. As we transition to work with our new licence operator and prepare for next year’s 30th Birthday celebrations, it seems like a crucial time to refine our work around grant acknowledgement. There is a real purpose, energy, and creativity in the NLPU which will continue to be deployed as we head into the future. The NLPU has achieved a great deal this year and I am grateful to every one of them for their hard work and commitment to our shared purpose.
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APPENDIX
APPENDIX A: THE NLPU STRATEGIC PLAN 2022/23
OBJECTIVES
1.
To increase awareness of the breadth, scale and impact of National Lottery funding across the UK.
3.
To reach as many people as possible in the UK in telling that story.
2.
4.
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 champion One National Lottery best practice across The National Lottery family.
Q4 2022 JAN - MARCH
Q1 2022 APRIL - JUNE
Q2 2022 JULY - SEPT
Q3 2022 OCT - DEC
Q4 2023 JAN - MARCH
BAU DELIVERABLES FOR 22/23
NLPU DELIVERABLES
‘Always on / Podcast' content throughout the year to support key calender moments Cross distributor activity around the theme of Young People (digital)
Launch The National Lottery Awards
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games NLA’s: Judging
Open Week 2022
Festival 2022: Queen's Platinum Jubilee 2022
Evaluation of Cross Distributor Activity
Cross Distributor Prog 2022 planning
Beijing Winter Games 2022
Internal audit Strategic Framework and drafting of Strat plan 2023/24 (NLPU) June/July
Cross Distributor Prog 2022 consultation w/family Broadcast planning 2023 - 24
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
Cross distributor Campaign (Oct/Nov)
Evaluation of Cross Distributor Activity
NLA Winner Reveals
Campaigns - Young People and Children
Strategic Plan 2023/24 and Framework presented to Mgt Board for approval in Nov
Open Week 2023
APPENDIX | 42
APPENDIX
APPENDIX B: THE NLPU STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 2023-25
MISSION
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.
VISION
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
INCLUSIVE – DIVERSE – POSITIVE – TRUSTWORTHY – SOLUTION FOCUSED – ONL – CREATIVE
INTERNAL & EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS
LDB’S – NL PROJECTS – GAM COMM – DCMS – NLPU MGT BOARD – OPERATOR – NL PLAYERS – MEDIA – NON PLAYER CONSUMERS – WIDER GOVERNMENT – DEVOLVED GOVS
STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES
CAMPAIGNS
STRATEGIC PLANNING
CROSS FAMILY THEMATIC ACTIVITY
DIGITAL
BROADCAST
DATA, RESEARCH & INSIGHT & EVAL
BRAND POSITIONING & AMBASSADORS
STRATEGIC THEMES AND PRIORITIES 2023 - 25
NLPU business as usual activity to be delivered during this period Strategic Framework and Plans 2023-25 Further develop family planning cycles (working with Strat Directors) Preparing for 4NL
The National Lottery Awards Sports campaigns: Paris 2024 Olympics Open Week Birthday Activity inc 30th Birthday
Cross Distributor Programme and Open Week
Delivering Digital Strategy
Young People (18-25)
Supporting Digital campaigns Strengthen relationships with digital contacts across family
National Lottery Promotions Unit: Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23
Deliver key broadcast NL moments for the family Identifying content across the family to work on potential treatments Working with the operator on large scale studio shows, including the National Lottery Awards
NLPU leads on consumer insight and data Cross family data analysis of good cause funding
One National Lottery branding & Internal communications
Use of DMCS Lottery Grants Database
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MAKE AMAZING HAPPEN
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