play mechanic of this game is similar to the TV show in that players eliminate suitcases, and whatever is left is their prize. BCLC sold out of the game in four weeks, compared to 12 weeks for most other scratch-and-win tickets,” said Jim Lightbody, vice-president of lottery gaming for BCLC. “We have re-ordered and are bringing this back in the fall.” Improper branding can sometimes prove the main factor behind dismal sales. Carinci tells the story of a game called Punto, which was released by the BC Lottery when she worked there in 1988. As Canada’s first sports lottery, Punto was expected to fare well, but Carinci suspects that the game’s somewhat silly-sounding name may have been responsible for its slow take up. Holiday themes, crosswords and lucky 7’s are almost always certain to perform well, but beyond that it is difficult to predict which brands or themes will prosper in which countries and provinces or states. Scratch games branded off the hit reality-TV series Survivor killed in several jurisdictions, but had lackluster performance across Canada. Stars Wars and Monopoly themed games also received much less attention in Canada than elsewhere.
Marketing Lottery games must co-exist on the retail counter with about 10 to 30 other instant games and a handful of online games. Experts say that an individual game should be marketed so that it distinguishes itself and drive its own sales, but care should also be taken to ensure that the collective marketing of the games doesn’t create an environment that overwhelms or intimidates the consumer. “We look at how games fit and make sense together,” Kennedy said. “We segment in position with each other. It is a very important distinction that most classical-minded consumer marketers don’t understand.” Online game Millionaire Life provides a sterling example of an effective marketing campaign. The game boasted a top prize of $1 million every year for 25 years, but tickets were sold only during the month of February 2007. In addition to mass media advertising and retailer incentives, the game was supported by a pre-launch teaser campaign that put ads on the top of other lottery tickets. “Millionaire Life was a national game that was successful for jurisdictions across Canada, 18 | August/September 2007
but particularly so for BCLC,” Lightbody said. “BCLC achieved almost double its sales target. The sales target for BC was $6.8 million, and actual sales achieved were $11.5 million -- quite impressive for a new game. The on-ticket advertising had players asking retailers when the game was going to be available and made for an extremely strong launch. The fact that it was a limited-time offer and had an easily understood top prize contributed to the excitement.” As Lightbody indicates, the communication of prize information is a crucial component of success. “Communication entails how you present a game to the public and display it in retail, how lottery teams educate the public on aspects of playing the game, and of course full-blown advertising -- all wrapped together,” said Tom Dawley, senior vicepresident of marketing for GTECH, which is based in Providence, Rhode Island. “All of these things affect the player’s experience and help him form an impression about whether the game is winnable or not.”
Visual Appeal Attractive tickets with bright colours that catch the consumer’s eye tend to sell well, while plain drab tickets linger behind. “If it doesn’t pop, you might not see it,” said Laverty. Vivid displays are the main attraction behind the new Scratch FX tickets that Pollard Banknote, headquartered in Winnipeg, introduced earlier this year. The tickets are made from recyclable paper stock, but the company says they replicate the look of foil or even holographic foil. The first game to use the Scratch FX technology is the $2,000,000 Explosion game from the Michigan Lottery, a $20 game launched in March that offers players the chance to win up to 26 times. Pollard describes the game as “a towering, big value ticket that is truly hard to miss at retail” with “an eyecatching spectacle of glitz and color.” In its first three weeks on the market, the average sales for $2,000,000 Explosion were approximately 37 per cent higher than all other games at the same price point in the last year.
Other Considerations Simplicity One sure way to kill a game is to make it too difficult for the consumer to understand quickly. “What tends not to work are things that are in any way complex,” said Connie Laverty, GTECH’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer. Laverty recalls a game called Lucky Day that asked players to begin the game by selecting a day of the year. Sales were poor, and Laverty learned that even though the concept sounded great in theory, it was too complex to be efficiently marketed. “A game has to be intuitive,” she said. “It has to have a clear proposition. If the name of a game doesn’t capture the concept or isn’t clear, the ticket will not sell.” Jim Lightbody offers online game PayDay as an example of a game that has underperformed as a result of complexity. “Other jurisdictions have also launched this game with a different prize matrix and have had the same result: the game started out with a bang at launch, but cannot continue its sales performance,” he said. “Our evaluation of the game is that the prize structure may be too confusing for players.”
Market timing is very important, especially with instant games. Although scratch-card players are willing to try a lot of games, after enough losses on one particular game they are likely to grow disenchanted, so it’s important to have an appealing alternative available in good time. Montgomery said OLG is doing well with instant games, with sales running 30 per cent ahead of last year. She attributed this success to many factors. “That’s due to a new prize payout strategy, the re-design of tickets, more price points, and the success of licensed games like Deal or No Deal and Hold ’Em Poker,” she said. Most of OLG’s games had a top price of $10. But Montgomery said the lottery offered a $20 game called Quest for Gold that’s proven very popular. This is OLG’s own proprietary game. A final important element of a successful scratch card is what Kennedy calls the fullline view. “All games live in a fairly complex environment of technical and physical logistics and accounting,” he explained. “You’re not really done with the transaction until the winner brings the ticket back for evaluation.” Bradley Vallerius is a freelance writer based in St. Louis, Missouri.