Lottery

HOW LOTTERIES ARE IMPROVING PRODUCTS AND EXPERIENCES FOR THE 2020s

LOTTERIES ARE SOMETIMES EXCLUDED from conversations around innovation, but this sector is making considerable headway in improving the user experience for players

BY CHARLIE HORNER

We are in an industry where change is necessary. It feels almost impossible to avoid products and theories on new technological changes. Web3, metaverse and crypto-based products dominate the minds of some of the industry’s startups and heavyweights. Even mobile sportsbooks and online casinos are relatively new phenomena, which have exploded in popularity due to the convenience they offer consumers.

But what about innovation in the lottery industry? There are, of course, plenty of lottery operators and suppliers working incredibly hard behind the scenes to offer lottery ticket buyers the best ways of playing the lottery and using the newest, cutting-edge technology to do so. But it goes under the radar in comparison to sports betting and igaming which appear to be growing rapidly around the world.

BUT WHAT ABOUT INNOVATION IN THE LOTTERY INDUSTRY?

Yet, according to a YouGov report on international gambling in 2021, lotteries were revealed to be the most popular form of gambling, with 42% of all respondents claiming they had played any form of lottery online within the last 12 months, outperforming sports betting (36%), online casinos (13%) and bingo (11%).

Whilst this is unsurprising, given that lotteries are largely legal and regulated around the world, little is made of the technological advancements that underpin the popularity of lotteries. After all, that same report cited that participants of the YouGov surveys

preferred to play lotteries due to the options of buying a lottery ticket online, buying an instant win lottery ticket online and buying a lucky draw ticket for an expensive prize.

With online lottery play becoming more popular - Camelot has noted that the UK National Lottery has experienced record digital sales since the pandemic - operators must utilise technology to acquire new customers, but also to retain those players amid a raft of fierce online competition. Not just from other lottery operators, but from other forms of gambling, which seem less hesitant to embrace technological change.

Innovation for product

One obvious way in which lotteries are innovating is through product development and access to those products. Lotteries have had a duty of responsibility to their retail partners throughout the last few decades, yet the migration of lottery products to an online platform is essential for growth, as is evidenced around the world.

In Ethiopia, the National Lottery Administration has partnered with Ethio telecom, a telecommunications firm, to launch a digital lottery service that works via SMS. This not only reduces the costs of printing tickets, but uses technological advancements to cater to consumer demands rather than a technique that has worked elsewhere, showing that a one size fits all approach to innovation does not work.

Meanwhile, El Salvador has agreed to launch a national electronic lottery, which will be operated jointly with Canada. The new electronic lottery is part of a “modernisation process that the institution had been promoting”.

Partnering with specialist ilottery firms is a sure fast way for a lottery to supercharge its digital journey, with expertise in creating engaging content for players at the core of their remit.

Loteria Mineira enlisted the help of NeoGames to power its digital output, providing its NeoSphere platform, a selection of instant games from its NeoGames Studio tailored for a Brazilian audience and a range of services related to ilottery.

Explaining the rationale behind the deal, Intralot do Brasil CEO & Owner Sérgio Alvarenga noted: “We are delighted to join forces with NeoGames in a partnership that is intended to provide our players with a comprehensive digital program that will expand and enhance our content and services offerings in Minas Gerais to new and exciting areas.

“The new modalities and investments in technology are part of the expansion plan for new states and federal licences.”

With operators in both mature and new markets committing to digital offerings, it is clear that the technological shift is not limited to just sports betting and igaming firms, but that lotteries are keeping up in the metaphorical arms race.

OPERATORS MUST UTILISE TECHNOLOGY TO ACQUIRE NEW CUSTOMERS, BUT ALSO TO RETAIN THOSE PLAYERS

Innovation for player

As is often theorised in business and political circles alike, technology and innovation can help to solve the world's biggest issues. This rings true in the gambling industry.

AI is becoming an increasingly important tool to protect customers from gambling-related harms. Innovating with a social purpose can also help to market to Millennial and Gen Z players, who often have a strong social conscience.

Lotteries have been setting up partnerships with data science firms throughout this year to ensure that player protection measures are easier

A ONE SIZE FITS ALL APPROACH TO INNOVATION DOES NOT WORK

to implement and that problematic gambling behaviour is easier to spot.

This year, Lotto Hessen, Lotto NZ and Atlantic Lottery have all teamed up with Austrian firm Neccton to utilise its ‘mentor’ behaviour analysis tool that alerts the operator and can contact players who display alarming gambling activity, with regards to their deposit frequencies and amounts.

Dr. Michael Auer, Director of Neccton, commented: “We already work with so many of the world’s biggest gambling companies because they recognise that our approach and our expertise is unique.

“Customers who are looked after this way are proven to be customers for longer, with much greater overall value to the operator, without falling prey to the dangerous behaviours of gambling addiction.”

Similarly, ZEAL in Germany has added an innovative AI player protection mechanism, partnering with Mindway AI, which uses its GameScanner technology to detect gamblers at risk of gambling addiction at an early stage and act as a ‘virtual psychologist’.

Helmut Becker, CEO of ZEAL, stressed that technology should be used in such a way: “It is of utmost importance for us to apply proven technologies and methods to protect players, regardless of legal requirements.”

As essential as technology is to expanding the user experience and developing better products, those same innovations can be integral to keeping problem gambling rates low. Whilst lotteries are often cited as lower-risk forms of gambling, they can lead to more risky bets being placed on online slots.

Innovation for ESG

Whilst innovation is largely aiming to improve business operations and solve problems for consumers, many firms are bolstering their ESG policies and are developing innovative methods of promoting diversity and inclusion.

Notably Allwyn, named the preferred candidate for the fourth National Lottery licence earlier this year, has developed a ‘changemakers plan’ whereby it is promoting innovative practices across the business but is allowing women to take centre-stage in developing the policies.

In fact, over 50% of the team that worked on the bid for the fourth National Lottery licence were women.

Allwyn has developed technology for both online and in retail which has driven lottery participation rates of adults in Austria, Czechia, Greece and Italy to an average above 70%. Yet, arguably, the more impressive and laudable innovation is the ‘balance’ it has created in its decision-making process for the National Lottery licence bid.

As Lucy Buckley, Portfolio Lead at Allwyn UK summarised: “Whilst this statistic shouldn’t really need to be pointed out, it is a frustratingly rare thing to find in the lottery industry, a sector that has traditionally struggled to diversify and evolve.

“This isn’t to say that experience and wise minds don’t matter, but so many organisations struggle to innovate because they don’t have the right balance of new ideas and perspectives to challenge old ways of doing things.” •

OVER 50% OF THE TEAM THAT WORKED ON THE BID FOR THE FOURTH NATIONAL LOTTERY LICENCE WERE WOMEN

SOPHIE WOOD: LEADING THE LOTTOLAND WAY ON DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

AFTER SEVEN YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY and over a year in her current role as Learning & Development Partner at Lottoland, Sophie Wood reflects on a challenging journey in life that has led her to becoming a lottery leader on diversity and inclusion

BY NICK WARE

Profit and loss statements, balance sheets and customer service are three elements that have always been at the forefront of any organisation’s mind. But the importance of sharing essential intrinsic values, standing up for rights and the mental health of employees have all become much more evident in recent times.

At Lottoland, Sophie Wood is responsible for all three of those latter components in a job she became well prepared for after her own experiences as a trans woman.

“In my life I have learned that one of the biggest challenges to being out and trans is other people’s ignorance, prejudice, fear and hatred,'' Wood told SBC Leaders.

“The trans population is very small so not many people actually meet or know us. Many people get their views on the trans population from mainstream media and social media.

“This is problematic in countries such as the UK, Poland, Russia and Hungary in particular, where such ignorance is weaponised by a right-leaning media to distract from pejorative and

pernicious policies such as those under the ‘austerity’ banner.

“This is the essence of the fictional ‘culture wars’ that don’t manifest in real life for most people.”

Before entering the gaming industry

in 2015, Wood worked in UK law enforcement for 12 years as a trainer in information and intelligence systems for the police.

During this time, she recounts a generally positive experience with colleagues who accepted her for who she was. That feeling transferred itself to the gaming industry where Wood noticed a similar pattern with those in her immediate vicinity.

“The ignorance, the fear, the hatred, has tended to disappear as soon as a human connection is made. Because colleagues saw me and worked with me everyday, they knew that I was just like any other human being at work. Other people in the wider organisations I worked for tended to be less so.

“Within the industry I have enjoyed great working relationships with people who know me, and mostly prejudice from those who don’t.”

According to Wood, that prejudice has manifested itself on two separate occasions in job rejections for a managerial role. Despite amassing the highest interview scores and being the preferred candidate of the hiring manager and HR department, she was overlooked by those in the upper echelons of organisations.

“Career progression, either upwards in the hierarchy or sideways into other departments, has been very challenging,” she said.

“Truthfully, the industry has a long way to go. But progress is being made. Education and awareness is key, as ignorance is killed by knowledge. At its essence, diversity and inclusion is very simple.

“I always say in my diversity and inclusion training - ‘I am a human being and that is all you are too’. When you accept this premise, all you have to judge people by is knowledge, understanding, skills, attitudes and behaviour. That is equality.

“When you then use your empathy to understand the challenges faced by minority groups and you remove the barriers that they face to enable their success, that is equity. This, in turn, will help create an inclusive culture which will result in the realisation of the benefits of diversity in your workplace.

“When you start celebrating and showing your diverse people you value them, that is what success or ‘belonging‘ looks like.”

Wood has a short and simple message for companies seeking to create and improve an inclusive culture: “Focus on your culture and the stats will follow.”

Wood’s time in the gaming industry

THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF THE FICTIONAL ‘CULTURE WARS’ THAT DON’T MANIFEST IN REAL LIFE FOR MOST PEOPLE

I HAVE LEARNED THAT ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO BEING OUT AND TRANS IS OTHER PEOPLE’S IGNORANCE, PREJUDICE, FEAR AND HATRED

has seen her gain experience and impart her wisdom in various roles at Coral, 888 Holdings and Entain. But in June 2021, she was named Learning & Development Partner at Lottoland, the Gibraltar-based firm offering online bets on the results of lottery draws.

There, Wood - who is also a Mental Health First Aid Instructor - was handed an all-encompassing role to shape the organisation’s strategy on diversity, inclusion and much more.

“My remit covers all learning at Lottoland including management training, values training, managing our Learning Experience Platform & Compliance Training,” she explained.

“I also head up our Company Ambassador Group, who volunteer to help drive our employer brand and diversity and inclusion activities.

“I lead on diversity and inclusion and on mental health support and wellbeing, while I also manage our operational training team and our Resilience Coaches.”

Her passage to the destination may have been an arduous one, but Wood’s efforts have been rewarded in a role that have allowed her ideas to flourish and Lottoland to develop as an organisation.

“Working at Lottoland has been by far my best experience in this industry,” she said.

“In my first year we have reached out to Lottolanders to get their feelings and wishes for a more inclusive culture and have enjoyed some brilliant, honest feedback.

“I have mainstreamed our diversity and inclusive initiatives, education and celebrations into our Company Ambassador Group and we have produced some great outputs, such as International Women’s Day and International Men's Day.

“We have created a family-friendly guide for activities in both Gibraltar and Andalucia, and created and hosted a Gibraltar-wide conference on Menopause Awareness. This is the first of its kind in Gibraltar.

“We led the sponsorship of the first ever Gibraltar Pride and helped the Mayor celebrate the multinational population of Gibraltar for Diwali, and also headline-sponsored Manilva Pride in Spain which unites the local Spanish and immigrant communities, LGBTQ and straight and cis gender people.

“The next big celebration for us is in September when we launch our ‘Festival of Nations’ - there, we intend to celebrate, educate and elevate the stories from our 35 and rising different nationalities working at Lottoland.”

The list doesn’t end there.

“We have introduced a joint parental leave policy as well as private health benefits for the symptoms of menopause and gender dysphoria along with a strong focus on supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our Lottolanders,” she

continued. “More recently, we have introduced a 10% reduction in our working hours for the summer months contributing to a better work life balance.

“All of this has been achieved from the empowerment and trust from my boss (Chief People Officer Leah Carnegie) and her C-suite colleagues, and the active involvement of my codiversity and inclusion lead (Head of Product, Christina Marie Giuffre) and our excellent company ambassadors.”

Despite only being in the role for just over a year, Wood has achieved plenty. However, she pinpoints Lottoland’s

WE HAVE INTRODUCED A 10% REDUCTION IN OUR WORKING HOURS FOR THE SUMMER MONTHS, CONTRIBUTING TO A BETTER WORK LIFE BALANCE WORKING AT LOTTOLAND HAS BEEN, BY FAR, MY BEST EXPERIENCE IN THIS INDUSTRY

response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as her proudest accomplishment.

“The way in which our C-suite and Project Management Office team leapt into action to protect as many friends and family of our Ukrainian colleagues… I was genuinely awestruck by the organisation and team work in play,” she said.

“That, more than anything else, made me proud to be a Lottolander.” •