OLG is betting on trendy apparel to sway the vast majority of young Ontarians who don’t play the lottery, an effort that comes as it pushes a new message about the good it does in the province.
The crown corp that runs Ontario’s lottery is teaming up with Toronto fashion brand Mr. Saturday to release a “Dream Drop” clothing collection, building on the “dream to the max” dream coach positioning it has previously established for the Lotto Max game. Each piece in the limited-time 400-piece collection is also scannable like a real lottery ticket, and good for one $5 Lotto Max ticket per week for a full year.
The collection is available for purchase online starting today, and to celebrate the launch of the “Dream Drop,” Lotto Max and Mr. Saturday hosted a pop-up shop this past weekend on Toronto’s trendy Ossington Ave.
“We are attempting to attract a younger target to play the lottery,” says Marty Hoefkes, ACD at FCB, which created the campaign. “Currently only 14% of adults under 35 play Lotto Max.”
As Hoefkes explains, shopping behaviours are skewing very digital, so lottery just isn’t often top of mind for younger consumers, who associate the lottery with something you play when going into the store. “Now that you can play online and there is a more innovative focus with our offerings and campaigns, we’d hope to see these numbers increase,” he says.
Consumers were able to hear about the pop up event via social media, press, and through pedestrian traffic in the city’s West Queen West area. Press and influencers were also invited to the event to create some additional buzz and awareness for the general public.
Hoefkes tells strategy that, since idea is based on the premise of “look like a million and maybe win it too,” it needed to partner with a premium brand to bring this idea to life. Other criteria included being local to Ontario, being well loved amongst a younger demo and having a “cause” component, as younger players are more likely to play if they knew their money was going to a good cause.
By partnering with Mr. Saturday, all profits are supporting BLACK HXOUSE – a charity that supports black creators in the TV and film industry and whose mandate is to support the development of the economic growth of the most vulnerable communities.
“Since OLG is a company which gives back 100% of profits to Ontario, doing good for Ontario has always been a core value,” Hoefkes says.
The pop up coincides with the launch of OLG’s “Confetti” campaign, which aims to demonstrate how playing any of its lottery games does good for Ontario. A refresh of a classic approach for lottery marketing, the spot takes a cinematic approach to visually represent how, every time a person plays with OLG, “a confetti storm of good” is delivered to the province.
In the last five years, OLG says it has provided $9 billion back to the province for its key priority programs. The campaign is running on TV, online video and social channels.
When it comes to the launch timing for both campaigns, Hoefkes says there isn’t really a seasonality to playing the lottery – weekly sales are fairly consistent – but do increase when the jackpots are very high.
The campaign strategy and creative for both campaigns was conceived by FCB Canada, while its Segal Licensing division facilitated the relationship with Mr. Saturday. Media was handled by MediaCom.
Recently, OLG, with help from BBDO Canada, launched a campaign to get people back into its casinos. It has also been running campaign to promote its Proline offering (both online and in-store) ahead of new entrants to the sports betting space being allowed to start their businesses in Ontario on April 4.
