Public Gaming Magazine November-December 2015

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8 // PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // November/December 2015
From the Publisher
By Paul Jason, Publisher
Public Gaming International Magazine
Major consolidation on the supply-side of the industry began
a couple years ago. The fruits of that integration are now in full
evidence at the most recent industry trade shows like NASPL,
G2E, and PGRI Lottery Expo. Team Lottery and its commercial
partners are grabbing the front-runner position in a games-of-
chance market-place that is rich with potential. Trying to connect
the dots between the big-picture industry issues and the para-
digm shift that consolidation of commercial suppliers ushers in
prompted a few related questions and observations …
What exactly is the difference between “multi-channel” and
“omni-channel?” Is it just that “multi” means more than one,
and “omni” means everywhere, so that “omni” is just bigger than
“multi?” The general biz’ literature doesn’t think so. It’s talking
about how the omni-channel model redirects our focus from the
supply-side of this equation to the user side of the equation; from
how the products are being distributed to how, where, and by
whom they are being consumed. It’s about linking concrete and
measurable user-behavior/game-playing activity to the underly-
ing motivational drivers. As the central hub, proprietor, and con-
cert-master of its customer data, the government-lottery operator
should and will remain in control. But the role of the commercial
partners in supporting that process of data-integration and curat-
ing will be critical as well. Now that the focus is on the real source
of that data, the consumer, the challenge is to unify all sources of
data-capture, and to aggregate and synthesize that data into the in-
tegrated mosaic that becomes a reflection of how and why people
behave like they do. And to convert that into value for lottery play-
ers. Integration and consolidation on the commercial supply-side
of the business should contribute to accomplishing that goal.
Similarly, the media-front is also undergoing massive shift.
Government-lottery may not even aspire to the one-to-one end-
game that links Big-Data to the individual user account and the
proverbial “market of one.” But we need to be aware that is
where the world is headed. The modern consumer expects com-
mercial and brand relationships to be personalized to her tastes.
There’s lots of emotionally-charged discourse about the issue of
personal privacy. In the end, though, the consumer will gravi-
tate towards value, efficiency, convenience, personalization of
messaging, customization of product, and the “I get what I want
when I want it” mentality. This is a revolution in marketing. As
an industry, we will forge our own ways to bond with our cus-
tomers. But somehow we need to adapt to the shift towards a fo-
cus on the underlying consumer-experience of the brand, apply
new models to segment play-styles and motivations, and acquire
a deeper understanding of the countless attributes that surround
the experience of actually playing the game. In their articles in
this issue, Jennifer Welshons and Ulli Applebaum speak to
these complexities much more eloquently than I do!
Government-lottery may never be involved in skill-games,
Fantasy-Sports games, or any number of the new game styles
that will be entering the market in the coming months and years.
But we all should be keenly aware of the way that consumer
play-styles are evolving, because the lottery-player is also a
consumer and she does not exist in a vacuum. And further to
that, Kevin Mullally provides perspective on the challenge
that regulators face in keeping up with changing technologies
and game-styles.
It’s my hope and expectation that industry consolidation will
equip us with a more comprehensive and robust set of tools with
which to take full advantage of the incredible potential of a con-
sumer market-place that has always loved lottery games! Jay
Gendron drills down on the issue of how the market-place is
changing, opportunities for delivering more value to consumers
and retailers alike, and clarifies the IGT vision for its govern-
ment-lottery customers.
Congratulations to the newest members of the Lottery Industry
Hall of Fame. The biographies of Jay Gendron, Ioannis Kata-
kis, Stavros Michael, Jim O’Brien, Douglas Pollard, Thierry
Pujol, Tom Shaheen, Philippe Vlaemminck, can be found on
page 48. The ceremony to induct the North American members
was held at the NASPL Conference in Dallas Oct 15. There are
fabulous photos of the ceremony on page 56. And there are over
a hundred photos from the NASPL Dallas event. There are lots
of fabulous events in Europe that everyone attends, one of which
will be the venue for the ceremony inducting the Global mem-
bers of the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame.
John Musgrave has been the Director of the West Virginia
Lottery for 19 years. During that time, John’s calm and decisive
leadership has been a beacon for the entire U.S. industry. John
retired in October and we will miss him! Come to Smart-Tech
NYC to wish John and Becky Musgrave well in retirement.
PGRI Smart-Tech will be held at the Park Lane Hotel on Central
Park South in New York: April 5, 6, and 7. It is always a fabulous
event and we hope you can join us. Visit
for conference information and updates, links for registration and
hotel room reservations, etc. ■