Public Gaming International • September/October 2014
68
tery and Retailer. By working with retailers
on their terms, by including retailers in the
lotteries’ strategic planning process so retail-
ers have more advance notice of new game
launches and promotional campaigns, by
melding the ideas and objectives of retailers
and lotteries, we can create the alignment
and synergies that will produce an outcome
that is beneficial for everyone, including the
players. As an industry, lottery operators
and their suppliers could also help retailers
implement new technologies such as NFC
(near field communication) or mobile ap-
plications that can tell players about specials
that are being run in a store where they are
near. The concept of leveraging technology
and innovation to connect with the consumer
wherever and whenever the consumer wants
is something that will help retailers build
their entire business. Helping retailers ac-
complish their broader, even non-lottery
objectives, will put us into the true partner-
ship role that will secure the inside track for
Lottery as retailers think about their strategic
priorities. Lottery is in the great position to
help retailers understand how and why the
Omni-Channel model will help their entire
business, and then to help them implement it.
How can we defuse some of the systemic
distrust and skepticism on the part of retail-
ers—how can we break through the discord
to forge a more cooperative, mutually sup-
portive relationship with retailers?
T. Little:
Instead of thinking about how to
convince retailers to do more things to help
Lottery, we could engage as true partners and
focus on helping retailers accomplish objec-
tives that are important to them. Lottery is
just a part of their business. Fortunately, the
Omni-Channel model and connecting with
the consumer on all levels and through all
media and channels are objectives that apply
to their entire business. Let’s help our retail-
ers figure that out.
Of course we want the end result to be an
increase in lottery sales. But the technologi-
cal tools and strategic insights that apply to
our lottery-specific goals also apply to the
retailers’ broader goals of positioning their
business for long-term sustainable growth.
Let’s leverage that to the advantage of both
Lottery and Retailers and help each other
accomplish mutually beneficial objectives.
This could even open the door to new forms
of collaboration in which the retailer literally
invests more for the privilege of applying
Lottery’s technological know-how to their
big-picture goals of connecting with the con-
sumer who buys all varieties of product from
their stores. That “investment” could take the
form of just more focus and consideration
for Lottery when it comes to POS’s and pro-
motional profiles. It could take the form of
better engagement on cross-promotions that
will drive lottery sales. The point is, we need
to think out-of-the-box and see how a broad-
er perspective on our part will yield huge
benefits when it comes to engaging retailers
and optimizing sales of lottery products.
The big chain stores seem to want self-
service vending machines. But many lot-
tery marketing exec’s are concerned that
the lottery player wants the personal-touch
of a retail clerk. What do you think about
the future of self-service vending machines?
T. Little:
The personal touch of good retail-
ers sets retailers apart fromother channels and
the impact of that can’t be overstated. How-
ever that approach does not fit in the business
model of the big-box store, and other types
of retail outlets. Self-service is the obvious
solution. Self-service vending is becoming
an art. We are developing technology that
makes the self-service experience very excit-
ing. We think our ITVM, DREAMTOUCH
™
,
is an example for how self-serve can be used
as a promotional tool, a vehicle to excite and
engage the consumer. The personal touch of
the retailer will always be the most powerful
selling method. But we need to develop addi-
tional solutions like DREAMTOUCH
™
, that
both appeal to the consumer and fit into the
strategic objectives of our retailers.
More importantly, we need to reframe these
questions from being an either-or proposition
to being a both-and solution. That is our focus
at INTRALOT. We have developed, and will
continue to develop, an entire spectrum of
solutions that fit an entire spectrum of needs
and markets and distributional venues and
media. It’s not about self-serve or personal
selling, or internet versus land-based … it’s
about the Omni-Channel model which gives
the consumers the option to interact with the
merchant on whatever channel or medium or
venue they choose. The beauty of this fact is
that it’s not just for the benefit of Lottery; it
is clearly the direction that retailers need to
go to fulfill their own mission and build their
own businesses to succeed with the next gen-
eration of consumers.
u
Tom Little Interview
…
continued from page 45
brand, in order to do that.
Now that Mega Millions and Powerball
are both sold in all lottery states, why is it still
necessary to have two separate management
groups for those two games? Why not recon-
stitute as one single management group?
P. Otto:
The MUSL model is quite differ-
ent than the Mega Millions model. There are
Mega Millions directors who feel strongly
that the volunteer system and limited budget
that we operate under works well and there
may not be a reason to change it. MUSL is
an organization with three times as many
members as Mega Millions and MUSL
serves its members well. There are material
differences between the two different deci-
sion-making models. I would not say that
one is better than the other. But I would say
that it may be difficult to reconcile those dif-
ferences to the satisfaction of all forty-five
lotteries. I think it’s time to look toward a
new “third” model of governance.
As we just discussed, the challenges of
getting forty-five lotteries, the vendors, and
the stakeholders to all agree on every single
point of action is difficult. Those challenges
will continue to exist, though, regardless of
the governance structure. I think the U.S. lot-
tery directors have done quite well at shep-
herding this industry along, and working
together to build the national games into the
$8 billion dollar revenue stream it is now and
the foundation for even more growth in the
future that it represents. We will continue to
discuss ways to enhance the process of game
management and innovation. And that will
include discussions about governance. In the
meantime, we will collaborate and work to-
gether as we have always done, and continue
to innovate and bring new games and promo-
tional strategies to market that will drive sales
and net profits for Lottery beneficiaries.
u
Paula Otto Interview
…
continued from page 18
