LOTTO MAX is Canada’s biggest lottery, re-investing 100% of its profits back into communities: hospitals, charitable organisations, and non-profit corporations. However, the player base is ageing. Only 14% of players are between the ages 18 and 35, which puts this community contribution at risk.

The goal was to get young adults (18-35) to consider LOTTO MAX. We want them to see the brand as relevant to their lives to drive trial and get them playing. This was measured by:

Consideration:

20% lift in consideration

Trial:

30% redemption rate for free play ticket

On-going play:

Increase online registrations (players must register on the lottery website in order to play) for 18-35 year olds by 40% during campaign period

Lottery Ticket Sales:

Increase sales by 20% during the campaign period

Charitable Contribution:

Increase community contributions by our target

Taste of the Millionaire Life

Introducing LOTTO MAX Dream Bars. The first lottery ticket that gives you a taste of the millionaire life. We turned items only millionaires can afford into ice cream bars: Rare Oil Painting, Designer Handbag, Private Island and Grail Sneaker.

We partnered with leading food scientists at the University of Guelph and ice cream maker Creamery X to create authentic flavours. Gas chromatography technology evaluated over 300,000 flavour markers to replicate the exact notes of each item. For example, Rare Oil Painting has an olive oil base, finishing with mid-tannins and a hint of oil paint.

We showed up at the summer’s most anticipated events, serving LOTTO MAX Dream Bars from our Ice Cream truck. Each bar had a QR code redeemable for one lottery ticket, making it potentially the most valuable ice cream bar in history with a value of up to $70 million.

Connect to their entertainment choices

Our young adult (18-35) target thinks there are better ways to spend their money than on the lottery. But they do spend on food, allocating 44% of their monthly expenditures to eating out. We needed to bring them interesting foods where they were going to be in the summer of 2022 and get them excited to play LOTTO MAX.

Get them dreaming

In today’s economy, the chance of becoming a millionaire can seem out of reach. We wanted to intercept our target’s everyday moments and inspire them to dream big.

Give Back

Our target is more likely to play if their money goes to a good cause. All proceeds from LOTTO MAX Dream Bars went directly to the community, raising money for Friends of Ruby, a local charity providing support to LGBTQ+ youth, reflective of OLG’s core values of giving back to Ontario.

Our campaign had four phases:

Launch

We made consumers aware of LOTTO MAX Dream Bars through OLV, Social, Influencers, PR, a BlogTO partnership, and partner content.

Intercept

We brought our ice cream truck to the biggest concerts of the summer, like Harry Styles and Post Malone, and at the hottest locations around the province. Influencers and tastemakers drove campaign engagement through social media, PR, and activation.

Engage

The street art-inspired activation area, featuring a giant melted popsicle bench, encouraged consumers to share their experiences online. To keep attendees dreaming, we continued to release new flavours on social media in response to cultural moments.

Purchase

Every bar was redeemable for a LOTTO MAX ticket. Every ticket was a winner for the community, with all proceeds going back to Friends of Ruby. Ticket redemption drove account sign-ups helping us foster a 1:1 relationship with our target.

The Dream Bars campaign got our target dreaming of the Millionaire Life and got them playing LOTTO MAX. With over 5,000 bars sold, Dream Bars successfully appealed to our young adult target::

Consideration: 50% lift in consideration of the brand

Trial: Doubled our free play ticket redemption rate to 56%

On-going play: 91% increase of online registrations during the campaign period, indicating an intent for future online purchases and creating a 1:1 relationship with our target

Lottery Ticket Sales: 126% increase in weekly sales during the campaign period

It also got the attention of our target audience:

56,299,417 impressions

100% positive or neutral sentiment

2.5x industry engagement

And made a difference in the community:

Charitable Contribution: 36% increase in community contributions by our target

The Dream Bars campaign created a new way to play for a new generation of players.