LOTTO MAX is Ontario’s biggest lottery, re-investing 100% of its profits back into communities: hospitals, charitable organizations, and non-profit corporations. However, the player base is ageing. Only 14% of players are between the ages 18 and 35, compared to 29% of the population, which puts this community contribution at risk.

After our previous campaign, Dream Drop,  successfully engaged a younger audience, we wanted to maintain momentum and continue to build consideration with our target.

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

To increase the relevance of our brand and get our target playing the lottery, we created the first lottery ticket that gives you a taste of the millionaire life, turning items only millionaires can afford into delicious ice cream bars.  

Our campaign connected to 3 core insights:

Connect to their entertainment choices

Our 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 on eating out. To relevantly connect, we needed to bring them interesting foods where they were going to be, at the most anticipated events of the summer, 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 they know their money goes to a good cause. All of the proceeds from LOTTO MAX Dream Bars went directly to the community, raising money for Friends of Ruby, a local charity providing a welcoming space for LGBTQ2SIA+ youth through counseling, housing, assistance and activities, reflective of OLG’s core values of giving back.  

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 served Dream Bars from an Ice Cream truck. Each bar had a QR code for one lottery ticket, making it potentially the most valuable ice cream bar in history, with a value of up to $70 million.

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 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.

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

●      Consideration: 50% lift in consideration of the brand more than doubling our objective.

●      Trial: Achieved a free play ticket redemption rate to 56% compared to our 30% objective

●      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 digital sales during the campaign period, six times our campaign objective.

It 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. LOTTO MAX Dream Bars was recently recognized with a Silver Lion and two shortlists in Cannes.