Design and management of an effective product portfolio must be guided by the needs of each consumer segment. The IGT team partners with lottery product managers to utilize our deep experience integrating industry best practices with jurisdiction-specific consumer and retailer insights to design the optimal target portfolio. This includes specifying the price range and optimal number of games to offer, the distribution of themes, which families to offer, the approach to seasonal games, and the “refresh frequency” for each component of the portfolio.

Once the general structure of the portfolio has been optimized, each individual game must be designed to deliver a compelling player experience. Game characteristics such as brand, price, theme, play mechanics (play style), payout percentage, prize allocation, callouts, and graphics, including the colors, will have to be specifically designed to differentiate each unique game from the rest of the portfolio, so that all consumer segment needs are addressed and fulfilled.

Progressive marketing and advertising programs are critical to creating awareness and affinity among players and non-players. Because marketing investments are among the largest annual expenditures of a lottery, it is important that every dollar spent on marketing create a positive return on investment. IGT’s PlayerXP process for marketing plan development integrates quantitative data with qualitative insights, enabling lottery marketers to drive brand health, purchase intent, and, most importantly, incremental revenue. The PlayerXP Workshop helps lottery marketing departments understand the steps a player takes in the purchase funnel, allowing marketers to speed a consumer’s progression through the purchase experience and to invest Lottery marketing dollars more efficiently.

Purchase convenience and product visibility are key factors in any successful lottery growth program. The strong correlation between retailer density and sales per capita is well established throughout our industry. Two of the highest-performing instant lottery programs in the world – Massachusetts and Italy – have retailer density of more than 1 retailer per 1,000 inhabitants. In addition to retailer density, the in-store path-to-purchase experience can be stimulated with in-store displays, incentive programs, salesforce effectiveness/optimization, salesforce training programs and co-op programs with corporate chains. IGT has teams of highly experienced Business Development Associates as well as shopper marketing experts to optimize the in-store environment.

Ticket distribution is a sometimes overlooked element of the value chain; in fact, product placement is critical because consumers cannot buy what they cannot see. Retail shelf space is often the single greatest bottleneck that lotteries face in their operations and optimizing its use is a fundamental enabler of lottery profit growth. IGT’s distribution operation is based on insightful analytics, suite of performance assessment Tools and an automatic ordering system.

As consumer shopping habits change to a mobile-first lifestyle, players expect and demand more engaging experiences from their lottery games. IGT has created a progressive suite of Interactive products that offer lottery players convenience and wagering opportunities based on market regulations. Convenience apps involve players anonymously and provide relevant information about lottery games, winning number checks and nearest retail locations as well as more progressive options such as second chance draws, play-for-fun games and social media programs. Advanced features allow player registrations, online ticket purchases for both draw games and eInstants while ensuring popular retail brands are also available in a digital environment.

Learn More about Interactive