When I worked at the SC Education Lottery, our marketing department saw the good, the bad and the ugly in our players. The good, was that we saw great sales among people playing scratch-offs and the draw games. The bad, was that we saw people not exercising the best use of their money. The ugly, was that we saw people struggle with a gambling addiction.
3-WAY SEGMENTED MARKETING
It was interesting to see a company at this scale segment their marketing into the 3 different areas to bring awareness and trust with their players. They segmented their marketing by (1.) Promoting products. (2.) Highlighting beneficiaries such as college students, who got scholarships through funds raised by the lottery.
(3.) Provide a resource for gambling addiction.
MARKETING FOR GAMBLING ADDITION
The SC Education Lottery had a campaign called “Play Responsibly” to help those who have a gambling addiction. Though it was mandated by the Lottery Commission to have this type of initiative, but recently, the SC Education Lottery took challenge to not only elevate this area in their branding, but embraced it. This is to show their players that helping people with a gambling addiction is just as important than winning a top prize off a scratch-off.
“BETTERU” CAMPAIGN
“BetterU”, which stands for Better University, is now SC Education Lottery’s own new personalized initiative that provides more education and resources about gambling addiction. In this campaign, they’ve made billboards, brochures, a social media campaign and a commercial to help spread this message. The SC Education Lottery recognizes that its players make the lottery successful. So, they’ve made it their job to make this area of marketing speak just as loud as the products they sell. So, Lottery Marketing Directors, don’t bet the house on just by marketing your product, but invest in your customer’s engagement with your product. This so your lottery agency doesn’t become a part of a problem, but be a resource to help those with a gambling addition.