Raising ticket sales by 6%

South Dakota Lottery

The South Dakota Lottery has contributed $2.58 billion to South Dakota since it was established in 1987 and is the second largest contributor to the State General Fund. Yet the Lottery had an unfavorable view among the state’s residents.

Or did it? After extensive research, the L&S team found the South Dakota Lottery’s overall brand perception to be indifferent; in fact, about 45% of respondents said their view was neutral.

Year
  • 2015 - 2020
Awards
  • ADDY Award: Best of Class, Film, Video & Sound
  • ADDY Award: Judge's Choice, Film, Video & Sound
  • ADDY Award: Gold, Film, Video & Sound
  • ADDY Award: Silver, Film, Video & Sound
  • ADDY Award: Silver, Film, Video & Sound
  • ADDY Award: Silver, Film, Video & Sound
  • ADDY Award: Best of Class, Sound Design
  • ADDY Award: Gold, Television
  • ADDY Award: Gold, Out of Home
  • ADDY Award: Silver, Social Media
  • ADDY Award: Silver, Integrated Campaign
  • Telly Award: Bronze, General: Miscellaneous
  • Telly Award: Bronze, Campaign - Promotional
  • Telly Award: Bronze, TV
  • ADDY Award: Silver, Radio
  • W3 Award: General Marketing - Banner, Display & Rich Media Advertising

About 45% of respondents said their view of the Lottery was neutral.

Woman looking at board for lottery focus group

While the numbers might sound concerning, we saw this as an opportunity. It’s much easier to change neutral opinions than negative ones. We also uncovered new insights for players. Consumers felt that playing wasn’t “worth it” because they were unaware of the Lottery’s benefits to the state and the winning that was happening every day.

We aimed to remind consumers of how the Lottery provides fun for players along with good for our state.

two people looking at scratch ticket

With this in mind, we aimed to remind consumers of how the Lottery provides fun for players along with good for our state. It’s entertainment with a bigger purpose in mind. It’s fun for a good cause. All in all, the South Dakota Lottery is “Good Fun.”

SD Lottery old and new logo
Good Fun examples
Good Fun color scheme

Leveraging the direction of “Good Fun,” we helped the Lottery launch a new brand complete with an updated logo, website, signage, point-of-purchase materials, radio, video, digital messaging and more.

SD Lottery money bag
SD Lottery coozie
Lottery scratch off billboard
Lottery gas station pump topper
Sign of a flamingo

Quick-witted, vibrant and fun, the creative drew attention by using fun facts highlighting the Lottery’s winners and tying the money from the Lottery back to the good it does for the state. TV concepts included a scratch-off campaign embracing those lucky little moments we cherish in life, and other game promotions included “Lucky for Life” messaging that embraced all the good fun you can have with a Lottery win.

After giving the new brand time to resonate, the South Dakota Lottery decided to check in with a perception benchmarking study to gauge their progress, and the results were impressive.

Overall, the South Dakota Lottery has seen a 76% increase in brand favorability, and 84% of respondents recalled seeing South Dakota Lottery messaging in the last year.

But brand perception wasn’t our only benchmark. We also needed the campaign to generate sales – and good golly, it did. The South Dakota Lottery saw a 6% increase in sales from 2017 to 2018 and then again in 2019. In addition, instant ticket sales rose 16% in 2018, with another 7% increase in 2019.

The lottery saw a 6% increase in sales with instant ticket sales up 16%.

Good Fun t-shirt

In addition to ticket sales, player frequency has increased for all product lines, and the South Dakota Lottery continues to launch new games and strategies to reach new players. Now that’s good fun.

 

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