Loto-Québec – Mise-O-Jeu
Sustained Success (BRONZE)
Client Credits: Loto-Quebec
Lynda Zuliani, Director- Advertising and Business Communication
Louis Beaudet, Director- Sports Betting
Marie-Claudel Lalonde, Acting Director- Advertising and Business Communication
Sylvie Chartré, Project Manager and Media Specialist
Agency Credits: Saint Jacques Vallée Y&R;
ÉLYSE BOULET, Vice-President, Account Services
ARIANE-ANDRÉE BEAUDET, Account Director
ÉTIENNE LEBEAU-PAYETTE, Account Manager
ALEX LEFEBVRE – Account Manager
DAVID SERRA, Account Executive
PIERRE NOLIN, Vice-President, Executive Creative Director
PATRICK MICHAUD, Creative Director and writer
SÉBASTIEN MAHEU, Writer
JEAN-FRANÇOIS LEBLANC, Art director
MATHIEU LACOMBE, Art director
EMILIE TRUDEAU-RABINOVITZ, Producer
TP1, Digital strategy
MEC MONTREAL, Media Planning Agency
COSSETTE MEDIA, Media Buying Agency
SOMA, Production house
BOOGIE STUDIO, Sound design
Section I — BASIC INFORMATION
| Business Results Period (Consecutive Months): | April 2013 – July 2015 |
| Start of Advertising/Communication Effort: | October 1st 2013 |
| Base Period as a Benchmark: | October 1st 2012 to March 31st 2013. |
Section II — SITUATION ANALYSIS
a) Overall Assessment
In Quebec, all lottery products are under Loto-Quebec, a government service. Therefore, all products are basically without competition. Even so, back in 2012, the lottery industry had started to change drastically: online gambling sites began to multiply at a rapid pace, changing the rules of the game as they were – given their format – accessible to all. Online poker was also a huge game changer with the important popularity of the game and ability to convert gamblers.
Customer’s behaviour too had started to change. With so many new and more engaging options available for entertainment, the lottery industry, which had previously relied mostly on an aging population, needed to redefine itself and find a way to interest a new and younger target. In essence, it needed to address Millenials’ aspirations as Generation Y did not consume entertainment products or advertising in the same fashion as previous generations did.
Mise-o-jeu, Loto-Québec sports betting product, newly available online and on mobile was already reaching part of this younger (20-35 years), almost exclusively male and highly multiethnic target. The brand traditionally advertised to more niche bettors with targeted online advertising. And after a steady climb in recent years, awareness of Mise-o-jeu fell between 2011 and 2012 (from 52% to 45%). The level of involvement from players (through knowledge of the sports and how it can influence the potential gains by the choices made) were the elements that distinguished its offering and that could potentially make it appealing to a larger crowd of Millenials.
In order to grow, it was imperative to reach a new audience while dealing with a certain distrust from the general public concerning the perception of the sports betting offer. And to do that, we had to be there more often lotteries are impulsive products, How could we then make the brand more sympathetic and appealing to potential players in a context where international competition was literally invading the Web and investing in massive traditionnal campaigns and spokespersons known worldwide? The stakes were high for Mise-o-jeu, which is sold exclusively in Quebec, had a limited budget and needed to deal with many legal constraints compared to its competitors.
b) Resulting Business Objectives
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
2013 - 2014
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Increase sales from $49.8 M to $55 M.
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Increase awareness above norm (35%-45%) for men aged 18-49.
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Resonate with Millenials and sports enthusiasts in Quebec in order to expend the clientele.
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Sustain the bets throughout the year (it is possible to bet on more than hockey!).
2014 – 2015
- Maintain sales in declining lottery market.
- Increase acquisition and conversion to the Mise-o-jeu website by at least 33%.
- Stimulate mobile app download to up to 8% in order to increase online sales or the amount of barcodes readings from the app in brick and mortar sales points.
- Educate consumers about the product.
- Sustain the bets throughout the year.
c) Annual Media Budget
$2 – $3 million
d) Geographic Area
Province of Quebec (Canada)
Section III — STRATEGIC THINKING
a) Analysis and Insight
For sports fans, and not only for professional bettors, betting on sports is much more than the lure of easy gain. It is about the excitement of preparing one’s bets, the satisfaction in knowing the sport and putting that knowledge to work. It is also about the camaraderie and the friendly competition between sports fans. Furthermore, sports betting is also different from other lotteries as it is deeply engaging for players. It is not just about picking numbers or letting fate or chance do its work. Whether superstitious or analytical, or whether they simply use common sense, all sports fan have their own special technique of making predictions. But not all are willing to place a formal bet in a prediction game as it seem to some quite complicated.
To break down the barrier of placing the first bet, while still being relevant to more experienced bettors, we wanted sports fans to really experience the thrill and pleasure of sports betting, its rituals and competitive spirit rather than relying on dreams or greed like every other lottery. Our strategy focused on the intensity and excitement that comes before, during and after placing a bet on Mise-o-jeu.
We wrapped up our approach with the tagline: Sport is more intense with Mise-o-jeu. Wanna Bet?
b) Communication Strategy
Compared to other lotteries that showcase the amount to be won or how you can spend your prize, and to compete with other betting options which typically leverage worldwide celebrities to elicit attention, we believed that the Mise-o-jeu brand would benefit from an approach that focusses on how it is actually simply fun – for regular guys – to play. How exciting it is to prepare your bets and brag about it with your friends. We felt that this could provide us with a different and relevant way of communicating with our target. Millenials crave new experiences and this is rooted in the experience, the involvement of the players, instead of the end benefit, the gain itself.
In order for sports fans to experience the thrill of sports betting and to convey that “sport is more intense with Mise-o-jeu”, we needed to find a way to break through to Quebec’s Gen Y and sports enthusiasts and create a platform which would resonate in our market. We also needed to leverage a storyline that would be media agnostic as our target consumes media on many plateforms, traditionnal and digital and which could live on all paid and owned medias to create dialogue and engagement.
Section IV — KEY EXECUTIONAL ELEMENTS
a)Media Used
2013 – 2014
– Videos (tv + online video)
- 1 x 90-sec. launch spot
- 4 x 30-sec spots
– Radio
- 3 x 30-sec. spots
– Web banners and search
– Social medias
– OOH
2014 – 2015
– Videos (tv + online video)
- 6 x 30-sec spots
– Web banners and search
– Social medias
– Content Strategy
– Experiential
- Mise-o-jeu Quiz (in-house medias through the Cage aux Sports network)
- Photo booth events
– Web serie
- 2 of 6 episodes (4 other episodes to be launched in August and September)
b)Creative Discussion
2013 – 2014
In order to deliver that compelling story for Mise-o-jeu, we started off by creating a composite of amusing stories just like a sit-com. This sitcom would show three friends with colorful personalities to whom Gen Y sports fans could relate. Humor is big in Quebec. Especially for our target. And Quebecers are fond of their local personalities. Played by a trio made ??up of all-Quebec stand-up comics Jean-Thomas Jobin (analytical), Adib Alkhalidey (intuitive) and Dominic Paquet (the straight man), our three protagonists shared the pleasure of sports betting before, during and after the games. Very much like a sitcom, not so much like advertising. Adopting a tone and a visual style in tune with the genre (e.g. canned laughter) and making the brand friendly and accessible. We focused on the characters, we laughed at their foibles, we followed their evolution. All the action revolved around the sports and events, the betting, the characters’ friendship. And everything took place in one of our protagonist’s apartment.
Between buddies, we nag and aggravate each other…with deep respect of course! Solid fun! Every execution would end with our tagline : Mise-o-jeu. Wanna Bet?
VIDEOS
Our characters evolve in a cozy and resolutely “’manly” apartment. Same guys, same place all the time to build awareness, brand attribution and, eventually, brand equity. It also allowed us to film several executions in one day. Which was then allowing us to have lots of executions to air in rotation. Allowing us to maximise the budget while having a story that would evolve just like a real sitcom. The sitcom would be launched with a 90 sec. execution on tv and on the web that would let us establish our characters. To increase awareness of all you can bet on, we created icons for all the sports and events that are displayed at the end of each ad.
TV 1 – LAUNCH SPOT (90-sec.)