New York Lottery Wins Industr Awards For Creative Advertising Campaigns & Player Outreach

LongIsland.com

The Lottery was one of only eight brands from around the world to win a Gold award.

Print Email

Screenshot from ad: "Get Drawn Together - Dog Wedding."

Photo by: New York Lottery, via YouTube.

Schenectady, NY - October 20, 2016 - The New York Lottery recently received four Lottery industry awards from the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) for its #Unclaimed missing millionaire campaign, the “Dog Wedding” Quick Draw ad, the “Get Drawn Together” campaign and the new Play by Play digital newsletter for Lottery players. In addition, the 4A’s advertising agency trade association awarded the Lottery with a Gold Jay Chiat Award for Strategic Excellence for the “You’d Make a Way Better Rich Person” campaign.

“The New York Lottery is a worldwide brand showcasing the Empire State because of innovative, creative and influential advertising,” said Dana Idema, Director of Advertising for the New York State Gaming Commission’s Division of the Lottery.  “The Lottery and our advertising partner McCann New York are proud of these recognitions and we will continue to produce groundbreaking campaigns that capture the world’s attention.”

The Lottery’s #Unclaimed campaign earned the Hickey Award for its creative search for a “missing millionaire.” An unknown player purchased a Cash4Life ticket worth $7,000,000 from a Brooklyn deli in July 2015 but never came forward to claim the jackpot prize. The guerilla marketing campaign involved canvassing the Brooklyn neighborhood around the Milky Way Deli with fliers to try to find the winner of the lucky ticket as well as a social media video to draw attention to the missing ticket.

NASPL judges recognized the Lottery’s “Get Drawn Together” campaign that demonstrated how ordinary Lottery players get “drawn together” in social situations to play Quick Draw (examples here and here). The campaign, which was cited for its outstanding advertising and business communication achievements, featured a “Dog Wedding” television commercial and a “Muffgels” radio spot that inspired a recent craze for a cross between a muffin and a bagel.

The final NASPL award won was for a new Play by Play digital newsletter to Lottery players spotlighting topics such as new instant game promotions and a new mobile app.  The newsletter is emailed monthly to nearly 400,000 Lottery players.

In addition to the four NASPL top awards, the New York Lottery was a finalist in six additional advertising categories for its Quick Draw and instant game products. This is the tenth consecutive year the New York Lottery has won NASPL awards. A full list of award nominees and winners may be found here.

With nearly 500 entries from 43 lotteries across North America, this year’s awards were judged by more than 25 creative directors from lotteries and their advertising agencies.

The 4A’s, the leading trade association representing the advertising agency business, awarded the Lottery and McCann New York with the Gold Jay Chiat Award for Strategic Excellence in its Regional Strategy category for the Lottery’s “You’d Make a Way Better Rich Person” campaign (example here). The campaign showed hyperbolic examples of some of the eccentricities of the already-rich, and how New Yorkers could do a better job with their millions of dollars.

The Lottery was one of only eight brands from around the world to win a Gold award. The Jay Chiat Awards honor strategic thinking and recognize advertising professionals who develop breakthrough insights and initiate creative campaigns that inspire both consumers and business around the globe. The judging panels were comprised of top industry leaders.

About the New York Lottery
The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.30 billion in fiscal year 2015-2016 to help support education in New York State.  The Lottery’s contribution represents 14 percent of total state education aid to local school districts. New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education.  It takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.

About McCann New York
McCann New York is a unit of both McCann Worldgroup, a leading global marketing service company, and McCann, the world’s largest advertising agency network.  McCann Worldgroup also includes MRM//McCann (digital marketing/relationship management), Momentum Worldwide (total brand experience), McCann Health (professional/dtc communications), CRAFT (global adaptation and production), UM (media management), Weber Shandwick (public relations), FutureBrand (consulting/design), ChaseDesign (shopper marketing) and PMK-BNC (entertainment/brand/popular culture). McCann is #3 on the 2016 Ad Age A-List and McCann New York is a Creativity Innovators Standout.

About NASPL
The North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) was founded in 1971. Evolving from an informal exchange of information among three pioneering lottery directors, the organization has now grown into an active association representing 52 lottery organizations.

About the 4A's Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence
Now in its 20th year, the Jay Chiat Awards are global awards recognizing the best strategic thinking in marketing, media and advertising around the world. The 4A's is the catalyst for bringing together the right people in the right places at the right time to address the advertising industry's most critical business issues. It provides leadership, advocacy, guidance and community to its members and the industry at large, with proprietary access to the people, information and tools needed to make smarter management decisions. Its mission is to help agencies become more successful.