The Illinois Lottery, alongside its operating partner Camelot Illinois, has selected Dentsu Creative as its creative agency of record (AOR).
As reported in AdAge, Dentsu has been tasked with building the lottery’s player base and increasing revenue for the state of Illinois for K-12 education and other causes.
Signing a three-year contract, the Chicago-based agency has been handed an annual media budget of around $20m, exclusive of creative agency fees and production costs.
Laurel Flat, Dentsu’s US President who overlooks the network’s Chicago hub, commented: “We’re out to create the future of what marketing can be at Dentsu Creative, and the Illinois Lottery’s business isn’t just traditional brick and mortar retail – there’s fun to be had across retail, digital and omniplay offerings.
“For the lottery to show up and stand out in new ways, it demands creative and media disciplines lock arms with the brand.”
Dentsu first started media AOR work with the lottery in October 2019, and will take over from Chicago independent OKRP, which has a policy not to defend accounts that go into review.
Four agencies took part in the review that was issued in May, and the decision followed two rounds of pitches.
The partnership’s first challenge will be to grow the lottery’s digital presence through its ilottery platform, which saw sales exceed $191m for the first three quarters of 2022.
This enabled the lottery to return $834m to the state in FY2022, its highest-ever fiscal year contribution.
Dave Reger, Dentsu Executive Creative Director, added: “It was evident our media specialists had built a profound partnership with Illinois Lottery and Camelot.
“Being embedded with media from kick-off gave us a unique perspective to the opportunities and pitfalls facing the business.”
The partnership’s first campaign is expected to launch in Spring 2023.
