Allwyn Lotto campaign asks nation 'will you be next?'

The campaign - created in collaboration with VCCP London - is the first piece of work launched by new operator of The National Lottery - Allwyn

By creative salon

31 January 2024

Allwyn, the first new operator of The National Lottery in nearly 30 years, has unveiled its opening campaign, 'Will you be next?', as it takes over the reins on 1 February. Over the course of its 10-year licence, Allwyn’s overarching ambition is to offer more games, attract more players, inject more entertainment, create more winners, and raise more money for National Lottery-funded projects.

Focusing on the most loved millionaire maker game, Lotto, the campaign builds anticipation and asks viewers to guess who could be the latest millionaire winner. It also officially kicks off Allwyn’s new marketing strategy, which focuses on attracting new players and showcasing The National Lottery’s individual product brands.

Created in collaboration with integrated creative agency, VCCP London, with media planning and buying managed by Hearts & Science, the campaign centres around a series of films, directed by Ed Rosie through Girl&Bear Studios, set in everyday locations – including the ‘Chippy’, ‘Cinema’ and ‘Newsagent’. These encourage audiences to play along and guess who the winners are in these familiar settings.

The campaign reminds players that, on average, Lotto creates two millionaires every week and the gamification element of the ads captures the fun of play. In each spot, the camera pans around a busy room speculating on who could be the winner in the scene before revealing the new millionaire. The games are played out in each deliverable from six-second social to traditional TVC, with each scene filmed multiple times to keep people guessing.

VCCP has also developed a new brand world for Lotto – with new assets across audio, visual and motion – which will be visible across all of the campaign and channels.

The D/OOH includes mirrored special builds – which were produced by Talon & Grand Visual – that carry the wording ‘The next millionaire could be staring you in the face’. Meanwhile, see-through billboards in iconic locations around the UK – including in London, Liverpool, Leeds and Cardiff – continue this theme with messaging such as ‘The next millionaire could be outside King’s Cross Station’, inviting passers-by to imagine who in the crowd might win next. Key messaging that ‘Lotto makes two millionaires a week on average, will you be next?’ reinforces belief as a driver for engagement.

Hearts’ high impact, digital-first media strategy will create a step-change in National Lottery advertising and will see ads running across a breadth of digital video and social channels, TV, impactful outdoor, print and many more.

Lotto is The National Lottery’s original draw-based game, launched in 1994. It is the UK’s foremost millionaire maker game and, in addition to creating thousands of millionaires in that time, has returned a phenomenal amount of money back to National Lottery-funded projects.

Lucy Buckley, Chief Commercial Officer at Allwyn, said: “Lotto is the heart and soul of The National Lottery, so of course this had to be the first campaign we went live with. As we take on the treasured institution that is The National Lottery, we’re so excited to re-imagine Lotto and solidify its place with new players and consumers, as well as to attract back some of those who might have stopped playing along the way. With an average of two Lotto millionaires made every week and an incredible £4 million raised for National Lottery-funded projects every day from all of its games, The National Lottery really does change lives every day – and this campaign is the first step in our journey of communicating this far and wide.”

Darren Bailes, Global CCO at VCCP Group, added: “Over the years, Lotto has lost a bit of that sense of fun and anticipation. We wanted to bring back those emotions, so built our campaign idea around them – with ads you can play along with too. The fact that Lotto makes two millionaires a week on average is amazing and something that many people don’t know. So, we wanted to shout this from the rooftops and remind everyone that normal people, in normal places, become millionaires every week. People at the supermarket, in the cinema, at the park, the newsagent, the hairdressers, the chippy – the possibilities are endless. So, will you be next?”

Garrett O’Reilly, CEO at Hearts & Science, commented: “Today is just the first step on a journey that will leave the nation seeing, feeling and experiencing a renewed National Lottery. One that is more representative, more inclusive, more innovative and, importantly, more fun. With the time ripe to evolve the Lotto brand in line with the changing needs of diverse audiences, we’re thrilled to be part of Allwyn’s journey – helping to both underline what has made the National Lottery a treasured fixture in our lives over the past 30 years and embrace fresh media innovation to drive its continued success.”

The campaign will launch tomorrow across TV, VOD, cinema, social, print, digital, D/OOH and special builds, and will run until 30 September 2024.