Christmas is a magical and exciting time around the world, especially in the U.K., which sees many brands release their most-anticipated advertising campaigns.
Usually, marketing teams begin to work on their Christmas adverts months in advance in the hopes their storytelling will entertain consumers during the most important shopping season of the year.
One of these is The National Lottery, the U.K.’s state-franchised national lottery established in 1994.
Photo from Financial Times
For the 2022 Christmas season, The National Lottery partnered with marketing agency adam&eveDDB to develop a concept that would encourage the British public to play the lottery, while also building brand equity.
Rather than focusing on a pure sales activation campaign during the cost-of-living crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic, The National Lottery and adam&eveDDB recognized the role that a powerful narrative would play in driving greater fame and positive feelings for the organization.
As Ben Tollett, adam&eveDDB Group’s Executive Creative Director, said:
“At a time when the nation needs some magic in the air, we wanted to create a larger-than-life story about the lottery and true love—two games of chance that make the perfect subject for a Christmas romantic comedy.”
How did the strategy play out?
“Just Imagine”…
For Christmas 2022, The National Lottery asked people in the U.K., who were desperate for a lift after two years of lockdown, to “just imagine.”
In an epic TV spot, inspired by some of Britain’s most-loved and festive rom-coms, the public saw how a chance encounter between two people on a train and a lost National Lottery ticket sets in motion a serendipitous love story.
The ad encourages the public to take a chance and believe in the magic of hope and possibility during Christmastime.
Here’s exactly what happened in the “A Christmas Love Story” ad…
Directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper, the Christmas ad tells the story of a man and woman meeting on a busy train during the festive season.
As she rushes from the train, he writes his phone number on the back of a lottery ticket.
Photo from YouTube
Unfortunately, the number is smudged.
Oh nooooooo…
So, the woman returns to the train station on New Year’s Eve to track him down. The man’s quirky ringtone helps her reunite with him, at which point she excitedly announces he has the winning lottery numbers.
Photo from YouTube
Aww, sweet!
The campaign was grounded in a story of hope and possibility: A classic tale of boy meets girl, brought together with a winning ticket, set to an arrangement of faith.
Photo from YouTube
What started off as a tricky brief—a Christmas ad that had to take place in the real world and couldn’t feature any magic—ended up as a story that touched on themes that people encounter in real life: luck, love, and serendipity.
What’s more?
The “A Christmas Love Story” film was supported by a fully integrated multi-media channel campaign, including a real-life experience that invited the public to get involved.
Special photo booths, placed at chosen train stations across the U.K., encouraged passers by to have their photos taken and see it projected on nearby digital out-of-home (OOH) spaces.
Additionally, the campaign ran across social, radio, OOH, retail, and press, and was complemented by integrated creative for all individual Lotto, EuroMillions, and festive Scratch Cards games.
Was The National Lottery’s “A Christmas Love Story” campaign effective?
“A Christmas Love Story” truly changed behavior and boosted sales!
- 52% of the population claimed they bought a lottery ticket over the Christmas period.
- Total sales across all Lotto games saw an uplift of nearly GBP 11 million.
- Claimed ad awareness saw a year-on-year (YoY) uplift of over 4% in November 2022, and more than 10% in December 2022.
- The ad also achieved a SystemOne star score of 5.7 out of 5.9.
- Brand consideration for The National Lottery increased to 75% by the tail end of the campaign, and into 2023.
- “A Christmas Love Story” ranked 9th in SystemOne’s Top 10 Christmas ads of 2022.
- “A Christmas Love Story” ranked 1st in SystemOne’s Casinos & Lottery category.
The campaign also bagged a few awards!
- A Merit Award at The One Club Awards 2023
- Three Wood Pencils at the D&AD Awards 2023
The numbers and accolades have spoken: It is clear that The National Lottery’s campaign captured the attention of the U.K.’s public during the recovery Christmas season of 2022.
Congratulations, The National Lottery and adam&eveDDB!
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Indeed, winning the lottery makes people feel like the luckiest person on earth… but who would’ve thought that finding “the one” would feel just as lucky?
In a year where the world was clambering to its feet again, seeing an ad story about a young couple brought together in love by a winning Lotto ticket gave the public hope and possibility.
Clearly, this was the ideal campaign that gave people the lift they needed in 2022!
After all, some people describe the search for love as a minefield… yet love is also like a lottery. Yes, the odds might seem slim, but if you don’t buy in, you can’t win.
We hope you enjoyed and learned from this guerrilla marketing feature!
Think of this in the context of marketing, too. There’s a risk you have to take…
That’s why you have to think outside of the box!
Sure, there would be times when you’d feel like the odds for success in marketing are slim. However, the more you don’t buy in, the more you won’t win.
Here’s the upside: Taking your chances opens up the possibility for success… and when you win, you’ll win BIG. You just have to ensure your campaigns are relevant to the times and to what your target market needs at that moment.
Are you ready to hit the jackpot with your next guerrilla marketing tactics?
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Fridays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing”
Jay Conrad Levinson (1984) said that Guerrilla Marketing “works because it’s simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and inexpensive.”
Guerrilla Marketing is unconventional.
Looking beyond the traditional ways of advertising, marketers and advertisers need to spice things up in order for their brand to have campaigns that not only make an impact but also stick to their target market’s mind.
Guerrilla Marketing usually aims to have direct contact with consumers.
This type of direct contact should spark an emotional reaction that leads to consumers effectively remembering the brand.
It’s about making a big impression and making that impression last a long time (if not forever).
Guerrilla Marketing can be inexpensive.
The effect of this is being able to create a buzz around the brand, and the strategy used to market it. Almost everything is passed around through word-of-mouth.
Word-of-mouth is one of the greatest outcomes and it usually doesn’t cost anything.
This is every business’ or brand’s dream!
Every Friday, we publish tips, examples, and other useful content on unconventional ways of marketing and promotion.
Learn more about how to grab your target market’s attention and make an amazing first and lasting impression without having to spend a lot of money.
Businesses don’t really need to spend much for a guerrilla campaign. You do not need a big budget to be successful. You just need creativity and a good imagination.
Hope you find this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Friday’s “Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!”
Cheers,
Dyane Diasanta
Senior Content Writer
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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