Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • June 4, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 13 "More important than the way you talk to that audience is where you're talking to them," Decker President Kathy Boucher said. "There are ways to connect all those dots in the digi- tal space." Makiaris and Decker say that the lottery needs to connect with Millen- nials online and in other experience- based ways. Marketing should feel real and believ- able to younger adults, avoiding "pitchy" hyper- bole, they say. One of their ad- vertising pitches is titled "It doesn't take much." "The classic lottery win- ning billionaire lifestyle stereo- types of yachts, a sports car in every garage and the 'hey, look at me, I quit my job' are a dated and overused de- piction," the proposal reads. "It's out of style, out of touch and honestly, seems out of reach." Instead, they say why not focus a campaign on "what could you do with a little extra money to make your day just that much better?" One ad idea shows two women relax- ing on pool floats with the tongue-in- cheek headline "Own your own island." Another pitch is titled "Chances," with an ad showing a walk signal in a crosswalk with two seconds remaining. Beneath is the hashtag #chancewisely and an array of scratch tickets. Image mending? The lottery's latest marketing refresh follows more than a year of negative press. That included coverage of retailer fraud in the now-defunct 5 Card Cash game; criticism by auditors and lawmakers of a consulting package awarded to former CEO Anne Noble during the midst of a state investiga- tion into 5 Card Cash, which helped make her eligible for lifetime retire- ment benefits; and most recently, a botched prize drawing on New Year's Day that left players who had tossed their "Super Draw" tickets thinking they'd lost with no chance of win- ning in the do-over drawing. The turmoil does not appear to have hurt sales. But is some part of the new marketing effort about the lottery changing or mending its image? "From my perspective, not so much," said Lottery Chairman Donald DeFronzo, a former state senator and commissioner who was appointed to the board last August. "The contracts had run out and we thought we could get a fresh approach." DeFronzo and Turner said they don't want to discount any of the lottery's past problems, but they say the new marketing contract is about growing a key revenue stream for the state budget into the future. The lottery sends 27 percent to 28 percent of its revenues to the state's coffers each year. "I think we are acutely aware of some of the missteps that the lottery has made, and I think we have publicly taken responsibility for them," Turner said. "... But we believe we provide a product that's a form of entertainment, and try to do that in a safe way that raises a lot of money for many good causes in the state." At the lottery's Rocky Hill headquarters (from right to left): Irene Makiaris, Decker's Kathy Boucher, Tom Trella and lottery spokeswoman Linda Tarnowski. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER Quality Construction + Butler Manufacturing = Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Gregor Technologies, Torrington, CT | 2007 | 40,000 sq. ft. 2009 | Addition — 28,500 sq. ft. Contact us at 860-482-7613 or visit us on the web. WE PROVIDE CT BUSINESS LEADERS WITH THE INFORMATION THEY NEED TO SUCCESSFULLY RUN THEIR BUSINESS. ARE YOU IN THE KNOW? SUBSCRIBE BY GOING TO WWW.HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM CLICK ON "SUBSCRIBE" CT Lotto's CEO search One task the lottery has been struggling with of late is naming a permanent CEO, something it's not had since Anne Noble de- parted the role in the fall of 2016. Chelsea Turner has been hold- ing the interim president and CEO title for more than a year. Asked about the search, Lot- tery Chairman Donald DeFron- zo said: "We're back on track after a number of delays." He said that the board got close with several candidates, but the first decided last sum- mer that he didn't want to move his family from another state. There was another delay after DeFronzo was appointed and wanted to review the applica- tion process. The lottery was talking with a second candi- date late last year, but then the botched New Year's Day draw- ing happened. "That sort of put a freeze on everything. No one wanted to make a move after that," De- Fronzo said. "It unfortunately just happened at the worst pos- sible time and reinforced some of the negative press out there." He said the negative head- lines have made some candi- dates think twice about pur- suing the job; so has political uncertainty. For one, there's going to be a new governor in 2019. And second, some lawmakers have talked about changing the structure of the lottery, and even moving it within the teacher's pension system to help pay unfunded liabilities. But the search resumed a few months ago, and DeFronzo said he thinks there will be a CEO announcement this year.

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