The Minnesota Lottery appointed Minneapolis-based agency Periscope as agency of record, following a competitive review (presumably conducted in Minnesota), the agency’s president and CEO Liz Ross told Adweek, crediting the agency’s display of digital marketing abilities as helping it win the account.
Ross, a former IPG Mediabrands global chief marketing officer, joined back in October, replacing Greg Kurowski, who retired after more than fifteen years with the agency. In February, Periscope parted ways with staffers (anonymous sources at the time put the total at 25-30) as “a general operational shift” toward a focus on digital.
Periscope will be tasked with driving sales of Minnesota Lottery scratch-offs to Minnesota millenials as it handles both creative and media duties for the brand. The Minnesota Lottery spends roughly $7.5 million annually on advertising and marketing. Periscope’s new work for the client is expected later this year, with a focus on social media.
“Obviously millennials connect, and we all do on some level, with companies that have real purpose behind what they do. The lottery has that in spades in terms of all the things that the lottery money goes to support in the state, which is really environmental and causes that younger audiences care a great deal about,” Ross added.
“As we look to expand our player base, particularly with younger adults, digitally centric marketing strategies will be critical to deepen engagement and relevance, Minnesota Lottery director of marketing and sales Jason LaFrenz said, in a statement. “Periscope not only has extensive knowledge and experience in this arena, but their end-to-end capabilities will allow them to think about our brand holistically, making them the ideal partner to help us achieve our goals.”