Lottoland irks newsagents with new Aussie ad
Growing bet-on-lotteries operator accused of mocking newsagents in new commercial launched last week
Lottoland has been asked to apologise for a new television commercial which is accused of mocking and misrepresenting Australian newsagents.
The ad, which launched across Australia last week, features an elderly lady asking a newsagent if she can play Lottoland so she can be “in on the world’s biggest jackpots”.
The newsagent tells the lady it is not possible to play Lottoland in-shop and should “try the internet”, before the lady pulls out her mobile phone to play Lottoland online.
However, the ad has ruffled the feathers of newsagents Down Under, particularly newsXpress, a news agency marketing group which represents 220 small business newsagents.
The CEO of newsXpress, Mark Fletcher, wrote to Lottoland to criticise its “misrepresentation” of modern day newsagents and demanded an apology for an ad which “disrespects the intelligence of Australians”.
“You show an out of date business that does not reflect the newsagency of today and the future,” Fletcher wrote. “You have a newsagent portrayed in the ad in a way to mock us.
“Your ad denigrates our channel, those who own the businesses and the thousands of families that rely on our businesses for food on the table and clothing on their backs.
“You owe newsagents an apology,” he added.
Speaking to EGR, Lottoland Australia chief Luke Brill said the idea for the ad came after his newsagent had told him of instances of customers asking for Lottoland in-store.
The ad has so far resulted in approximately 15 newsagents closing their Lottoland accounts, although Brill said he would like Lottoland to work with newsagents in the future should regulations permit.
Brill said the bet-on-lotteries operator has been marketing “aggressively” in a bid to wrestle market share off rival Tatts, which has a near monopoly on lottery products across Australia, with the controversial ad the first in a series.
“This is the tipping point for Lottoland in Australia,” Brill said. “Tatts only delivers 10% of its revenue from online and mobile channels [but] we are solely focused on this and taking more and more market share by the day.”
Lottoland launched in Australia at the start of the year in the run up to the record US PowerBall draw, with the £1bn jackpot sparking 250,000 new account sign-ups.
Brill said the operator had seen a 250% increase in new account sign-ups week on week since turning up the dial on its marketing presence in recent months.
Last month, Lottoland appointed William Hill Australia’s former head of commercial operations, Matthew Brinckley, as marketing director for its Australian arm.