Hidden happiness

Four times a week, millions are lured to Switzerland when the Euromillions are played on Tuesday and Friday and the Swiss Number Lotto on Wednesday and Saturday. A bit in the background, but 7 days a week, luck is waiting with the scratch cards. Both the number lotteries and the scratch cards are marketed and communicated under the Swisslos umbrella.

While "Heini Sutter" has become a nationally known personality for the number lottery, only the tickets for "Happy Day" and the "Million Ticket" have been advertised with a major campaign in the scratch-off area in the last three years. In contrast to the well-known number lottery, the scratch card area consists of a large number of changing products. Although this change creates curiosity and a constant breath of fresh air, a clear profile in the scratch-off ticket sector has been lost over the years and the ATL communication of the individual tickets has become very costly. With the campaign that has just been launched, however, these small tickets should now also come into their well-deserved fortune.

"We felt the image of scratch cards was a bit stale, although they don't deserve that at all. We have very many and varied products. These tickets are exciting and quick to play. We now want to emphasize that more," explains Bettina Dürrenberger, Head of Product Management Tickets at Swisslos, Intercantonal National Lottery. She sees one of the product's strengths in its very broad target audience. "The scratch tickets are bought by people from all walks of life and age groups." This is now also to be incorporated into the campaign.

Finding the right momentum

Swisslos deliberately did not want to entrust a large agency with this task and therefore did not launch a pitch. "We were looking for an agency with more personal contact to creation and consulting. Here we get the necessary attention even for a smaller product," says Bettina Dürrenberger. So after an agency evaluation, Erdmannpeisker was commissioned with an overarching image campaign for scratch cards. The briefing: "All scratch cards should be positioned in a more appealing way with a higher quality and thus also be opened up to new target groups." Creative Director Gabriel Peisker says about the assignment: "We don't have to pick up the experienced buyers in a big way. We simply must not scare them away. With new buyers, it's about finding a momentum for buying lots that everyone can relate to."

In the positioning, the most important customer insight and strongest driver for the purchase of the product was sought together with the customer on the one hand, and on the other hand, a differentiation from the number lottery. Because the prize there is often several million, Swisslos works with the lottery by staging the prize. The moment of purchase is not an issue for advertising - in contrast to scratch cards.

To get to the bottom of this momentum, the first thing Sybille Erdmann did was to buy all kinds of lottery tickets at the kiosk and distribute them at the agency in Biel. And lo and behold: whether experienced scratcher or beginner, at the moment of scratching, no one can escape the excitement of a possible win. "As soon as you start scratching, you get the feeling that it could be possible. For a brief moment, everything suddenly seems open. The dream of a new motorcycle or a trip around the world." And at the latest when the word "win" appears twice in the "Win for Life" scratch-off, even the biggest pessimist believes it could be possible that a third "win" will come this time after all. Then it would pay 4000 francs every month for 20 years. This kick cumulates in the new claim: "Is today your lucky day?" For the implementation of this insight, it was decided together with the customer to stay close to the product and to stage the scratching in a sympathetic and witty way.

Happiness is a fleeting commodity. When it comes to happiness, almost everyone has their own way of dealing with it, and quite a few people want to help it along. Whether with classic lucky charms or special fads - the methods are as varied as the people. But one thing is the same for all of them: Scratching your luck is always a little thriller, a kick in the everyday - and when it hits, the moment is unforgettable.

Quirks and rituals

As a result, Erdmannpeisker looked for the most catchy form of storytelling possible for the implementation around the approach: "What am I doing to support happiness?" Television was set as the lead medium. With two commercials, they wanted to "showcase the most diverse quirks and minor superstitions of the target group in an entertaining way." In addition, each commercial was to be "a real feel-good spot that people would want to see a second and third time." The Erdmannpeisker agency therefore sought collaboration with Swiss hit producer Roman Camenzind. Together with his Hitmill, the result was a "catchy song with drive that has a dangerously addictive potential after the first listen," as Swisslos is convinced. This song was staged together with Markenfilm Schweiz and the successful young director Rogier Hesp from Holland.

The films were shot in Berlin. "The great choice of cast and locations spoke in favor of this location," Heinrich Reinacher reveals. For the Zurich producer, these were ideal conditions for staging the commercials "with a wry wit and a lot of warmth. In addition to the TV spots, four poster motifs were also created. "These also show the players scratching the tickets. The subjects are meant to surprise with the different characters and their slightly quirky quirks, which we address in the headline," Peisker specifies. The posters were photographed in Berlin in sync with the filming by Jonathan Heyer. In addition to the two commercials, a music video was cut with the footage to push the song. This phase is planned for 2015, when the soon-to-be-launched major advertising offensive for the "Million Lottery" around Christmas has subsided. With the broader running of the scratch card campaign, the song should then also be available as a download on iTunes.

Say it with a hit

Roman Camenzind had already composed and produced the music before the shoot. However, he had "very precise storyboards at his disposal". For Hitmill, this job was a very complex musical assignment. It was not just a short mood music, but a complete song in full length. In that sense, the images were "added as if after the fact, just like a music clip," Peisker says. Roman Camenzind thought it would be interesting to have the song sung from the winners' point of view. "It gives the film an extra layer." "The message is, 'I succeeded, so you can succeed, too.'" With the musical style, Camenzind deliberately wants to go broad. That has worked for Hitmill several times. "Welcome Home" for SBB became a hit. The song "Love" for Coop Naturaplan this spring made it to No. 2 in the charts and reached gold status. When the campaign was run again in a second wave in the fall, it immediately catapulted the song back into the top ten as well. "This also shows how important television still is, despite all the social media," Camenzind analyzes. Nevertheless, he can be pleased that the "Bio Song" already has over 2 million views on YouTube.

It will be interesting to see which lucky numbers will soon be announced by the audio branding of the scratch cards.

Andreas Panzeri