By Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.
Published October 17, 2024
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is very grateful and honored to have been showered with a number of awards at the recent NASPL conference in Kansas City, Missouri. OLG is extremely proud to have received the Best of the Batch Award for its submission, “Dream Chaser - The Emily Mandamin Story,” which also won in a number of other categories.
Allow us to take you behind the curtain to tell you how this campaign came to be, why it was so important to tell this story and why it was so well received with the people of Ontario.
The Background
Like most provincial and state lottery agencies, OLG provides 100% of its profits back to the provincial government. Last year, OLG returned more than $2.3 billion in profit to the province. This unique attribute not only differentiates OLG from the for-profit gambling brands in Ontario’s open gaming market, but it also resonates positively with OLG customers. However, OLG faces two significant challenges with this profit re-investment message – low awareness among under-35 Ontarians and the need to make these investments tangible and impactful.
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The Challenges
Awareness Among U35 Ontarians: The under 35 (U35) demographic is largely unaware that OLG reinvests all its profits back into the province. Increasing awareness in this segment is crucial as it significantly boosts their consideration of OLG’s products.
Tangible Investments: The U35 audience wants to see where the investments go. They seek transparency and tangible proof of OLG’s contributions to the community.
These challenges became a key insight in our strategy and creative thinking for many of our campaigns.
The Idea
To address these challenges, OLG leveraged our existing sports partnership with the NBA to create a digital storytelling campaign that highlighted the company’s commitment to Truth & Reconciliation.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada was established in 2008 as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. Its primary purpose was to document the experiences of survivors of the residential school system, promote healing, and facilitate reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. The TRC’s final report, released in 2015, included 94 calls to action aimed at addressing the ongoing impacts of colonization and fostering reconciliation.
Many companies across Canada, including OLG, have adopted a key call to action of the report that urges the corporate sector to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as a reconciliation framework. For OLG, we have developed a “Reconcili-Action Strategy” which includes educating staff about Indigenous history, a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, fostering respectful relationships and holding meaningful consultations with Indigenous partners to ensuring benefits from economic development projects.
Using OLG’s Reconcili-Action Strategy as a launching pad and leveraging the NBA partnership, the campaign was developed to tell a compelling basketball story that showcases OLG’s tangible impact on the province’s Indigenous community that deserves to be spotlighted. Creating a campaign that bridged content with community activation was critical in our efforts to show – not just tell – Ontarians that OLG is a brand invested in our province and is truly committed to Truth and Reconciliation.
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The Strategy
Focusing on Ontario’s U35 demographic’s passion for basketball, the campaign emphasized OLG’s social responsibility and community contribution. The key performance indicators (KPIs) focused on customer growth, brand favorability, consideration, and purchase intent, aiming to differentiate OLG in a competitive market.
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The Execution
After extensive research, we decided to tell the story of trailblazing athlete Emily Mandamin. Emily is the first person from the tight-knit, indigenous community of Iskatewizaagegan 39 to earn a basketball scholarship to the NCAA. We wanted to empower Emily to tell her inspirational story and also do good in her community in hopes this may inspire the next generation of Indigenous athletes.
Once we discovered her story, we created a short film for OLG and NBA channels that told Emily’s story for the first time, in her own words. Our goal was to highlight Emily’s passion both for basketball and her community. The film told the story of her life journey and her dedication to her First Nations culture as both a role model and changemaker, shedding light on her incredible career against all odds.
We took a documentary crew to Iskatewizaagegan 39, Emily’s home on Shoal Lake in a remote part of western Ontario. The team conducted interviews with community members, including Emily’s family, friends, Elders and coaches. Overall, we focused on how First Nation athletes like Emily are breaking boundaries and helping other Canadian Indigenous athletes achieve their dreams. The film shows how we can help Ontario athletes achieve their dreams – just like Emily has – through OLG’s Acts of Good.
The film lived on a custom microsite, with shorter promotional pieces driving viewers to the full film. Additionally, we brought Emily and her family to the first-ever WNBA game in Canada, where her story was told to a sold-out arena full of basketball fans!
Once we had completed our storytelling exercise, we moved onto part two of the campaign, where we empowered Emily to perform an act of good in her community. Emily credits basketball and her time shooting hoops at the community court in Iskatewizaagegan #39 with saving her life. With her help, OLG was able to support Emily’s legacy of creating safe spaces by giving back to the community in the form of a newly renovated community court at the local school. This court was designed specifically for this community by Indigenous artist Alicia Kejick and is based on “Ziigwan,” which represents a time for new beginnings, energy, lessons and possibilities in the Anishinaabe culture. The court was officially opened with a special community celebration in June 2023 in partnership with the NBA and WNBA. In fact, community members also got to participate in a basketball skills workshop hosted by WNBA legend, Tammy Sutton-Brown. This was an incredible day for all who attended.
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The Results
The campaign achieved significant results:
Awareness: 13% of Ontario residents (~1.5M people) became aware of the campaign.
Impressions: 40M total impressions through NBA and WNBA partnerships.
When we measured the impact of the campaign against our goal of overcoming the challenges of low awareness about OLG’s profit re-investment message with the U35 demographic and the need to make these investments tangible and impactful, we found some very encouraging results among those aware of the campaign:
Perceptions:
The campaign had a positive impact on perceptions of OLG. Among those aware, there was a net increase in perceptions that:
OLG provides winning experiences that radiate throughout the community (29% net increase)
OLG is a brand that cares for the community (26%)
OLG provides entertaining products and play experiences (26%)
OLG is different from other gaming brands (24%)
I feel better about spending money with OLG versus other gaming brands (22%)
OLG gives all profits back to Ontario and its communities (20%)
Brand Metrics:
Among those aware, there was a net increase in brand metrics:
37% net increase in brand favorability
38% net increase in consideration of OLG products
24% net increase in OLG brand perceptions
Engagement:
The campaign increased intentions to engage with OLG. Among those aware, there was a net increase in intentions to:
Play online casino games at OLG.ca (25% net increase)
Purchase draw-based lottery games (24%)
Play instant scratch lottery games (21%)
Through this unique campaign of bringing the wonderful story of Emily Mandamin and her successes to the people of Ontario, OLG successfully reconnected with the U35 audience, demonstrating its commitment to the community and reinforcing its unique position in a very competitive gaming market.
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