MDI, Virginia Lottery Sign Three-Year Pact
MDI Entertainment Inc. recently signed a three-year master contract with the Virginia Lottery. Through this deal, the Virginia Lottery will have access to MDI's entire inventory of licensed lottery games and services. The lottery will also have access to choose from MDI's selection of licensed properties, brands and logos.
"This master 'umbrella' agreement will help the Virginia Lottery design and execute an instant product marketing plan over a three-year horizon," said Steve Saferin, MDI's president and chief executive.
"At the same time, it provides great flexibility by putting 22 licensed properties and our full line of services at the lottery's fingertips," Saferin said. Among those services is an Internet platform service that will permit the Virginia Lottery to offer second- and third-chance drawings via the Web.
New MD for NordwestLotto
Helmut Stracke became managing director for NordwestLotto Schleswig-Holstein on Oct. 1. Stracke replaced Rolf Strypmann, a 12-year veteran with the lottery.
Stracke has 26 years experience with NordwestLotto, having previously headed the lottery's IT and game operations department. Most recently he was deputy managing director of the German lottery.
Tattersall's Sells Lotto Tickets Online
The Victorian Casino and Gaming Authority gave Tattersall's Lotteries permission to begin selling its lottery tickets via the Internet effective Oct. 1. Customers will now be able to buy Tattslotto, Powerball and OZ Lotto tickets on the company's Web site.
"This is particularly significant for the thousands of Australians who live in remote or rural locations, or who are disabled and do not want to rely on others to purchase their ticket each week, or are simply too busy to visit an agency," said John Mortimore, general manager of the interactive division of Tattersall's.
"Most customers enjoy their weekly trip to the local Tatts agency," Mortimore said. "The sale of lottery tickets via Tattersall's Web site will complement the company's network of retail agencies across Victoria, the NT, the ACT and Tasmania."
Space Trip Offered
The Dutch state lottery is offering eight lucky players an opportunity to travel beyond earth's atmosphere, reports online news site Ananova.
"The Big Mission," as the game is called, requires participants to take part in a quiz game that will be broadcast on television in eight segments. The final episode will air on New Year's Eve 2002, when eight contestants out of nearly 4,000 will be named as winners. Part of the game includes questions about astronaut training and medicine.
A similar trip from the German lottery proved to be a bust. The winner, a mechanic from Muenster, asked for money instead of a going to space because he's afraid of flying.
New Boss Named for National Lottery Operator
Camelot, operator of the United Kingdom's National Lottery, has a new chairman, Michael Grade.
Grade, who previously headed Channel 4, will succeed outgoing chairman Sir George Russell in January. Grade joined Camelot's board last year.
Camelot Exec Reveals Battle Plan for "Weary" Company
Camelot CEO Dianne Thompson said she has plenty of plans to invigorate a company she sees as being "battle scarred," reports U.K. newspaper The Guardian.
"My urgent task is to turn around a company that has lost energy, is battle scarred and weary and has become totally risk averse," Thompson said. "Its creativity and innovation have been suppressed."
Thompson blamed many of the company's current problems on its protracted battle to keep control of the National Lottery. She recently told attendees of The Marketing Forum, an annual conference targeting the marketing industry, that the company is going through an extensive overhaul of its branding efforts and more in the aftermath of the licensing battle.
"We had lost the sparkle that comes with creativity, innovation and daring," she said. "We had lost that crucial element in any successful business--customer focus. We had, in short, become process-driven and boring."
The company hopes to re-ignite its staff with perks like casual dress, e-mail free Fridays, newly refurbished offices and a new training program. It is also working to communicate better with staffers.
"As marketers, we are having to become increasingly comfortable with recognizing our employees as a key target audience. The PR and marketing activity that our customers see is also seen--and keenly felt--by our people," Thompson said.
Raising Funds for French E-Lottery
French lottery Web site operator Ludopia Interactive recently closed a third round of financing, valued at EU 700,000, from Cros Partners, reported Tornado-Insider, an online publication.
Ludopia brought in EU 762,000 in revenues last year. Ubi Soft, Europe's second largest video game company, acquired 10 percent ownership of the company last September.
Marketing Director Leaves Littlewoods
U.K.-based Littlewoods Leisure recently said goodbye to marketing director Robin Cairnes, who left the company after a year's employment. The company's head of marketing, Dave Raywood, and other staffers will cover Cairnes' duties.
Norsk Tipping Gets New Storage Solution
The Norwegian National Lottery, Norsk Tipping, has signed a major storage
networking deal with U.K-based Hitachi Data Systems and Colorado-based McDATA Corporation (R).
The storage area network (SAN) will enable Norsk Tipping to consolidate its data in a single storage pool, greatly increasing its commercial flexibility and easing its management.
The solution is based on a combination of Hitachi's Freedom Storage and McDATA's 6000 Series Galaxy-Class Director, providing the lottery with a highly reliable platform.
Norsk Tipping offers a wide range of lotto, sports and instant games for the Norwegian market. It's owned by the Norwegian government and was founded in 1948 to fund Norwegian sports facilities and scientific research. The lottery will begin offering its services via the Internet this year at www.norsk-tipping.no .