CASE 9 313‘WFL is a fun, playful brand’: 45% agreed in December
2007; only 31% in December 2009.
‘WFL is a modern brand’: 40% agreed in December 2007;
only 27% in December 2009.
WFL ran the risk of losing its attractiveness to younger
people and becoming an ‘old’ brand. Moreover, youngsters
spend more than 40% of the budget they devote to gamb-
ling on competing games, such as games in pubs, online
and in casinos. These alternatives are much more geared
towards the needs and motivations of this age group: an
instant kick and fun and a wide availability in their living
world. Moreover, draws are made on a fixed day of the
week, which enables the development of a weekly routine
and commitment of the players. Scratch games do not have
this ‘routine’ element. Consequently, it is much more diffi-
cult to build commitment.A new campaign to turn the tide
The National Lottery calculated that, without any changes,
the turnover of WFL would drop by 15.6% in 2010. The
aim instead was to develop an advertising campaign in
the period April–December 2010 and realise an increase in
turnover of 1%. The difference between the predicted
drop in turnover and the 1% target increase amounts to
€10.3 million. It was decided to target the campaign at
18–34 year olds to make WFL more appealing to young
people and to create a new WFL generation. Four com-
mercial objectives were advanced:- Increase the penetration among the target age group
from 19.3% in the second half of 2009 to 22.4% in the
second half of 2010. - Increase the conversion rate (the number of people in
the target group buying WFL divided by the number of
people who know about it) from 20.75 in 2009 to 23.9
in 2010. - Realise an immediate short-term impact on sales: 1%
more sales in 2010 than in 2009. - WFL is an impulse product. This fourth objective of the
campaign was to realise a long-term effect: sales should
not drop between campaign waves.
The communication strategy was built on three angles: - From a rational attribute to an emotional preference brand.
WFL wants to be more attractive to young people by
positioning it as a modern and aspirational brand that
perfectly understands the new generations and takes
their needs into account. Instead of focusing on the
rational product attribute (win €2000 per month for the
rest of your life – financial security), the campaign
wanted to reposition WFL on the basis of an emotional
benefit: from financial to mental security. Today, people
do not just want to be rich as such. They want the
security of a comfortable life and to experience it
without any worries. They want to live every day in the
best possible way. WFL gives them peace of mind.
This insight led to the campaign promise: ‘With WFL I am
at ease for the rest of my life.’- From accidental to conscious purchase. WFL is an impulse
product. It is therefore important to stay within the
consideration set of people constantly to develop com-
mitment and conscious purchase behaviour. WFL
should have a high brand awareness based on frequent
exposure. - Create urgency. Unlike the drawing games, there is no
fixed ‘appointment’ with WFL. It was decided to make
Friday ‘WFL day’, because retail outlets are most fre-
quently visited on this day, and partly because it is also
Euromillions playing day.
These ambitions were translated into the following com-
munication objectives:- Increase image parameters and increase motivation to buy
( Table 9.3 , middle two columns). A major improvement
in a number of emotional brand parameters is envis-
aged: exciting, sympathetic, modern, funny and playful,
close to me, fits with me, like to play, etc. - Increase spontaneous brand awareness and commitment.
The aim was to increase spontaneous brand awareness
from 53% in 2009 to 56.8% in 2010. The percentage of
committed buyers (those who have an absolute prefer-
ence for the brand and for nothing else) should increase
from 14.1% in 2009 to 16.8% in 2010. - Increase the turnover per day, and make Friday a top-
selling day. The target group of the campaign was
18–34 year olds. The aim was to attract more of these
people without losing the older age groups. In terms of
motivations, most traditional WFL players are profit-
and certainty-seekers. The campaign aims at convincing
‘homey’ people: those who are spontaneous, open,
social, friendly and without worries, and are sensitive to
the emotional benefit that the new campaign offers,
namely peace of mind and a life without worries. All
these groups strive in common for security and peace of
mind. The campaign showed a happy couple with no
worries. If anything minor goes wrong, WFL is there to
solve it. The slogan of the campaign was: ‘you may rest
assured’. The tone of voice of the campaign was humor-
ous, slightly absurd and fresh. For consistency reasons,
the two main characters were the same in all creative
executions, the ads on radio and TV had very similar
formats, a very recognisable tune (‘always look on the
bright side of life’) was used in all spots, and the WFL
logo was prominently shown.
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