You may not know it, but you’ve probably benefited from The National Lottery.

Perhaps you experienced the anticipation that ‘It could be you’, won a cash prize or enjoyed weekend leisure time in a place that’s received Good Causes funding. For others, National Lottery funding is a vital source of support when life doesn’t go to plan. The National Lottery is no ordinary brand.

This paper is about that brand becoming stuck - and the revitalisation marketing strategy that
set it on its way again.

In 2017, the brand was in bad shape. Sales had plummeted by £600m to £6.9bn and Good Causes funding was at risk. The brand was perceived as irrelevant or even greedy by the public. And in the background, new lotteries were nipping at the heels of a category it once had to itself.

A plan was hatched in late 2017 to reclaim the role of The National Lottery in national life. To get the business back to growth and boost brand positivity, we undertook four initiatives:

1. Repositioned the...