At the centre of Lotto Powerball’s brand ad, released in July, was a story about the relationship between a dad and his son. And now with Father’s Day fast approaching, the brand has jumped on the opportunity to consolidate its ‘Imagine’ positioning with a touching spot that depicts the classic Kiwi scene of some backyard cricket.
The new spot fits quite snugly alongside the original Imagine ad, which Lotto New Zealand chief marketing officer Guy Cousins previously described as going back to the storytelling that has in the past typified Lotto advertising.
“We kicked off with the current ‘Imagine’ commercial, which is really a big emotive film,” he says. “It was deliberately about going back to what New Zealand expects from Lotto — epic stories which at their heart are really about relationships and shared values.”
However, this clear connection storytelling hasn’t been evident in all the recent advertising released under the ‘Imagine’ banner. Several weeks ago, Lotto released a spot featuring comedians Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce as well as professional netballer Maria Tutaia being hypnotised and made to believe that they had won the Lotto.
And while the light-hearted spot seemed somewhat incongruent with the sombre message delivered in the first ‘Imagine’ ad, Cousins explained that it was possible to reflect the ‘Imagine’ concept in a number of ways.
“The central organising thought for Lotto Powerball is about getting people to imagine what they would do if they won. People’s dreams are quite individual, so the stories we tell need to be varied to reflect this and connect. In practical terms these will take many forms … We intend to bring to life people’s dreams in different ways through film and animation. There is a deliberate balance between deeper emotional stories and light-hearted ideas like this one. It’s definitely not a one size fits all, matching luggage approach.”
And given that the campaign has only just kicked off, we can expect much more from the brand in the coming months.
Credits:
Client: NZ Lotto
Agency: DDB New Zealand
Executive Creative Director: Damon Stapleton
Copywriter: Rory McKechnie
Art Director: Nicole Sykes
Agency Producer: Kate Moses
Executive Producer: Judy Thompson
Production Company: The Sweet Shop
Director: Louis Sutherland
Producer: Tony Whyman
Executive Producer: Fiona King
DOP: Marty Williams
Art Director: Seth Kelly
Editor: Hamish Waterhouse
Post Production: Perceptual Engineering
Music Composer: Conrad Wedde
