La Fleur's: Oh the Games They'll Try, the Impact of NCEL Digital Menu Boards

In August 2023, in partnership with Carmanah Signs, the North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) introduced 60 dual-screen Digital Menu Boards (DMBs)—animated displays of lottery products, typically placed above and behind the point-of-sale.

“DMBs bring relevant information to lottery players in real-time, from jackpot sizes to current promotions and new Scratch-Off games,” explains Terri Rose, Deputy Executive Director, Brand Management & Communications, NCEL. “Traditional point-of-sale advertising still works great, but DMBs dynamically deliver more timely information.” For the pilot, NCEL prominently showcased lottery offerings including Scratch-Offs, Fast Play, Keno, Mega Millions, and Powerball.

To gauge the pilot’s impact, NCEL and Carmanah Signs partnered with Leger—a top North American market research company with a dedicated lottery division—to interview players in Raleigh and Charlotte. Leger conducted in-person player intercepts with an experimental group of 68 players at eight stores with DMBs, as well as a control group of 64 players at four stores without DMBs.

Awareness of the DMBs was high, and their effect on future purchase behavior was positive, leading many players to try new products and increase their overall purchases. Half of the players (49%) said the DMBs reminded them to purchase a lottery ticket. 34% of players said they were more likely to purchase lottery products in-store because of the digital displays, and 26% tried a new lottery product because it was on the DMB.

Scratch-Offs were the most purchased product, both on the day of the player intercepts (70%) and in the past six months (88%). New Scratch-Offs that were tried because they were on the DMB included 200X the Cash, $80,000,000 Cash Blowout, Big Ol’ Bucks, and Triple 7s, among others.

“With Digital Menu Boards, you can bring a focus to the games you want to boost the most, changing the show as needed. In North Carolina, that will definitely be Scratch-Offs. We will continue focusing on our most popular product line,” says Rose.

Players at stores with DMBs also purchased a significantly higher variety of games, trying almost every terminal game more than the control group. Drilling further into the data reveals the games that performed the best. In the six months prior to the study, 24% more players purchased a Powerball ticket at DMB stores compared to the control group; 38% more players purchased a Mega Millions ticket; 15% more players purchased a Lucky for Life ticket; and 21% more players purchased a Fast Play ticket.

The impact on Fast Play and similar instant terminal games (ITGs) is noteworthy. In the first quarter of 2024, ITGs generated 4.5% of U.S. lottery terminal sales and saw 12% year-over-year growth, the second highest among traditional categories. However, progressive jackpots have been notoriously difficult to advertise, especially to potential new players. DMBs address this issue by prominently featuring current progressive jackpots at the point of purchase, increasing the likelihood that players will try these games. Player intercepts showed that 24% of players at stores with DMBs tried Fast Play games in the past six months, compared to just 3% of players at stores without DMBs. That’s the difference between 1 out of ~4 players trying Fast Play games compared to 1 out of ~33!

“Fast Play is a growth category. New point-of-sale advertising approaches provide a healthy and significant return to profit for the draw-based game category,” highlights Jason Barrs, Senior Vice President of Sales & Business Development, Carmanah Signs.

While players had high satisfaction with the lottery purchase experience and a positive opinion of NCEL signage in general, ratings were directionally higher in DMB stores. Half of players (49%) found DMBs improved their opinion of the store.

For more research results and insights, read the full article here: https://lafleurs.com/magazine-feature/vendor-story/2024/06/25/oh-the-games-theyll-try-ncel-pilot-demonstrates-impact-of-modern-screens-on-player-behavior-cs/