Interview: Lottoland Australia MD on being the disruptor

This time last year Lottoland, an operator which had already shaken-up the UK and Germany lottery markets, decided to take its disruptive bet-on-lotteries model to Australia in the hope of it having the same impact Down Under as it made in Europe.

And 12 months on, the results have been nothing short of spectacular with Lottoland Australia fast approaching half-a-million customers, processing more than AU$1m worth of bets every week and only yesterday posting its second best day of trading since launch.

“It’s been a really exciting year and like no other I have experienced in my career,” Luke Brill, Lottoland Australia managing director, tells EGR Intel.

“Lottoland has grown from zero customers in January to over 400,000 in our first year of operation in Australia.  We are now selling over $1m worth of bets every week with a product that has an extraordinary high margin and has far exceeded all our expectations on entering the Australian market,” he adds.

Disrupting the status quo

But like Lottoland has experienced in Europe, its rapidly growing Australian operation has been met with fierce resistance and complaint, with both Tatts and local newsagents acutely aware that their market share is being eroded away.

However, Brill argues Lottoland is simply providing competition in an industry that has been stuck in the old times – one which has failed to modernise in a way seen in sports betting and throughout other industries.

“When Uber entered the taxi industry there were issues, but ultimately if the consumer wants your product and you offer enough reasons to switch people will come – it is all about choice for the consumer,” he argues.

“Nobody goes to the video store any more, they use Netflix. People used to go to the TAB but now they bet on their Ladbrokes or Sportsbet apps, so why are people still going to the newsagents to buy their lottery tickets when you can play on your mobile for jackpots that dwarf what’s on offer in Australia?”

Big appeal

And therein lies the attraction of the Lottoland model: being able to give customers bigger jackpots and more frequent draws through the offer of lotteries taking place all over the globe.

In fact, it was last year’s huge US Powerball rollover which enabled Lottoland to launch in Australia to great effect. “We had the best possible start capitalising on the largest US Powerball jackpot in history and have continued to learn and refine our marketing messages to localise the product,” Brill says.

And the firm has doubled down on its early success with something of a marketing blitz. A TV advertising campaign – which poked fun at stuffy newsagents – has been followed by sponsoring Seven West Media’s coverage of the popular Australian Open grand slam event.

“The Australian Open is mass market with its male and female audience split,” Brill says.  “It was a perfect platform for our product and helped positon us as a credible player in the Australian market place.”

And the firm used the event to celebrate yesterday’s Australia Day by offering customers a special half-a-billion dollar jackpot promotion. “This resulted in our second best day ever after a launch in terms of both revenue and player acquisition,” Brill notes.

Building trust

Looking ahead, the former Betfred and Centrebet man says 2017 will be about continuing to build momentum and gaining the trust of the Australian public. Part of this will be to increase the brand’s exposure, with Brill teasing he’s close to pulling off “some marquee sponsorship deals”.

While he wouldn’t be drawn on exactly what those deals consist off, local media speculated one would include stadium naming rights for an NRL side. And in the meantime, despite paying our more than $6m in winnings over the past year, the firm waits for its first multi-millionaire winner.

“With the amount of customers we are acquiring on a daily basis, someone’s numbers are bound to come up very soon and that’s when we will go big on PR,” he says.

And if Lottoland Australia can maintain anywhere near its current momentum, we may well be witnessing a significant change in the country’s lottery landscape.