The National Lottery launches campaign to promote good causes

The National Lottery is launching a campaign to promote its investment in good causes after previously admitting it needs to do more to improve understanding of how it uses the money raised by game sales.

Video: The National Lottery has launched a campaign to promote the good causes it funds

The ‘Just Imagine’ campaign has enlisted the help of celebrities including actor Ricky Tomlinson and Olympic athletes Chris Hoy and Beth Tweddle to show the various schemes funded by The National Lottery. The story shows projects including school children learning about fossils at the National History Museum and a young gymnast inspired by the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The 90-second animation was created by animation studio Blue Zoo, which has also received National Lottery funding. Tomlinson leant his support after visiting a project in Glasgow last year to support cancer sufferers.

He said: “National Lottery players raise an astonished £33m every week for good causes, improving lives in so many different ways. National Lottery has helped causes close to my heart like literacy project, cancer support charities and even my local park. Even if you’re not a big prize winner when you play the National Lottery, you’re helping other people win big.”

The National Lottery is also launching a “Good Cause Finder” to help people find out more about projects in their area. The online campaign is supported by celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Lottery-funded projects, which are all using Twitter to raise awareness of the schemes the National Lottery supports.

Speaking to Marketing Week last year, National Lottery owner Camelot’s managing director Andy Duncan said while there was high awareness of the games brands it offers, there is less understanding of the schemes it funds. He said the company wanted to increase the amount of marketing activity that details that side of its role.

The National Lottery launched a new strapline, “Game Changing. Life Changing”. last year to showcase the dual purpose of the company to create winners and invest in cultural and sporting schemes. That message accompanied a fundamental shift in its offering, with the price of a lottery ticket doubling to £2 and the introduction of more ways to win prizes including a new “raffle game”.

Since the launch of the new-look lottery in October, sales have increased. The most recent figures for the quarter ended 28 December show sales were up 5 per cent year on year to £1.68bn, a rise that the company attributes to the “successful” launch of the new-look Lotto.

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