Between 2015 and 2019, The National Lottery Ireland issued 500,000 tickets for their annual Christmas lottery. They typically sold c.450,000 by New Year’s Eve. In 2020, the advertising budget for the campaign was 24% lower following reduced revenues thanks to Covid-19. Despite the low spend, all 500,000 tickets were sold for the first time and they sold out by Christmas Eve. This success has been attributed to a brilliant new advertising strategy. The 2020 campaign positioned a lottery ticket as a generous, joyful gift, ideal for a friend or loved one. The advertising appropriated the tone and style of gifting advertising. Some ads leveraged the need to find a gift at the last minute. The same approach was used again over the next few years with equally impressive results.

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Here's one of the TV ads used as part of the campaign.