The Challenge:
The South Carolina Education Lottery was looking to shift its purchasing audience toward the upper-middle class and upper class demographics. How could we highlight the benefits of the lottery for a demographic not normally inclined to play?
The Approach:
We sought to refresh the true mission of the SC Education Lottery: To bring education-based opportunities to all the citizens of SC, both players and non-players. The overall result makes for a stronger, wiser, and more productive community.
We wanted to shine a light on the contributions SCEL makes towards those wishing to pursue higher education. Many people don’t realize the SC Lottery has invested over $2.6 billion in scholarships and loans since 2002.
Our plan was to find a unique way to highlight specific scholarship recipients, and the impact the funding had on their lives. How could we tell their narratives while also not “getting in the way of the story?” Could we redefine the traditional testimonial?
We set out to find some of these stories and see where they led us. We researched prospective beneficiaries, and interviewed recipients and family members alike, ultimately culling our list down to the best and most diverse representation of how SCEL scholarship dollars have made an impact. We found great stories. True stories. And our great discovery was something very obvious: scholarship dollars impact more than the person who receives them. They literally change the lives of everyone involved: The parents, the grandparents, the people in the workforce who hire the graduates. It’s a ripple effect that was undeniable.
We chose three remarkable individuals to feature: Leslie Bruce, Tameeka Wallace and Stephen Shuford. After spending time with all of them, the “how to” of the project began to form: What if we captured how a lottery scholarship impacts each life with visuals only? A testimonial with no words. We would call it “Live Beyond Words” (that was a fun presentation).
Value Delivered:
After the campaign launch, the South Carolina Education Lottery saw a 30 percent increase in positive opinion of its brand from the public.