MindShare to scoop lottery

MindShare is set to scoop the £40 million media planning and buying task for the People’s Lottery if, as expected, the Richard Branson- fronted company is appointed as the new national lottery operator.

The agency is poised to take the business after the Government decided not to renew Camelot’s contract to run the lottery, and to enter into exclusive negotiations with the People’s Lottery. The decision means OMD UK will lose the £29 million Camelot media buying account when the National Lottery operator loses its licence at the end of next year. Media Planning currently handles planning with Portland handling outdoor.

The Lottery Commission ruled that neither bid was good enough to win the seven-year contract outright but the People’s Lottery consortium, which also includes Compaq, Kellogg, US lottery operator AWI and J Walter Thompson, now looks to be in pole position.

As JWT is part of the WPP Group, it is understood that MindShare will provide media services, while JWT will handle creative and the direct task will go to Triangle.

A statement from The People’s Lottery said that it welcomed the opportunity to co-operate with the National Lottery Commission under sole bidder status and was keen to work with it in resolving the outstanding issues. A spokesman for the consortium confirmed that creative would be handled by JWT and that it was likely that its sister agency would handle media.

One senior agency source said: “It will be a big blow for OMD UK, particularly as no one really expected Camelot to lose the licence. Equally, it’ll represent a huge win for MindShare.”

Camelot moved its media buying account into OMD UK from Zenith Media in November 1998 and last year spent around £29 million promoting the lottery, Thunderball game and scratch cards.

This article was first published on Media Week