The Illinois Lottery and its operating partner Camelot Illinois have chosen Dentsu Creative in Chicago as its creative agency of record.

The three-year contract includes an annual media budget of around $20 million, exclusive of creative agency fees and production costs. Adding the lottery’s creative account builds on the media AOR work Dentsu picked up in October 2019. 

Four agencies took part in the review that was issued in May, and the decision followed two rounds of pitches. Over the last four years the account was handled by Chicago independent OKRP, which has a policy not to defend accounts that go into review. 

"We had a great four-year tenure with the Illinois Lottery and helped them increase revenues, grow their customer base with new players, and improve the overall image of the Illinois Lottery year after year," said Nick Paul, president of OKRP in a statement to Ad Age in June. "We are really proud of all that we accomplished together and wish them continued success."

Dentsu will be leading the charge to build the lottery’s player base and continue to increase revenue for the state of Illinois for K-12 education and other causes. 

The work for the Illinois Lottery felt “personal and familiar” to Dentsu Creative U.S. President Laurel Flatt, who oversees the network’s Chicago hub.

“We’re out to create the future of what marketing can be at Dentsu Creative, and the Illinois Lottery’s business isn’t just traditional brick and mortar retail—there’s fun to be had across retail, digital and omniplay offerings,” Flatt said in a statement, adding that the game is changing. “For the Lottery to show up and stand out in new ways, it demands creative and media disciplines lock arms with the brand.” 

This is one of the first instances of Denstu marrying its creative, media and CXM offerings—a goal laid out by Paulo Fogaca when he was hired as Dentsu Creative’s U.S. CEO earlier this month. 

The partnership’s first challenge is growing the lottery’s digital presence through its iLottery platform, which saw sales exceed $191 million for the first three quarters of 2022, according to its 2022 Fiscal Year Annual Report.

"It was evident our media specialists had built a profound partnership with Illinois Lottery and Camelot,” said Dentsu Creative Executive Creative Director Dave Reger in a statement to Ad Age. “Being embedded with media from kickoff gave us a unique perspective to the opportunities and pitfalls facing the business.”

The first campaign with the new partnership is expected to launch in Spring 2023.