by Karen Kalergis. External Communications Coordinator, Texas Lottery

It was a record jackpot for Mega Millions - the multistate game celebrating its second anniversary this month. Members of the 11-state Mega Millions consortium did their darndest to create a "buzz" and keep that wave of publicity going as long as they could. They even found out that, with a little bit of luck, the jackpot at the end of the rainbow is just part of a public relations "Dream come true."

When no one won the $17 million Mega Millions™ Jackpot on Tuesday, February 17, the news release that the consortium issued on Wednesday only hinted at the media frenzy ahead. "Mega Millions Fever Grows as Jackpot Hits Estimated $215 million" blared the headline. But plans were already afoot to maximize the publicity that this jackpot was sure to get, since any amount over the $200 million mark would set a new record for the highest jackpot in the Mega Millions game.

"The 11-state consortium had decided collectively that when the jackpot exceeded the $200 million mark, we'd move the drawings to New York," said Virginia Lottery Executive Director Penelope W. Kyle, who was then serving as President of the Mega Millions consortium. "New York City is the world's media hub and there isn't anybody in the United States or abroad that doesn't recognize Times Square."

When the February 19 news release announced that the drawing was taking place in Times Square, the first bump in the size of the jackpot to $222 million had second billing to the glitz that only the Big Apple can boast.

"We wanted this drawing to raise awareness for this game not only in New York but in markets around the country and the world, and it absolutely worked: said Nancy Palumbo, Director of the New York Lottery.

Palumbo said the rally atmosphere in Times Square complete with Mega Millions sandwich boards, t-shirts and hats, made the scene outside just as exciting as the drawing going on inside ABC's "Good Morning, America" studio.

"Those Mega Millions signs were shown four times on the TODAY show, and the drawing itself was broadcast on the Jumbatron," said Palumbo.

The Times Square selling also gave member states an interesting angle to play off with their media, pulling everyone in a "New York State of Mind."

J.B. Landroche, Communications Director for the Georgia Lottery Corporation, which had always done the Mega Millions drawings, said he had no problem explaining the move to limes Square to reporters in his state.

"It gave me a great opportunity to promote the fact that because it was the highest Mega Millions jackpot in history, we thought it would be fun for players and viewers to do it in Times Square," said Landroche. "The media understood that and covered it because it was an eye-catching story."

A veteran of a successful multi-state game-he was with the Georgia lottery when The Big Game became Mega Millions-Landroche said he positioned the move as a win-win situation.

"It’s an exciting time for our players who get to play for an unprecedented jackpot and a win for students of Georgia who benefit from the sale of every ticket sold."

Texas capitalized on the Times Square selling by issuing a news release the day the move was announced with this headline, "Yee Hah! It’s Times Square for Friday's $222 million Mega Millions drawing." That angle drew on an earlier media event that was port of the lone Star State's entry into the Mega Millions game.

"When Texas became the eleventh Mega Millions state back in December, New York's draw talent, Yolanda Vega, led a covered wagon around Times Square to mark our joining the consortium," recalled Reagan E. Greer, Executive Director of the Texas Lottery Commission, which manages the Texas Lottery. "We played up the excitement of Times Square and said the only thing that could make this jackpot more exciting was to have a jackpot winner from Texas!"

To help promote the Mega Millions game, the media and public relations leads in each state function as the Mega Millions Communications group. This group is assisted with national publicity efforts by the public affairs team at the Virginia lottery, a resource New York Lottery Director Palumbo called "invaluable" during the mega-jackpot frenzy.

Virginia's Public Information Officer, Ed Scarborough said, "Since Mega Millions is played in 11 states and there is no central office for the game, we've established the Mega Millions Media Center online lwww.megamilIions.com), as the 'go to' place for journalists interested in the game.

"A number of journalists were covering the Mega Millions game for the first time, so we made some very basic information available and tried to be responsive to their questions," Scarborough explained.

Scarborough encouraged reporters to register with the Mega Millions Media Center so they could receive e-mail alerts about the game and winners, creating a list of media contacts that will be invaluable for the Mega Millions consortium.

"The name change from "The Big Game" to "Mega Millions" is still relatively new,” Scarborough noted. "This record jackpot helped us increase Mega Millions' brand presence and give it a larger signature on the media's radar."

That’s certainly reflected in these numbers. On February 20, the Mega Millions Web site received ten times the typical number of draw day visitors, with almost half a million players visiting the site. That same day, the Media Center received 5,000 visits attributable to "jackpot fever.”

And a service called E-watch that tracks stories on web sites showed that from February 4 through April 3, there were over 2,000 articles on the mega jackpot, the "waiting game" and the winners, and more than 350 of those were full-length stories on the winners.

"Editors realize that this is information readers want, and it shows that we're getting ourselves on the map,” said Scarborough.

Helping reporters "map" Mega Millions states was the goal behind the Radio News Release the New York Lottery issued the day of the drawing.

"We wrote the script and promoted the increase to a $230 million jackpot and named every state where tickets could be bought," said Carolyn Hapeman, Communications Director for the New York Lottery.

"The package included a sound bite with Yolanda Vega, who would be doing the Mega Millions drawing that night, and was very much in demand for interviews."

Hapeman said the radio package was picked up by 948 stations and used in over 1,061 broadcasts, reaching more than 7.1 million people nationwide.
"It ran heavily during afternoon drive times and right up through the evening news,” said Hapeman. "It gave the time that ticket sales ended, so it pushed ticket sales right up to draw time. And it got the point across that Mega Millions is a game with a huge jackpot that can be played in eleven states across the country."

The consortium made the drawing itself available to all
TV stations after 11:15 p.m., E.S.T., expanding the drawing's reach to those media that did not have exclusive live broadcast rights.
"When CNN re-broadcast the drawing-here and abroad-we said, 'Mission Accomplished," said Hapeman.

MEGA MILLIONS MEDIA CHAT ROOM
DRAW DAY HIGHLIGHTS
Whether this was the biggest jackpot in their state or "just" the biggest in this game, member states hitched their own media messages on to the rising Mega Millions star, thus getting more exposure for their Lottery.

Amy Morris. Assistant Director of Public Relations Massachusetts State Lottery Commission

"It was a thrill-it’s a dream of every P.R. professional!"

"The Massachusetts Lottery planned an all-day blitz to maximize coverage. Each television and radio station was offered an exclusive interview with selected store managers at the Bay State's highest-selling retailers, an interview with the Lottery's Executive Director, Joseph C. Sullivan, and a chance to get shots of the Lottery's computer screen scrolling jackpot sales in real time."
RESULTS: Interviews with all six television stations in the Boston market, as well as countless radio interviews via telephone.

Carolyn Hapeman, Communications Director New York Lottery

"Our draw talent, Yolanda Vega, is an icon for the Lottery, so there was an outcry for her presence. She did 25 print, radio, and TV interviews from Times Square for media inside and outside New York. She did a press event on Long Island with local retailers, and had people 50-deep waiting to meet her and buy tickets. The lead story was 'Yolanda Vega will be here.' "
RESULTS: The bump from $222 million to $230 million upped media interest even more and boasted what would normally have been a mid-afternoon wane in interview requests.

Robert “Bobby” Heith, Media Relations Director Texas Lottery Commission

"Paid advertising and media relations efforts supported the jackpot all week. On draw day, our in-house AV shop taped four segments with our Executive Director Reagan Greer to get our key points out there-that about 30-cents on every dollar goes to the Foundation School Fund, that the Megaplier™ is Texas' twist on this game, and that this is the biggest jackpot Texans have ever seen. We up-linked the spots to broadcast media during our noon drawings feed and made the sound bytes available on our Web site for radio stations to download. We talked to the media right up to draw break, faxing them hourly sales updates and connecting them to media-friendly retailers in their markets."
RESULTS: Between the taped spots and the multiple interviews our Director did, we successfully linked the Texas message to the jackpot story. We tracked close to 200 broadcast and cable segments that day, and several anchors led with, "And we'll tell you where all that money goes'"

J.B. Landroche, Communications Director Georgia Lottery Corporation

"As the jackpot continued to grow, we sent out news releases and set up on-camera and radio interviews with our President, Margaret DeFrancisco. The excitement created by the 'Mega' jackpot gave us an opportunity to remind Georgians that as Mega Millions sales increased so did our ability to return more dollars to the educational programs we fund. We had sales figures and Mega Millions 'fast facts' handy for reporters to report, such as '...Georgia retailers had sold more than a million tickets before noon' and emphasized that, as with all of our games, a portion of every Mega Millions ticket purchase went to benefit Georgia students. Players were reminded that they were playing for the largest Mega Millions jackpot in history, via television, billboard and starlet displays."
RESULTS: Reporters used "FAST FACTS" that anticipated their questions and gave Georgia angle on where the jackpot ranked nationwide and in Georgia jackpot history, past Mega Millions jackpot winners in Georgia, and bottom-line: how Georgia benefits.

Stepheni Schlinker, Director of Public Relations Michigan Bureau of State Lottery

"You have to think like our players do. Because we were one of the initial states in The Big Game and port of the win for The Big Game's largest jackpot, it's hard to get our players that excited. They like this but they like it bigger-they're looking for huge jackpots and they had one of those winners. We have a regular group of reporters who are interested when it’s over $100 million and we'll do some media with them and the Michigan man who won half of that $363 million."
RESULTS: We use this as another way to help players make the transition that The Big Game is now called Mega Millions.

Jaimee Gilmartin, Public Information Officer New Jersey Lottery

"We always support the jackpot through paid jackpot awareness spots, but once we knew we were at record and the media picked up on the big jackpot. we were doing a full court press, with almost daily interviews with our director, Ginny Bauer. We never go anywhere without telling people that 36-cents of every dollar goes back to state government and education. And that message of supporting small business is huge. 99 percent of revenue from a Iottery ticket goes right back into the New Jersey economy, with only 1 percent used for administration."
RESULTS: Director Bauer's travels across the state, visiting retailers and talking to players about where the money goes, helped drive interest in the game, and yielded about 12 news segments on television and cable TV.

Mardele Cohen, Deputy Director, Communications Ohio Lottery Commission

"People in Ohio were still excited that someone from Ohio had won the last big Mega Millions jackpot. There was definitely a feeling that 'you can really win this one,’ and people were playing more. I view the media as our friends and talk to major outlets -print and electronic once or twice a week. Building that good relationship with reporters who cover us means that when I have something to say, I can call a radio station and say, "Hey, we have a $230 million jackpot” and go on the air. And they know if they have a question, I’ll do whatever it takes to get them an answer as quickly as I can."
RESULTS: Paid media "jackpot alerts" were supplemented by good media relations efforts. I called stations with what sales were every hour and was on the air in major cities, promoting that $230 million jackpot. We reached media outlets throughout the state by keeping AP in loop.

Maureen Greeley, Communications Director Washington Lottery

"Since Mega Millions launched here in September 2002, we've used the tagline "Buy whatever you want." Launch ads even featured a "jackpot winner" buying Seattle's landmark Space Needle and moving it to his own backyard! For this record jackpot, we ran paid five-second bulletins throughout primetime programming-including a spot right in the middle of "Friends." This particular spot was a great tie-in to our news release highlighting the Times Square drawing. We let Washington know that winning this jackpot meant they could keep "Friends" on the air for at least 38 more years. And they could treat their own friends to a fabulous New York getaway with all the trimmings. The media loved it-a good story, packaged in a fun way!"
RESULTS: At least 36 broadcast stories and multiple print stories in eight major publications, giving us coverage in Seattle and even some smaller media markets. And a lot of excitement! Our players remember our $93 million winner whose "Holy Moly" reaction made him a media favorite. We're ready for another Mega winner in our state.

Ed Scarborough, Public Information Officer Virginia Lottery

"Our Executive Director Penny Kyle has become accustomed to our in-house television crew putting her on camera for jackpots. In fact, she's a real pro at it. We decided to produce a nationwide video news release that would hopefully widen the potential audience for the feed and bring increased awareness of Mega Millions and higher ticket sales. As President of the Mega Millions consortium, Penny spoke of the excitement of the jackpot and purposely kept her comments general. News anchors could then read the latest jackpot amount to fit with the story. The Lottery's b-roll (or supporting video) of players buying tickets was also kept generic (no Virginia Logos) to make the pictures work in anywhere."
RESULTS: The Video News Release was really a first for Mega Millions and was picked up by network affiliates from all over the country. As a result, more than 50 network affiliates in Virginia and across the country used the Virginia Lottery news feed the day of the draw and repeated it in the days after Virginia had the big winner.

AND THE WINNER IS •••
After nearly six weeks of rumors and speculation, a news conference was set for 11 a.m. on April 1 (April Fools' Day!) to introduce the winners of the February 20 Mega Millions jackpot, the highest ever for the two-year old multi-state game.

And though the Virginia Lottery staff had created a media plan and drilled on what they would do when the winners finally came forward, there was one thing they could not have anticipated.

The winners had entrusted the ticket -that piece of paper worth $239 million -to a family member. Shortly after leaving home for the three-hour trip to Richmond, the relative realized he forgot the ticket and had to go back!

At least two networks, MSNBC and FOX News, were wailing to go LM from the news conference. When the winners stepped in front of the crowd of reporters and a phalanx of cameras, it was just ten minutes past the starling lime given to the media.

The mystery ended as Virginia Lottery Executive Director Penelope W. Kyle introduced J. R. and Peggy Triplett of Winchester, Virginia, winners of the largest jackpot ever won in Virginia, and the second largest undivided jackpot ever won in the United States.

Kyle said the Tripletts chose to take the Cash Option, for a one-time payment of approximately $141.5 million, before taxes.

When asked how they would spend the money, Peggy Triplett, who her husband repeatedly referred to as "Sweetheart" throughout the news conference, responded: "I'm going to shop 'til l drop!"

Triplett, who is a retired truck driver, bought the ticket at the Red Apple convenience store in Stephens City, Virginia, just a few miles from his home. The store received a $25,000 bonus from the Virginia Lottery for selling the jackpot-winning ticket.

"Although this jackpot represents a huge prize for the Tripletts, the real winner is the Commonwealth of Virginia," said Kyle. "Not only did Virginia's public schools reap a windfall of about $11.6 million from this record Mega Millions jackpot, but the state will benefit from approximately $5.6 million in state tax revenue from this prize."

Interestingly, Triplett professed not to be greatly excited by the jackpot and the surrounding hoopla.

"After driving a truck for 47 years... not too much excites me anymore,” he said.

"The man who taught me to be a reporter said, "I'd rather be lucky than good...” Scarborough recalled. "We had all kinds of luck with this one. Because it was a record jackpot, the TODAY show wanted to interview Penny Kyle as the President of the consortium, whether there was a winner or not.ere

Ed Scarborough, the Public Information Officer for the Virginia Lottery and a former TV reporter, put that six-week media exposure into perspective.

While no one can argue with the luck that comes from winning $239 million, the winner's long wait gave the Mega Millions brand the luxury of playing out a lottery version of "Where's Waldo?"

WINNER ISN'T THE ONLY LUCKY ONE
Triplett wouldn't say exactly why he and his wife of 35 years waited so long to come forward, except to say he wanted to "get my ducks lined up in a row."

Triplett even visited the Red Apple convenience store "on the sly." He talked with folks, bought a meatball sub and left. Little did the patrons know that even as they wondered where that winner was, they had just chatted with one of the luckiest people in U.S. lottery history.

The Tripletts said they knew they had the winning ticket at 7:00 on the morning after the drawing. Yet they stayed low while much of the nation speculated on what had become of the mystery ticket.

“So there we were, the morning after the drawing on the TODAY show, and lo and behold, we were the people to talk to with a single winner from Virginia and a record $239 million jackpot.” Scarborough said he knew this was a golden opportunity to get more publicity for the Mega Millions game by keeping that media interest alive. “You have to be willing to look at your leader who got out of bed at 5 a.m. to do an interview, and say, ‘We’ve still got to do more.’ We were willing to do that.”

Scarborough noted that immediately after the TODAY segment, Executive Director Kyle taped a lengthy interview with MSNBC that aired throughout the weekend. Kyle, who would mark this record jackpot as a high point of her tenure as President of the Mega Millions consortium, was proud of the collaborative effort that increased the profile of the Mega Millions game.

“This was really a team effort of all of our member states, and it kept the media interested in a $239 million piece of paper,” said Kyle. “The winner’s attorney even commented to me that he couldn’t believe people were still talking about it several weeks after the drawing.”

Perhaps the best sign that “Managing the Mega Media Blitz” was indeed a “Mission Accomplished” was this entry in the Mega Millions clip book.

The last story on the CBS Evening News on April 1, 2004, was about the $239 million Mega Millions jackpot winner from Virginia. The piece included footage from the news conference, and ended with the reporter standing in Winchester, Virginia, the winner’s hometown, where there really was a rainbow over the city.

Dan Rather wrapped the show up by saying, “A rainbow with a real pot of gold at the end” and his signature closing, “…and part of our world tonight.”

In the P.R. world, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

This article originally appeared in Lottery Insights. Click here to download a PDF of this article.

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