Lotto NZ Unveils Bold New ‘Imagine' Powerball TV Advertisement
Lotto NZ Chief Executive Jason Delamore says Lotto NZ wanted to focus on the way a Powerball win can allow players to live out their wildest dreams.
Lotto NZ has taken its storytelling to new heights in its latest 'Imagine' TV advertisement.
The advert focuses on a player who sheds all his inhibitions – and layers – as he follows through on a promise made to mates at the time of purchasing a Powerball ticket.
Lotto NZ Chief Executive Jason Delamore says Lotto NZ wanted to focus on the way a Powerball win can allow players to live out their wildest dreams.
'When our players buy a ticket, a big part of the experience is imagining how the prize money would be spent.
'Part of the fun is doing that socially, when we have those 'what will you do if you win' conversations with friends and families.
'This advert builds on that idea, focussing on the adventures of a winner who delivers in exhilarating style after making a bold promise at the time of buying his ticket.'
Lotto NZ Chief Marketing Officer Leah Neilson says the team was intent on telling an uplifting and joyful story.
'Our research showed that in the wake of the pandemic viewers want more playfulness and humour, so for this advert we made an early decision to rachet up the fun.
'Some of our adverts have been poignant and tugged at the heartstrings, for example the story of the dog named Wilson that travels around the world to his owner.
'For this one, we wanted to celebrate the way a big win can liberate us of all constraints and live life to the full with those closest to us.'
Set to Enigma's soaring 1993 hit, Return to Innocence, the latest advertisement is the seventh 'Imagine' advertisement released by the Government-owned lottery organisation.
It was produced by ad agency DDB in conjunction with New Zealand production house Good Oil and local director Joel Kefali, with filming in Japan and New Zealand.
In the 2023/24 financial year, Lotto NZ created 64 millionaires, including 23 Powerball multi-millionaires, while paying 100% of its profits – a record $434 million – to the Lottery Grants Board for distribution to the community.
The television commercial will air for the first time at about 8.05pm on Saturday 31 May on TVNZ1, just after the televised Lotto draw.
Previous Powerball 'Imagine' advertising campaigns
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- NZ Herald
Lotto Powerball win: Missed out on $20m? Here's where three people won $250,000 First Division
Lotto players might despair after learning they weren't the lucky winner of Saturday's eye-watering $20 million Powerball draw. That big bonanza was scooped up by a single ticket-holder in Christchurch. But that isn't the case for three other lucky Lotto players, who will also be celebrating winning their $250,000 share
1News
5 days ago
- 1News
Newsmakers: Looking back at NZ's first ever live Lotto draw
In this week's Newsmakers Revisited, we head back to the first-ever live Lotto draw in New Zealand. Radio presenter Doug Harvey and dancer Annie Wilson were the original hosts for the television debut on August 1, 1987. New Zealanders tuning into the draw were introduced to a very expensive piece of machinery - the barrel - a big plastic container holding the Lotto balls. In a sign of the times, people living rurally were given details of how they could get a ticket delivered by mail order. Also in the studio with the hosts were three scrutineers who sat and watched to make sure everything was above board. ADVERTISEMENT Wilson said that during the first draw, she wasn't thinking about the people who might be winning, but making sure she was at her best. "I don't think I thought about that at the time. I think I was just too busy reading the autocue and just making sure that knowing it was live, just to be on the ball, not to use a pun." She'd had to audition for the job by pretending the balls were falling and reading them out. The first ball of the first-ever lotto draw was number four, but Annie didn't have much time to dwell on the inaugural show — she had another performance to get to. "I was also performing in a show at eight o'clock that night. So literally, the draw happened, the champagne bottle, the cork got popped, and I had to go. "My mum was waiting outside in the little mini, [I was] changing into my costume over the Harbour Bridge and pulling my costume on, doing my makeup. Literally, someone shoved a mic on me and bang, I was on stage. It was a pretty funny night." Her love of the stage soon overcame her love for TV. She played Janet in the Rocky Horror Show with Russel Crowe and Sir Rob Muldoon. A stint as Dr Ropata's unfaithful fiancée on Shortland Street followed. ADVERTISEMENT But it was the weekly few minutes of the lotto draw that made people feel like they knew her, often stopping her on the street to say, "I hope you've got my numbers for Saturday". But those couple of minutes could be fraught. "One day, there was a light that exploded about a minute before we were about to go live. And it was just chaos and panic and sweeping up glass. "So those things happen. And I think one night we couldn't even do the draw because the machine wouldn't work. So we had to come on and say, 'Sorry. Here we are, but we can't do it'." However, that first draw in August 1987 went off without a hitch, with a Division One prize pool of $359,808.45.
NZ Herald
25-06-2025
- NZ Herald
Lotto fever grips New Zealand amid financial struggles and rising living costs
Every Wednesday and Saturday night, Kiwis tune into the telly, Lotto tickets clutched in their hands, wishing their lives are the ones about to be transformed. Last weekend's $30 million Powerball prize saw Lotto fever grip the country. Sales surged and punters were warned to expect queues. Why are New
