Allwyn UK, the incoming operator of the UK’s National Lottery, has named Omnicom Media Group’s Hearts & Science as its preferred media partner for the upcoming fourth National Lottery licence, starting in February 2024.
“Preferred” presumably means a little wriggle room if it chooses to look elsewhere but it’s still a big win. We don’t know how much Allwyn plans to spend but it will be one of the UK’s biggest media accounts. The win follows a pitch. Leo Burnett and VCCP are splitting the creative account with Burnett looking to have the bigger share.
Allwyn global head of media Ross Sergeant says: “Hearts & Science has been able to provide a unique perspective paired with innovative approaches to strategy, planning and buying. I believe this is a new kind of media agency – an agency rooted in the science, which is truly pursuing the creative and innovative opportunities that media brings us today.”
Hearts and Science CEO Garrett O’Reilly says: “We’re hugely excited to have been appointed by Allwyn to assist in ushering The National Lottery into a new era – helping to reach and connect consumers with this amazing force for good. Allwyn’s digital innovation and creativity ambitions speak to our own values; as does its stance on social value, with Allwyn committed to, among other things, taking on a leadership role in developing responsible practices within media, as well as creating a new standard for protecting players.”
The win puts Hearts & Science, devised originally to handle P&G and AT&T in the US, well and truly on the map in the UK. OMG’s raft of agencies are leading the field in terms of media wins so far in 2023.
