North Carolina Lottery: N.C. Lottery accepts bids for $8 million ad contract
Four North Carolina agencies submitted proposals for the advertising contract on the state's new $8 million lottery account, the lottery said.
Mullen in Winston-Salem and Howard Merrell & Partners in Raleigh, both Interpublic Group shops, and independents Wray Ward Laseter and Douglas Displays, both of Charlotte, submitted bids for the account. The bids were opened late Friday at the lottery's offices in Cary, N.C.
A three-person panel of lottery executives will cut the field to three finalists that will make oral presentations on Feb. 9. Tom Shaheen, executive director of the lottery, has said he will recommend a shop to the lottery commission by Feb. 13.
The winning agency will get a three-year contract for creative and media duties. The lottery estimates the account will be worth $8 million during the first full fiscal year of the contract, which begins July 1.
The shop will begin immediately to produce ads to introduce the North Carolina Lottery and the first offering of instant games by April 5. The next assignment will be to launch the Powerball game that will be added to the lottery in June. Billings for the first two projects are projected at $1.9 million.
The North Carolina state legislature approved the lottery last year and predicted it would raise $1.2 billion annually for educational programs in the state. Law prohibits the lottery from paying more than 1 percent of the lottery's revenue for advertising.