Illinois Lottery: Illinois Lottery awards $105M ad contract
Energy BBDO awarded multi-year contract worth $105 million
The Illinois Lottery announced Thursday that it has awarded Energy BBDO its $105 million general market advertising contract.
Energy BBDO, along with Omnicom partners OMD and The Integer Group, will assist Lottery with strategic planning, media planning and buying, creative development and production, promotion, Web development and other marketing communication endeavors.
The Illinois Department of Revenue put out a request for proposals in September 2008 for the Lottery contract.
A committee of eight people evaluated 13 written proposals and through a scoring process determined that six agencies would progress to the technical presentation. Three of those agencies proceeded on to the strategic and creative presentation phase.
Energy BBDO was one of the three local agency finalists selected by Lottery representatives in December 2008. The two other competitors for the bid were Marc USA and JWT.
According to Sarah Cummins, marketing director for the Lottery, it was a tight competition between three highly-qualified finalists.
"Each agency brought innovative ideas to the table, but we found Energy BBDO to be best-suited for the Lottery's needs. We made the decision based on the team's enthusiasm, excellent chemistry, strong leadership, and ability to reach out to Illinoisans in new and creative ways," she said. "We congratulate Energy BBDO and look forward to working with the agency on new and innovative approaches to promote the Lottery."
The awarded contract has an initial term of two years, with two one-year renewals possible.