Raising the pulse for NZ's only Home Lottery
Client
Heart Foundation Home Lottery
Services
Marketing & Advertising
Strategy & Planning
Creative Design
Industry
Gaming, Wagering & Lotteries, Health & Medical Research, Not for Profit & Fundraising
The Heart Foundation plays a critical role in improving heart health outcomes across New Zealand, driven by its purpose of preventing Kiwis from dying prematurely from the country's single biggest killer: heart disease. We are proud to partner with its fundraising team on the Heart Foundation Home Lottery — New Zealand's biggest charity lottery. Having awarded more than 160 first-prize homes to date, the Home Lottery is a significant fundraising initiative and a major source of the voluntary income that supports life-saving heart research and world-class training for heart-health professionals.
- 1st ever sell-out lottery in the programme's history
- 25% uplift in total ticket sales
- 15,907 new first-time ticket buyers in a single lottery
Boosting funding by building trust
For years, the lottery relied on a loyal but aging database of people who bought tickets via mail-order only. When Covid hit, new legislation enabled the lottery to move online. While this presented a huge opportunity, the Foundation hit a ceiling. Public scepticism was high and many Kiwis were convinced the prizes were 'too good to be true'. Beyond the trust gap, the lottery was stuck in a campaign-to-campaign cycle. Without an overarching brand presence, they were starting from zero every time a new house made the ticket.
Betting the house on a better strategy
We created a comprehensive creative ecosystem designed to turn public scepticism into record-breaking participation. Our strategy moved away from isolated tactics toward a multilayered approach, anchored by a year-round master campaign that maintains brand trust between lotteries. We made the disciplined decision to use the homes as the motivator for sales, knowing it was the ultimate hook for a broad range of Kiwis. To complete the picture, we supported our campaign work with a seamless digital experience that would attract and retain a new generation of supporters.
Integrated master campaign
We developed an 'always-on' campaign layer that established trust in the Heart Foundation Lotteries overall and warmed up the market before individual lottery sales went live.
High-frequency media scheduling
For the landmark Wānaka Lottery, we deployed a saturated media strategy based on 'dream lifestyle' creative. The result was their first ever sell-out Lottery, proving the effectiveness of leading with the grand prize.
Winner handover content
We produced authentic video stories of real Kiwis receiving their keys, providing the ultimate social proof to kill any lingering 'too good to be true' doubts.
Digital conversion funnel
We optimised messaging and education to remove friction points for first-time ticket buyers, increasing the pool of recurring auto-buyers.
Having built a legacy of trust with the Heart Foundation's fundraising team, we've moved from vendor to guardians of their commercial success. We don't rely on a 'set and forget' strategy; we review and refine our approach with every campaign, using strategic innovation to uncover new growth channels and players. We are immensely proud of this partnership, knowing every ticket sold helps to fund life-saving work for Kiwi families.
1st
Ever sell-out in the lottery's history
25%
Uplift in total ticket sales
15,907
New first-time buyers in one lottery
First-ever sell-out lottery
Achieve their first-ever total campaign sell-out.
15,907 new first-time buyers
Attract an additional 15,907 first-time ticket buyers in a single Lottery.
25% uplift in total ticket sales
Deliver a 25% uplift in total ticket sales for the target period (with no increase in creative budget).
A growing auto-buyer base
Increase the pool of auto-buyers, so each lottery starts with a sales baseline.
"Mint delivers powerful creative, fast production and the ability to optimise campaign budget in real time. The team is amazing to work with. They understand our mission and what we're trying to achieve. They're an extension of my own internal team. Working with a switched-on digital agency is crucial to our ability to sustain the Home Lottery programme. Today, we use channels that didn't exist 5 years ago. Looking ahead, I have confidence that as new channels emerge, Mint will bring them to us so we can continue to grow the lottery together."
Share this project
Previous project
HamiltonJet
Next project
Heartland Potato Chips