That ‘behind the scenes’ feeling

Creating a fun and memorable storyline baked into the advert that hooks people in (and hopefully triggers an emotive response) while reminding them to play a National Lottery game is no mean feat! So here’s a little insight into what went on behind the scenes to bring to life this new campaign…

Get that EuroMillions feeling!

So, where did the idea for the new advert come from? With EuroMillions, there really is no other game like it in The National Lottery portfolio that offers players the chance to win BONKERS jackpots. Winning EuroMillions gives players a feeling of total liberation. So we wanted to bottle up that feeling and dramatise it, in a completely bonkers way set among the backdrop of stunning locations sprinkled with a glimpse of sun, sand and azure blue sea!

The power of dance

There’s a reason La La Land delivered $447.4 million at the box office: people love watching people dance. Dance is simply infectious. If you see someone dancing you can't help but smile and (if you're brave enough!) join in. One of the best ways to articulate a feeling of happiness is through the movement of dance.

When pre testing our TV scripts with National Lottery players and non-players, we asked what would be the instant reaction to winning EuroMillions. Jumping up and down, crying, shouting were all reasonable responses…but the one which came back multiple times was…”I’d probably have a little dance”. And with that, dance became our visual shortcut to the ‘EuroMillions feeling’.

But when we talked about what ‘the dance’ should be, we didn’t want it to be something that looked straight out of a West End musical or music video. It needed to be something unexpected to grab attention. So, we agreed that our hero’s dances would be unpolished and completely natural. We also wanted to make sure ‘the EuroMillions feeling’ felt relatable and authentic to everyone, didn’t come across too serious and created a smile in the mind.

Image: An original storyboard sketch of the advert v.s the Final Shots

Deciding on the soundtrack

To elevate the EuroMillions dance, song choice was going to be key. Music is a tricky one to get right as it's a subjective matter. Everyone has a different opinion on what gets their toes tapping. So the brief was to find a “beach banging” tune that would appeal to as many people as possible.

After exploring many artists and genres, we landed on the 1961 Calypso Classic Jump In The Line by Harry Belafonte. You might remember this iconic song from Tim Burton’s 1988 film Beetlejuice. We felt the song ticked all the boxes for the advert, bringing elements of fun, joy and nostalgia while fitting in perfectly with our luxurious tropical locations.

Our EuroMillions winners

With the scripts, the dance, the music and locations all locked in, next on the list was finding our hero winners to help bring the advert and dance to life. Relatable, fun and friendly were key words in the casting search for our hero winners. We also wanted people who would instantly make you smile as soon as they got up and danced. The audition tapes of our three hero cast (below) did exactly that and made their selections a no-brainer. To comply with advertising guidelines, we also had to make sure all our cast visually appeared to be over 25 years of age.

With the hero cast and extras secured, it took about three days to learn and rehearse the dance moves for the three adverts. The tricky part? Not getting the dance moves absolutely right, but actually getting them slightly wrong so it looked and felt more natural!

Image: Our hero winners in the ads

All in the detail!

To have a rough idea of how the advert would flow frame by frame, we used black and white drawings as our compass to make sure everything captured on the day by the director stayed true to the original storyboard. Shooting over an additional three-day period, the EuroMillions feeling was brought to life in the most epic way imaginable!

Image: Example of storyboards used on set

Keep your eyes peeled…

The National Lottery’s new EuroMillions campaign went live across TV, Digital and Radio channels on Saturday 27th May. Keep an eye out for it...