A short time ago, I praised the marketing genius of the Super 7 superheroes. Well, the OLG has concluded that personification of lottery games is the road to marketing victory. This faulty logic has brought forth the "Little Encore Man" who is letting the public know about the new and improved Encore. Truth be told, I hate the little Encore man...He's dressed up in fancy clothes and a blue top hat and does a brief stage performance on spotlight. Encore... I get it. Perhaps it's my visceral hatred for bad theatre, but I believe the little Encore man commercials are terrible. If the OLG is listening, I am not all doom and gloom. My criticism is constructive...
So far, you've explored the idea of "We're surprised that there's a little Encore man that's appeared out of nowhere." Now that you've introduced the little Encore man (with 2 different commercials thus far), you can play with the character a little more. The Super 7 superheroes were successful because they were tongue-in-cheek ridiculous and over-the-top. Please DO NOT make the little Encore man over-the-top. That would be terrible! The little Encore man CAN be tongue-in-cheek ridiculous though. Perhaps something similar to the antics of Hammer Head from the Building Box. The world of stage theatre can be a parody of itself, so hopefully the little Encore man commercials can explore that a little more. I hope the OLG revamps the new Encore commercials, because they are annoying in its present state.
Oddly enough, successful marketing does not guarantee successful sales. The Lotto Super 7 will be decommissioned this September despite a great marketing campaign. The Building Box has been taken over by Rona, so Hammer Head is no more. (I've seen the Hammer Head actor on another commercial recently, being a clumsy mascot for a completely unrelated product.) Snakes on a Plane was a movie that generated a lot of marketing hype, but it didn't translate into movie sales. If the OLG wants to go the opposite route, it can continue to make the little Encore man commercials more and more terrible, and they will get strong brand identity through annoyance and hatred of the little Encore man. The choice is up to them.
