National Lottery draws on Olympian story for 'life-changing' campaign

By Matthew Chapman, campaignlive.co.uk, Thursday, 07 June 2012 11:15AM

The National Lottery is launching the second phase of its "life-changing" campaign with an execution highlighting its funding of Great Britain's athletes and London 2012.

The TV ad highlights the difference the National Lottery has made to a generation of athletes by drawing on the real-life stories of 800 metres runner Jenny Meadows and her mother Barbara.

Barbara Meadows could never achieve her ambitions of being a professional runner because of lack of funding, but her daughter will compete in this summer's Olympics as a result of being funded by The National Lottery.

The Meadows are played by actors and the story is narrated by the mother, looking back at her life and forward at her daughter's.

Andy Duncan, managing director at The National Lottery operator Camelot, said actors were used because it "is very much a generic story and is about any number of people of previous generations that had great talent and potentially could have been winners on the international stage".

The ad was created by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. It first airs on 11 June and runs until 13 July with media handled by MPG and bought by OMD.

The press advertising, in-store and digital assets were created by the in-house team at Camelot.

Press advertising will feature Olympians and Paralympians including Meadows, Maddy Thompson and Richard Kruse and will thank players of the National Lottery, claiming "no one has contributed to our athletes more than you".

The activity is the second burst of Camelot's "life-changing" activity, which launched with the 'Hero's Return' execution in March, which was inspired by the wartime experience of Private Jack Jennings.

The creative explains how money raised by The National Lottery allowed Jack to return to Burma. 

Follow Matthew Chapman at @mattchapmanUK

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk