Sazka Group secures ex-Syco Entertainment CEO for National Lottery bid
Czech gambling giant taps Simon Cowell confidante Charles Garland to head up marketing and brand strategies
Sazka Group has appointed music and entertainment mogul Charles Garland to its growing advisory board for its bid for the fourth UK National Lottery Licence.
Garland, who was formerly the CEO of Simon Cowell’s record label Syco Entertainment, joins Justin King and Brent Hoberman on the consultancy board to Sir Keith Mills and his bid team.
Garland, who is currently the COO of production company 19 Entertainment, will advise on how to engage customers and entice them back to the National Lottery.
His specific remit will include marketing strategy and improving brand engagement, as well as ensuring a “compelling” customer sales experiences from beginning to end.
With the appointment of Garland, Sazka continues to bolster its arsenal ahead of its bid for the National Lottery licence in 2023, as it attempts to wrest the tender from Canadian giant Camelot.
Camelot has held the contract since 1994.
Speaking on the hire of Garland, Mills said: “Throughout his career, which has spanned music, sports and television, Charles has grasped the mood of the nation and kept people entertained.
“The National Lottery needs an operator who can better understand its players, increase participation by making the lottery fun and exciting again, and ultimately return more to good causes.
“This is fundamental to our bid and Charles will be an invaluable member of the team as we strive to make it happen,” he added.
Garland said the National Lottery needed to recapture the nation’s imagination in a digital and on-demand era.
Garland said: “The National Lottery was once a staple of British entertainment, but in the era of Netflix, podcasts and video games, it needs to adapt to changes in customer behaviour.
“The challenge facing this institution is to recapture that sense of excitement that the Saturday night draw once generated, bringing back those players who we believe turned away from the lottery in favour of new and more innovative entertainment platforms.
“But in order for this to happen, The National Lottery must have a digital-first operator with a track record of turning underperforming lotteries into cherished household brands. This is exactly what Sazka Group do – together we are working on proposals that will make the British public fall back in love with this vital institution,” he concluded.