2024 business impact of the year – global: Deep Blue Thinking, Basis & EuroMillions
Two decades after it launched in 2004, EuroMillions’ large jackpots were popular with players in Europe, but data from the US suggested players were becoming fatigued with the long odds of winning these huge jackpots.
EuroMillions wanted to develop a game that could attract new players. The company approached Deep Blue Thinking and Basis to design an innovation programme with three objectives: differentiate from the existing game; leverage scale using a 200 million player base; and come up with a unique proposition.
The project began with desk research on innovative game concepts from other jurisdictions (eg North America and Australasia) and insights from adjacent markets, including console gaming and sports betting, which offered stimulus for workshops with stakeholders from each lottery.
From a shortlist of six, two innovation territories had the greatest potential:
- Be part of it – build ‘fomo’ through ‘must play’ events
- Make it easy – ‘annuity’ games that provide winners with a set amount each month rather than a large jackpot.
A further qualitative stage highlighted three ideas that could deliver against the project objectives. However, these concepts were not without challenges. For example, a NYE event game could undermine the established ‘El Gordo’ Christmas draw in Spain.
The researchers therefore deployed quantitative research to understand whether these concepts could work commercially even if one market ‘opted out’, which highlighted an annuity game (EuroDreams) as the one with the greatest potential.
The project needed a robust financial forecast of commercial performance, given the scale of investment required. Researchers tested three variants in qualitative and quantitative research and by including a de-branded version of the existing UK Set for Life game, they developed a calibration model to eliminate any research bias.
The forecasts reassured the board that the concept could have a strong performance across Europe, delivering volume in larger territories, while also helping smaller markets to drive player frequency.
Initial sales data found that EuroDreams accounts for 25% of sales on average ( 40% in France) and performs 25% higher than the comparable games.
The Research Live awards judges said: "Put simply this was, a ‘very, very good piece of work’. Our winners had to overcome the test of launching a new, unique game that would attract players and boost sales – challenge accepted."
Nick Bonney, founder, Deep Blue Thinking, said: “This was one of those rare opportunities to work on the development of a new product right from the initial idea generation workshop right through to launch. As part of the process, we were able to use a combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to refine the ideas and produce robust financial forecasts. A project of this scale required us to work as a virtual extension of the client’s team and simply would not have been possible without the unique partnership we were able to build with Basis. It’s incredibly satisfying to see a successful commercial launch at the end of the project.”
Polly Shrager, managing partner, UK consumer/B2B, Basis, said: “We were so lucky to be working on the project right from the get-go – it was fascinating to see how the game took shape, and such a great example of really putting the customer at the heart of product development. Working with Nick was (as always) a great demonstration of true partnership and collaboration.”
This article is based on information submitted as part of the entry process for the MRS Awards 2024.

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