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Campaign Imminent Update: MARC USA opens Baltimore office for MD Lottery, MD Lottery names CMO

Update: Remember when we reported that MediaPost reports that the three-year contract, which has a two-year renewal option, was actually awarded to MARC-owned Cogniscient Media, and Cogniscient has big plans for the government agency.

Cogniscient just opened a new office in Baltimore to service the client. The office is led by performance marketing SVP Rob Rex, who just rejoined the agency to lead the account. He will be supported by a number of not-yet-announced new hires, as well as staff from the Pittsburgh and Boston offices who have lottery expertise.

Since Cogniscient has big plans for MD Lottery, we can expect additional spend increases at the government agency. We'll also likely see spend increases as Leo Mamrosky, who was hired as CMO & managing director after a 16-month tenure as SVP & CMO at New York Empire State Development (September), spreads his influence.

With furthered spend increases imminent, sellers should reach out now to remain top-of-mind. MD Lottery targets anyone in the Maryland area A18+. (You have to be A18+ to gamble.) It spends highly throughout the year, though there are spikes in H2.

Kantar reports spend in 2018 totaled $3.1m and was placed across broadcast ($1.9m), outdoor ($1.1m) and print  ($63,681). This marks an increase from 2017, which saw a spend of $2.8m allocated across broadcast ($1.7m), digital ($6,691), search ($2,478) and outdoor ($1.1m). Spend in 2016 totaled $2.2m.

Adbeat reports digital display over the last 12 months has totaled $72.6k, an increase from the $44.6k spent during the 12 months prior. Ads are placed primarily via Google (75%) and direct buy (22%) onto sites like masnsports.com, baltimoreravens.com, redskins.com, umterps.com and nbcwashington.com.

Agency & martech readers -- although CMO appointments typically signal agency reviews, we're unlikely to see more agency shifts at MD Lottery. At the same time as it appointed Cogniscient to its media account, it retained creative AOR gkv, which means work is likely all tied up.

Below was originally published March 29.

Pennsylvania Lottery.

Sellers should prep for omnichannel efforts and approach agency contacts immediately. A campaign is likely rolling out shortly, as creative agency $115.5m contract this month. Spending peaks are sporadic so act quickly to pick up 2019 dollars.

Kantar Media highlights, MD Lottery spent $2.3m last Q1-3 on TV ($1.4m), OOH ($779.8k) and print ($63.7m). This is over the two-million-dollars spent during the first three quarters of 2017. TV and OOH traditionally dominate the budget, while a digital emphasis is also common. Note previous annual spends: $2.7m (2017) and $2.1m (2016).

Digital display marketing has increased over the last two years. According to Adbeat, MD Lottery has spent $59k on desktop, mobile and video ads in the last 12 months. Of those, 15% ran site directly and the rest were placed programmatically through Google. Top publishers include masnsports.com, baltimoreravens.com, redskins.com and grunge.com. The recent total has surpassed the previous 12 months when only $38k was spent. 

With creative and media in place, digital and PR agencies should reach out to in-house DMs to form AOR connections as shifts often follow one another.