Throughout the years, Maltco Lotteries developed quite a vast portfolio of games

which are popular in our local market. One of these games is Scratchers – a Maltco brand used for instant scratch tickets. The concept of scratch tickets was introduced in Malta way back in 1996. In fact, it was during this same year (when the Public Lotto was still operated directly by the Government through the Department of Public Lotto) that this new concept of instant tickets with instant winning was launched on the market. At that time there were two types of instant tickets with two price ranges.Eventually, when Public Lotto was privatised in July 2004, Maltco Lotteries inherited this game and eventually the brand of Scratchers was created. The creation of the Scratchers brand was an important achievement since this provided a common brand to a selection of games all falling under the instant category. In this way, it became easier for players to associate themselves with the brand and soon this brand became popular across the island. Over the years, Maltco Lotteries continued to develop this concept and also introduced other new products. In fact, today Maltco Lotteries offers a range of up to eight concurrent Scratchers products having a price range starting from €1 to €5. In order to keep the excitement amongst players, Maltco introduces at least five new Scratchers editions every year replacing the ones that would get sold out.

Some of the editions that one may play are the €1 Lucky Clover, €1 Wild numbers, €2 Fast Cash, €2 Pharaoh’s Treasure, €3 No Limit Poker, €3 Bingo Fun, €5 Vegas and €5 Solid Gold. More information about these games may be obtained from www.maltco.com Scratchers is a particular game whereby its’ popularity is mainly coming from the fact that it is an easy game yet with the possibility of many instant winnings. It is stress free, fun and keeps the player entertained and excited. Prizes are frequent and vary with top prizes ranging up

to €50,000. This simple game is very popular amongst thousands of people, both Maltese and Foreign. The wide range of different themes caters for players with different backgrounds and different tastes. An interesting fact is that during the summer months the sale of tickets tends to increase dramatically due to the popularity of this product with tourists who may avail themselves of Scratchers from all Maltco Lotteries shops and from other authorised outlets as well. With around 230 Maltco Lotteries Points of Sale around Malta and Gozo, and around another 30 Seller shops who are authorised to sell Maltco’s products, playing Scratchers comes easy, available and fun and most importantly provides instant results.

SCRATCHERS TICKETS:Fun, Entertaining and Easy to Play

Issue - 10 April - 2015 www.maltco.com

P2 / The Design and Development of new Scratchers Tickets

P1 / SCRATCHERS TICKETS: Fun, Entertaining and Easy to Play

P3 / FAST CASH: A new €2 Edition with 12 chances to win

P4 / Winning Jackpots with Scratchers is possible...and such a unique joy

10th AnniversaryMALTCO LOTTERIES LTD.

2004 - 2014

Maltco’s Scratchers portfolio

Prizes up to

€50,000

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Commentary

Enhancingour portfolioWhen in 2004 Maltco Lotteries had been awarded the licence to operate the lottery and other games in Malta, Maltco continued to build upon all of the brands that it had inherited including also the instant games. It was at this time that the company thought it would be best that a brand would be given to the instant ticket games in order to create a proper identity like all the other games. This is when the brand “Scratchers” was created.Since then Maltco kept introducing a number of different editions. Nowadays, an average of eight Scratchers editions are continuously available on the market. Behind every launch of every edition there is a whole strategy of planning, not only about securing the availability of the editions, but also as regards the success of the same editions to assure that they will be greatly anticipated by the players. Undoubtedly, a number of challenges on different aspects are weaved together to come up with a fresh, modern and attractive presentation of the tickets.Studies show that the players who play Scratchers prefer tickets which are simpler to play. Those who play also opt for simple game methods, tickets with attractive colours and with non-complicated methods of winning.Meanwhile there are a number of challenges which relate to the production of such tickets and Maltco is continuously engaged to produce these tickets in such a way that they are viable since the quantities produced for the local market are very small when compared to other markets globally. It is here that INTRALOT, being the mother company, has helped a lot with its expertise in the industry to be able to help Maltco produce frequent editions which are always fresh and colourful.

Dr Ioannis KatakisCEO - Maltco Lotteries Ltd

The development process of new instant Scratchers

As many would know, first impressions are the ones that last

most, and that is why great importance is given to the presentation of all Scratchers tickets in order to encourage people to buy more tickets which may, in return bring more winners. Together with INTRALOT, the mother company, Maltco invests a lot of time and effort in the design, the production and the printing of all new Scratchers tickets.To attract potential players, the company is constantly looking for creative and bright coloured designs. All chosen designs are the result of a meticulous and ongoing market research together with the knowledge of previous successful themes.

The Marketing team at Maltco, carries out regular research to understand better what players need and want in terms of new Scratchers editions. Thanks to the wide exposure that Maltco has through INTRALOT, the company enjoys an overall advantage on all the happenings, trends and innovations regarding Scratchers taking place in other countries around the world. Right from a year before an edition is actually issued on the market, Maltco’s marketing team would start researching the market to ensure that the next editions are popular and attractive to players. The actual tickets are then ordered through a specialised company in Canada which is considered to be the leading producer of scratch tickets globally.

The Design and Developmentof new Scratchers Tickets

The Theme: Instant GamesThe Venue: World Lottery Summit, Rome Maltco Lotteries participated and described in detail the daily challenges the company experiences so that Malta may be able to sustain and remain ahead with the game of Scratchers within its small market.During this Summit various lotteries around the world had the opportunity to share their experiences with scratch tickets in their country. Considering the size of the Maltese market, the variety and quality of the Scratchers product is well establish when compared to other countries.

Maltco shares its experiencein the World Lottery Summit

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Fast Cash Scratchers launch campaign

Only a few weeks ago, Maltco Lotteries launched its latest and new

edition of Scratchers to the local market. The name of this edition is FAST CASH.Scratchers FAST CASH comes in two different colours – red and green – and each ticket costs only €2.Again, like all the other Scratchers tickets, these editions are very easy to play. All one needs to do is scratch the lucky numbers area and then scratch the six game areas. If one of the numbers matches any of the two in the lucky numbers’ area, the player wins the corresponding prize. The player is also given a bonus chance, by scratching the bonus area with the possibility to double the winnings. Not only

that, but each ticket in this new game, comes with twelve chances of winning. Every participating player can win up to €10,000 which is quite a substantial prize!In the event that a player wins, the ticket holder can cash the winning amount immediately from the same shop or any outlet of his choice, upon presentation of the winning ticket. This simple and fun game, offers a number of different winning possibilities and the winning amounts also vary. One of the greatest features of this game is that without having to wait for any sort of draw, upon scratching the ticket, the player would know instantly whether he have won or not. Simply by scratching the ticket in hand the player would know whether fortune has knocked on his door or not.

Reactions

Scratchers reflects today’s lifestyle

On a regular basis players are being provided with new editions of Scratchers with attractive colours and easier ways to play. Maltco Agents agree that this game has a good potential for their sales, and often this potential is at its best during the summer months.Maltconews contacted some of our Agents and asked them their reactions about Scratchers:

“This is an excellent game which provides excitement and instant winnings. Many people enjoy this game, I notice that Scratchers is more popular with people of a certain age. Not everyone scratch his/her tickets here in our shop. There are players who buy and scratch their tickets instantly, but there are others who enjoy the thrill of scratching their tickets in the privacy of their home. Fast-Cash, the new edition of Scratchers is doing very well and a number of players are coming to play this game in particular. Although, I must say that all Scratchers games are very easy to play.” - Thomas D’Anastasi, Victoria, Gozo

“Although I am new in this business because I have only been selling Maltco products since December, I can say that Scratchers are very popular and players tend to ask for new editions. As part of the promotion I invested in a relatively big poster which is on the front side of my shop. People tend to notice this poster and ask for Scratchers tickets. As Agents, we have to do our utmost to increase our sales. I believe that Maltco Lotteries should invest more in marketing this game because it can be more popular among people with different backgrounds.” - Christian Borg, Mosta

“From my experience I can say that Scratchers is mostly popular amongst tourists, especially the Sicilians and the Italians. During the summer months many foreigners ask directly for our instant tickets. Scratchers is an instant game with instant winnings. - Debbie Magro, Paceville

FAST CASH: A new €2 Edition with 12 chances to win

This is a golden opportunity for the players in which they can send in €10 worth of non-winning already scratched Scratchers tickets and stand in the chance of winning €1,000 monthly. This lottery is called the Scratchers 2nd Chance lottery. The draw takes place TVM during the Live transmission of the first Super 5 draw each month. Although many are still learning about this 2nd Chance Lottery, this was introduced in October 2005 with the aim to give a second chance to players especially the non-winning ones. Instead of disposing of the already scratched tickets, players may enter in the chance to win €1,000 each month by participating in this 2nd Chance Lottery. More information can be found on www.maltco.com/scratchers/

Another opportunity through Scratchers 2nd Chance Lottery

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Winning Jackpots with Scratchersis possible...And such a unique joy

Maltconews spoke to George Vella who has a Point of Sale in

Zabbar. An agent for 27 years, Mr Vella said that the most important thing about Scratchers is that the players would want to know immediately if they have won or not. Unlike draw-based games like Lotto, Super 5 , Grand Lottery, and event-based games such as U*BET etc., with Scratchers you do not have to wait to see if you are a winner or not. This is an important factor which everyone understands right from the beginning.Another important thing about Scratchers is that the probabilities of winning is high. This brand provides attractive winning odds (at 1:3.9 tickets) and an average pay-out of 57% to 59%.George Vella says that he is very glad to have sold a number of winning scratcher tickets and he finds great satisfaction seeing a smile on the faces of the winners when they go to cash their winnings. Mr Vella agreed that this is a popular game which keeps growing in popularity. He said that in Zabbar there are two types of players who buy Scratchers. There are the ones who visit his shop to buy Scratchers when buying other tickets such as Lotto, Super 5, Grand Lottery tickets and/or other games from Maltco Lotteries and while they are there, they ask him for one or more Scratchers tickets. Then there are also those who enter his shop just to buy Scratchers and scratch their tickets there and then to see if they have won or not.He tells us that the Scratchers 2nd chance is very popular in his area and he feels that this competition which is drawn on a monthly basis and which provides €1000 cash prize continues to encourage players to play the game, knowing that if they do not win, they would still be able

to participate in another draw and stand another chance of winning the prize of €1000. George Vella feels that through the marketing initiatives that the company constantly takes, the scratchers brand has now become a very important and established brand. He believes that clients want simple playing methods with instant

winnings. In today’s busy life, more and more people want to try their luck and know straight away if they are winners or not. For this type of players this instant game is ideal, besides the fact that it comes with very attractive jackpots that may be won, including a €50,000 one.George Vella said that whilst some Scratchers players enjoy scratching their tickets when still in the shop, others prefer to do this from the comfort of their home, and enjoy their playing experience in private.

This brand provides attractive winning

odds

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George Vella within his POS in Zabbar

Experiences...Positive...

Of happiness...

Satisfaction...

Another important thing about Scratchers is that the probabilities of winning is high. This brand provides attractive winning odds (at 1:3.9 tickets) and an average pay-out of 57% to 59%

George Vella feels very satisfied when players go to his Point of Sale to cash a winning ticket. It makes him happy to see the smile on people’s faces knowing that they would have won a Prize. Geroge states that this is one of the nicest things about working in such industry.

In today’s busy life, more and more people want to try their luck and know straight away if they are winners or not. For this type of players this instant game is ideal, besides the fact that it comes with very attractive jackpots that may be won, including a €50,000 one.

www.maltco.com Helpline: 2388 3333

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