Pssst? Wanna make 12 bucks, plenty of questions asked?
Then simply take part in an OLG market research interview at a shopping mall near you.
The Q&A is being paid for by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (meaning you, actually.) The questionnaire? Unintentionally funny.
The OLG wants to know what you think about the logo it unveiled five years ago. And its paying a market research firm $25,000 to get the answers.
A while back, I took part in one of the surveys at Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill. It was baffling.
What had my Spidey senses tingling was the biased nature of the questionnaire in terms of painting a glowing picture of the OLG.
For example, one question pertained to descriptors one would use to describe the lottery corporation. There are about a dozen positive choices offered (along the lines of "fun" and "responsible"); only a few descriptors have a negative connotation. That's odd given the OLG's egregious recent history.
For the sake of accuracy, I wanted to reprint parts of the questionnaire verbatim in this space. But when I asked for a copy of the questionnaire, OLG spokesman Rui Brum said I'd have to file a Freedom of Information request due to "privacy" reasons. How do questions pertaining to OLG branding violate anyone's "privacy?"
And the reason for the market research?
"We want a better sense of the public's understanding of our logo," says Brum.
Uh oh! Surely the OLG isn't thinking of "rebranding" itself again?
Brum denies a rebranding is in the works -- even though several of the questions pertained to how the OLG could make its logo more appealing.
The price tag of the OLG's 2006 rebranding wasn't cheap. While Brum declined to reveal the previous expenditures (privacy concerns), thankfully such data can be found on the OLG's own website. Here's the skinny: in '06, the lotto monopoly spent $190,000 on focus groups and public opinion research. Then OLG spent a total of $5.84 million on new signage. It's as if the OLG won the lottery (although it's actually our money)!
If and when the results of this market research are published, let's hope we're spared the PR bumf the OLG trotted out during its last rebranding exercise.
For example, check out this rhetorical question: "What do an organization's values have to do with its corporate logo and brand name?" Answer: "The essence of a leading brand is that it is able to inspire trust and confidence among its customers and the public."
In case you're wondering how to properly "interpret" the OLG's whiz-bang logo, evidently those three circles around the letters O-L-G "reflect our three core values of integrity, respect and accountability."
I'm not making this up.
Of course, a few months after the '06 rebranding, Ombudsman Andre Marin tabled his blistering report on the OLG and its systemic practice of turning a blind eye to insider wins.
Integrity, respect, accountability.
Oops.
Bottom line: the OLG is a state-sanctioned gambling monopoly. It doesn't need fancy logos or multimillion dollar signage -- it's the only game in town. Surely Ontarians would be better served if this crown corporation ploughed the millions it spends on self-aggrandizement projects into, say, hospitals and community centres?
Alas, I fear the odds of this lotto monopoly acting with "integrity, respect and accountability" would make even the most reckless gambler cringe.