The National Lottery, run by Camelot, Watford undertook its biggest Point of Sale launch across 27,000 retail outlets. I was lucky enough to ride this wave and get involved in a number of diverse projects which saw me travelling around the UK and working with other suppliers.

One of the biggest headaches for any POS launch is understanding what is going on at ground level. I worked with the lead project manager Graham Atherton and the likes of Mike Kirchin at Plan2 Install, to design and build an estate management tool. The estate management tool allowed real-time reporting on what assets were in the 27,000 retailers – along with pictures taken by the installation team.

This meant that information could be quickly reported up to Camelot on progress, and any issues raised in one place. Having the installation teams take photos of the units when they were installed or if they had any issues meant that problems could be quickly solved and proof given that an installation had taken place.

Given the sheer number of retail outlets for the National Lottery, there was a lot of pressure to get the estate furnishings completed and out in the wild. The main unit was called (somewhat confusingly) a “Playstation” and although it looked quite simple it had a lot of metalwork and plastic in it.

Quality was high on Camelot’s launch briefing, and we noticed that some of the units weren’t being assembled correctly. I was involved in working closely with Andrea Elshout’s AAC (who made the units) and created a manual on how the units had to be put together.

I pulled together all the photography (of how the units went together) and copy for the manuals which were then given to the sizeable production line to check against.

In the same way we needed to make sure the build quality of the units for Camelot were kept high, the way in which they were installed was also paramount as there was some assembly needed (attach the blue hood and make sure play pads were secured etc). Having these done incorrectly would at best look shabby and at worst be a health and safety issue.

As there were multiple companies installing the units and several teams, Camelot needed a single point of reference for the installation. I photographed and pulled together a fully branded guide for the installation teams which was presented to them before they got the units.

The installation instructions then went online to take into account any minor changes to the documents, reduce printing costs and allow for quick access to the teams.

One of the advantages of having the installation manual was to also protect Camelot from slack installation by third parties. If a retailer complained and took a picture of the installation and it did not follow the guidelines, it meant that Camelot could get the third party to go back out to the retailer and potentially fix the issue with no additional cost.

The Camelot POS installation manual proved invaluable and where it was followed the Estate Management tool showed a significant reduction in any issues reported by the retailers.

As the POS rollout progressed, so did Camelot’s promotions of the National Lottery on National TV and advertising campaigns. This involved an evolution of games and their names which required the retailers (rather than the original installation team) to update the POS. As with the installation teams, the retailers needed some guidance to make sure the game POS were installed consistently across the estate.

SOME OF THE DIVERSE BRANDS I’VE WORKED WITH