Deaf Lottery
Brand strategy / Creative direction / National rollout / 2025
A first-person account of the rebrand I led at Deaf Connect.
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An identity of its own.
When we started working on the Deaf Lottery rebrand, we had a fairly fundamental problem. We didn't really know who we were.
Deaf Lottery had nearly 40 years of history and a genuinely important purpose, but it hadn't developed a particularly strong personality of its own. The identity was closely tied to Deaf Connect, and we needed to work out what made the lottery distinctive beyond the organisation behind it.
Then there was the small matter of the prize. Unlike lotteries advertising a particular house, car or holiday, our winners could choose what they wanted. Which is a fantastic proposition until you're the marketer trying to communicate it. How do you advertise a prize that could be practically anything?
As it turned out, that was also where the opportunity was.
The freedom was the prize.
The more we looked at the offer, the more obvious it became that the freedom to choose was actually the most compelling part. We didn't need to sell people on a particular prize because the whole point was that they could decide what winning meant to them.
We also spent time looking back at our previous winners, and something interesting emerged. Many of them were incredibly generous people who had used their winnings to give back or help others. There wasn't one particular way to be a Deaf Lottery winner, but the choices people made told us a lot about them.
That became an important part of the thinking behind "Definitely a Deaf Lottery Winner". Rather than trying to make an endless list of possible prizes sound exciting, we could tell stories about what people actually did with their winnings and have a bit of fun imagining the possibilities.
It also gave us a much clearer creative direction. We could develop a brand with its own personality, while keeping the connection to Deaf Connect and the community the lottery supports.
Making the brand work.
I led the rebrand internally at Deaf Connect, working with Brisbane creative agency nextThursday and our marketing team over approximately nine months. The new identity launched in June 2025, supported by a national campaign across television, radio, print and digital.
My involvement extended well beyond the initial creative development. There was the brand and campaign direction, of course, but also the website, photography, email templates and automated journeys, retail materials and all the other places a brand needs to show up consistently.
And because I was leading the marketing team, I was equally interested in what happened after launch. We needed more than a nice set of guidelines and some beautiful campaign assets. I wanted the team to feel confident using the new identity, developing content and experimenting with ideas without every piece of creative needing to start from scratch.
I think that's one of the less glamorous but more interesting parts of brand work. You can develop a fantastic identity, but somebody still needs to make sure it works across the actual business.
From brief to broadcast.
One of my favourite milestones was leading our first-ever brand television ad shoot. After months spent working out who we were and how we wanted to show up, we were on set bringing the creative to life. I even made an appearance in one of the finished ads.
Getting the advertisements airing on regional television was a huge achievement for the team, and something I was particularly proud to help make happen.
One of our advertisements also featured a Deaf person alongside an interpreter. For a lottery that exists to support the Deaf community, it mattered that representation was part of the creative itself. It was an important moment for us, and one that deserves to be seen alongside the wider campaign.
Definitely a Deaf Lottery Winner!
YouTube loads when you choose to watch.About the advertisement
“Definitely a Deaf Lottery Winner!” is a 30-second campaign advertisement featuring Bec Goulter. The creative platform explores the freedom for winners to choose what winning means to them. Bec led the rebrand internally at Deaf Connect, working with creative agency nextThursday and the internal marketing team.
Still a supporter.
I might not work at Deaf Connect anymore, but I still support the work they do. I'm a Deaf Lottery VIP member and purchase tickets every month.
I'm proud to have been part of this chapter of the brand's history, and it's lovely to see it continue to develop.