Thunder Bay 50/50
December Draw
The December Draw is the Thunder Bay 50/50’s biggest draw of the year, designed to drive excitement and ticket sales throughout the holiday season. Ticket buyers are enticed with numerous Early Bird draws and Holiday Bonus draws leading up to the grand prize draw. 50% of the jackpot goes to the grand prize winner and the remaining 50% supports the purchase of essential equipment at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
My role was to develop all of the festive creative baselines throughout the campaign. This included developing consistent, engaging graphics that was applied across multiple platforms (website, digital advertising, and print) while also taking into consideration return on advertising investments.
DESIGN GOAL
Build on last year’s 50/50 baseline design to create a fresh and enticing baseline that feels familiar and maintains our brand recognition.
Use new baseline to create engaging creative that is consitent across all of our platforms.
INITIAL MEETING NOTES
Make the $250 ticket a main focus
Update elements but keep the same feel
New Design
Old Design
APPROACH
I used last year’s December 50/50 design as a foundation, but focused on refining each element to achieve a higher level of quality and versatility. Every graphic element was assessed (and in some cases replaced) with scalability in mind, ensuring the visuals remained sharp and professional across all platforms. This update allowed the creative to feel fresh and polished, while maintaining the consistency and recognizability that returning buyers expect.
This year’s campaign also introduced a new challenge in the main website layout. Instead of the usual four ticket packages, we offered five, and bonus numbers were included across all packages rather than just a select few. My task was to integrate these additional elements within the existing size constraints of the site, ensuring the design remained clear, legible, and engaging for users.
Old Design
New Design
Digital Advertising
The Lottery department executed an extensive Meta ad campaign alongside additional digital advertising platforms to maximize visibility during the December 50/50 draw. To support this effort, I developed numerous eye-catching graphics for key milestones throughout the campaign, ensuring continued audience engagement from launch to the final draw.
Targeted audiences outside of Northwestern Ontario was a major focus, and creative assets were strategically adapted to better resonate with those buyers.
Print Advertising
The December 50/50 is the only campaign of the year where print advertising plays a major role. For this draw, we executed a full “takeover” of our regional newspaper: the first two pages were dedicated entirely to draw information. I determined what content appeared above the fold to maximize visibility and impact. Additionally, I designed print ads for Southern Ontario newspapers to expand our reach and attract new buyers beyond our local market.
Billboards were another key print medium. We selected placements that directly faced high-traffic routes leading to the 50/50 ticket store at Intercity Shopping Centre. Audience research indicated that our local buyers already knew where to purchase tickets, so I made the intentional decision to omit website and store location details from the billboard. This freed up valuable space for a bold, impactful design that captured attention quickly and effectively.
OUTCOME
The December 50/50 was a record-breaking success, becoming the largest hospital lottery draw in Canadian history. The campaign raised a total grand prize of $6,436,355, with an additional $250,000 awarded through Early Bird prizes throughout the month.
The draw experienced a 42% increase in transactions compared to last year, reflecting the impact of refreshed creative, expanded targeting, and consistent campaign execution in driving excitement and participation.
