“We started Alchemy3 with a fundamental goal in mind: to create smart matches between lotteries and great consumer brands,” said David Schorr, Alchemy3’s chief executive officer and one of its three founders. “The relationships we build can help lotteries produce more revenue and help both lotteries and marketers strengthen the connections between their brands and consumers.”

Schorr and the two other founders — Paul Guziel, chief operating officer, and Jeffrey Schweig, chief marketing officer — were most recently with MDI Entertainment, a division of Scientific Games Corp. All three have broad experience not only in the gaming industry, but also in consumer marketing.

“We've got a unique combination of consumer marketing and lottery experience that helps us make those smart matches,” Schweig said. “We believe that solid strategic thinking combined with great creative can deliver strong licensed programs to lotteries.”

Added Schorr: “We also believe that lotteries should pay fair prices for these strategic matches with consumer brands.”

Alchemy3 now represents four companies: Bass Pro Shops, Chrysler LLC, Six Flags Inc. and Universal Studios’ “The Mummy” franchise. Alchemy3 is working with lotteries to capitalize on the power of those companies’ brands to attract new players with tailor-made instant and online games. Alchemy3’s founders see a bright future for licensed instant games and the promotional opportunities licensed games can sometimes create.

“Lotteries need to maximize the value they get from all games — but especially branded games,” Schorr said. “When we say we work to make smart matches between lotteries and great consumer brands, we mean that we do everything we can to create deals that maximize the value for the lottery and the brand, all while making the process as smooth and clear as possible for the lottery and licensor.”

Alchemy3 brings its strategy to life by working closely with lottery officials and consumer marketers before deals are done. “We focus on learning each lottery’s specific needs and the desires of that state’s or province’s consumers. Then we bring in a package that helps the lottery reach new players and increase revenues,” Schweig said. “With licensors, we make it our business to understand their positioning and their market, so we can create games that give them new opportunities to build awareness and purchase intent.

“Alchemy3 is also an agency that can provide lotteries with promotional design and execution services for programs that are not affiliated with a licensed brand,” Schweig added. “We are very open to working with lotteries on that level, too.”

Importantly, Alchemy3 provides a very high level of support to lotteries, making it very easy for them to manage the creation and printing of branded instant games — and easy for their sales forces to bring them to retailers.

“Before we propose a branded game to a lottery, we think through how to make it successful and easy to stage end to end,” Guziel said. “We're set up to help a lottery execute every step of a licensed game, from ticket design to marketing to prize fulfillment without creating any undue burdens on the lottery.”

As a central component of its support system, Alchemy3 has created LEAFS™ (Licensing Electronic Asset File System). LEAFS is a proprietary, Web-based tool, accessible at www.alchemy3.com, that allows lottery officials and brand marketers to manage every element of the game design and execution process — from brand-usage guidelines to artwork to ticket design and beyond.

“The system is collaborative,” Guziel said. “It keeps an accurate log of all designs for product, advertising and promotion, and captures users’ comments to keep every game on track for production. LEAFS is unlike any other system of its kind when it comes to visualizing the nuances of the process.”

The founders of Alchemy3 are pleased with the lottery industry’s support and response. “We announced our startup last October at the NASPL/WLA meetings and were delighted with how welcoming our friends at lotteries and other vendors were toward us,” Schweig said. “We have all worked in the industry for many years, and it is an incredible feeling to know that our lottery ‘family’ is behind us.”

Before his time at Scientific Games, Schorr spent 10 years at a gaming company in Nevada that is an unrestricted gaming licensee. He has been in gaming for more than 15 years. Guziel is a gaming expert with nearly 10 years of lottery experience, plus management of horseracing and B2B entertainment marketing programs. Schweig is an advertising and promotions veteran with more than 20 years in consumer packaged goods and lottery marketing. Both Schweig and Guziel have worked on both the lottery client and vendor sides of the industry.