EL/WLA Marketing Seminar 2026: ''Content Is Queen'' - Crowning the Art of Storytelling in Barcelona
This week the EL/WLA Marketing Seminar returned to Barcelona for the second year in a row. With a record number of participants - over 200 - lottery executives, marketing professionals and creative leaders came together to explore how storytelling can help lotteries remain relevant, trusted and emotionally connected in an evolving landscape.
More than an exploration of the latest tools and trends, this year’s edition returned to the very heart of communications and marketing: content and storytelling. 
Keynotes: From the foundations of storytelling to the importance of emotion and trust
‘’You have a great product or service, but people aren’t responding to your marketing – or your message. You’re brimming with enthusiasm, but you don’t know how to spread the word. You need a story’’.
The Seminar opened with Jack Murray, CEO & Founder of MediaHQ and All Good Tales, who introduced “The Magic Slice” - the point where what you want to say meets what your audience wants to hear. In a sector where magic and creativity matters, this intersection of authenticity, meaning and audience desire is what turns a message into a story that truly resonates.
In his Keynote “The Invisible Contract,” award-winning director Marco Gentile explored storytelling as a relationship of trust between brands and audiences – a trust now being tested in the age of automation and AI. Marco reminded us that capturing attention is an act of trust, and that ‘’storytelling is a moral act’’. While AI can scale stories, only humans carry the emotion, intention and credibility that makes them meaningful. Trust remains the foundation of communication – for the lottery sector and for society as a whole.
Closing the keynote sessions, Yiğit Sardan, Chairman of the Güzel Sanatlar Group & Medyapim reminded us that powerful storytelling is rooted in shared emotions and dreams. From ancient theatre to modern marketing, Yiğit showed that emotion, not logic, drives behaviour. ‘’Your heart is not just a pump; it’s your emotional project manager’’. 
CEO Panels: Purpose, Values and Reputation
Interactive panel discussions with lottery CEOs provided strategic insights into how storytelling supports long-term trust and reputation.
Ray Bates, EL Honorary President and Andreas Kötter, CEO, WestLotto, explored how storytelling drives engagement and cross‑selling strategies, and how lotteries can innovate responsibly while keeping true to their mission, with meaning and authenticity at the core of their communication.
Integrating values into lottery storytelling, Lam Chee Weng, CEO Singapore Pools, Rita Prates, Vice President, Santa Casa, Portugal and Romana Girandon, President/CEO, Loterija Slovenije and EL President highlighted - in a panel moderated by Piet Van Baeveghem, EL Secretary General - the importance of coherent narratives that reflect lottery values beyond products alone. From the importance of cultural heritage and the history of lotteries to showcasing good cause contributions and employer branding, it is clear that responsibility, trust and integrity lie at the heart of lottery values and storytelling. The panelists emphasised the importance of stories that reflect who lotteries are - not just what they sell.
Moderated by Luca ESPOSITO, Executive Director, WLA, a US panel with Rebecca Paul, President and CEO, Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation (USA), Gretchen Corbin, President and CEO of the Georgia Lottery Corporation and Mark Michalko, Executive Director, North Carolina Education Lottery, shared insights into storytelling, elaborating on the regulatory aspects that differ between states and impact what, and how they communicate with their players.
https://www.european-lotteries.org/news/elwla-marketing-seminar-2026-content-queen-crowning-art-storytelling-barcelona