Newly branded Allwyn appoints Twitter MD to advise on National Lottery bid

Allwyn, the new identity for Sazka’s operations in the UK, has appointed Twitter’s UK MD Dara Nasr to advise on the digital commerce side of its National Lottery bid.

UK.- Sazka’s Allwyn, the new corporate identity for the Czech gambling conglomerate’s UK operations, has confirmed the appointment of Dara Nasr to its advisory board as it sets its sights on the fourth National Lottery tender.

As managing director for Twitter UK, Nasr is one of the country’s highest-profile executives in tech. He has led Twitter UK’s commercial strategy, seeing it become one of the most profitable foreign markets for the company.

He joins the advisory board guiding Allwyn’s National Lottery bid in order to advise on digital commercial strategies. His appointment to the board, which is led by Sir Keith Mills, demonstrates the importance Allwyn is placing on digital strategy in its bid for the National Lottery.

Nasr said: “How companies communicate with customers is evolving thanks to the disruptive rise of social media platforms. Brand communications, advertising, and marketing has become more exciting due to the complementary and unique ability of digital to engage with the consumer.

“As I’ve seen during my time at Twitter, mobile means there is huge potential to establish a close 24/7 relationship between company and customer. I’ve teamed up with Allwyn and their parent company Sazka Group because they understand the importance of digital to lotteries. I can’t wait to get started.”

Mills said: “For many years, Allwyn’s parent company Sazka Group have pursued a digital approach to lotteries across Europe. Not only has this produced impressive online sales growth, making their lotteries resilient to the challenges of the pandemic, but it has also translated to consistently strong sales growth in the retail sector, too.

“Regardless of whether a player purchases their lottery ticket online or in-store, we’ve seen overall player participation only increases if people feel more connected to their lottery.

“Allwyn’s sister companies are a testament to the powers of digital in the lottery world and I can’t wait to work with Dara and apply his knowledge of the digital and social media landscape.”

Sazka will compete for the next UK National Lottery licence against the incumbent Camelot UK, which has run the lottery since its inception, Sugal & Damani, and now Italian lottery operator Sisal.