Kansas Lottery Seeing 'Green' with Frogger Instant Scratch Game

WINNIPEG, Jan. 12, 2015 /CNW/ - Pollard Banknote Limited (TSX: PBL) ("Pollard Banknote") is pleased to announce the outstanding success of the Kansas Lottery's $5 Frogger instant scratch game. Launched on September 3, 2014, Frogger has sold in leaps and bounds—after only ten weeks on the market, it became the Kansas Lottery's highest-selling $5 instant scratch game since 2005, and reached a remarkable sales index of 238! The incredible success of this game demonstrates the enduring appeal of the Frogger brand, three decades after the initial release of the iconic arcade game. The proven sales-driving Frogger brand, published and licensed by Konami Digital Entertainment ("KONAMI"), is available to lotteries exclusively through Pollard Banknote.

The Kansas Lottery's Frogger ticket offers players a chance to win up to $25,000 instantly, plus the opportunity to scan a QR code to enter non-winning tickets into a second chance draw and play an interactive online Frogger game through the Lottery's Players Club. The online game features a leaderboard that tracks top scores and rewards those players with Frogger prizes and merchandise. Combining nostalgic charm with an engaging instant ticket that mimics the novel play style of the timeless video game, and features the instantly recognizable and beloved Frogger character, it's easy to see why this instant game is jumping off the shelves!

"We congratulate the Kansas Lottery on the resounding success of its $5 Frogger game—an entertaining instant ticket that leverages the universal appeal of a well-known brand. Working with Pollard Banknote to create a robust marketing program, which included featuring the game at the Kansas State Fair this year, proved to be a winning strategy," said Sina Aiello, Vice President, Marketing, Pollard Banknote. "The Frogger brand has proven its ability to generate excitement among players in the North American instant ticket market with many highly-successful launches in jurisdictions throughout the U.S. and Canada and we are thrilled to see this trend continue. For the Kansas Lottery, not only has the game been embraced at retail, but strong participation rates in the second chance draw and interactive game indicate that players also love the fact that they can play the classic Frogger game online for more chances to win."

"We chose this game based on its excellent brand recognition and ability to draw in existing instant players, while attracting new players—those who fondly recall Frogger from their youth as well as those who have recently been introduced to the brand. Since the game launched in early September, Frogger has strongly contributed to sales of the $5 category, as well as to overall instant sales," says Terry Presta, Executive Director, Kansas Lottery. "The interactive component adds significant value to the instant scratch game by engaging players through our Players Club and piques the interest of the younger demographic—all of which are important in generating maximum revenue to benefit the State of Kansas."

Along with its robust portfolio of licensed properties, Pollard Banknote provides turnkey solutions and customized promotional support with all of its licensed games. In addition to designing, programming, and printing the themed tickets, Pollard Banknote's integrated marketing strategies also include second chance drawings, interactive games for brand interaction, retailer promotions, consumer launch events, advertising development, social media campaigns, point of sale materials, and 'how to-play' videos—just to name a few.

Since the Kansas Lottery's start up in November 1987, ticket sales have produced nearly $1.5 billion in revenues for the State of Kansas. In that same time period, more than $2.6 billion worth of prizes have been paid to players, and retailers have earned $278 million in commissions. Funds generated by the Kansas Lottery go towards supporting economic development initiatives, prison construction and maintenance projects, local juvenile detention facilities, problem gambling assistance, and the State General Fund.

About Konami Group

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties. Konami's titles include the popular franchises METAL GEAR SOLID, Silent Hill, DanceDanceRevolution, and Castlevania, among other top sellers. KONAMI CORPORATION is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. in Windsor, UK. KONAMI CORPORATION is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KNM. The latest information about Konami and details about the products it publishes can be found at http://www.konami.com.

About Pollard Banknote

Pollard Banknote is a leading lottery partner to more than 50 lotteries worldwide, providing high quality instant ticket products, licensed games and strategic marketing and management services for both traditional instant games and the emerging iLottery space of web, mobile and social channels. The company is a proven innovator and has decades of experience helping lotteries to maximize player engagement, sales, and proceeds for good causes. Pollard Banknote also plays a major role in the charitable pull-tab and bingo markets in North America. Established in 1907, Pollard Banknote is owned approximately 73.5% by the Pollard family and 26.5% by public shareholders and is publicly traded on the TSX (PBL). For more information, please visit our website at www.pollardbanknote.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking" statements and information, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. When used in this document, such statements include such words as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "plan," and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this document. There should not be an expectation that such information will in all circumstances be updated, supplemented, or revised whether as a result of new information, changing circumstances, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE Pollard Banknote Limited

Sina Aiello, Vice President, Marketing, Telephone: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]