Fund your best ideas — without asking for more budget.
How The National Lottery generated £2.1m of incremental value from its media trading — bankrolling research, innovation and a major Q4 campaign, with zero extra spend.
Client Name
Allwyn Entertainment (formerly Camelot / The National Lottery)
Company Size
Enterprise
Industry / Sector
Lottery / Gaming / Consumer
As operator of The National Lottery, Allwyn wanted to unlock extra value from its substantial media trading — and pour it into the initiatives that never quite make the core budget. The challenge: create that funding stream without disrupting agency relationships, sparking budget conflict or adding financial risk.
Build a mechanism that generates incremental value from media trading — value that could be reinvested into research, insight, test-and-learn campaigns and strategic projects that would otherwise go unfunded.
What We Delivered
Since 2018, Astus has been the independent media trading and barter partner to The National Lottery — sitting outside the existing agency structure to unlock extra value from media investment. Our bespoke trading programme generated a dedicated pool of value to reinvest into research, insight, pilot campaigns, media innovation and strategic activity beyond the core budget. Alongside it, we provided independent trading intelligence — spotting value across the media mix, including undertraded channels like OOH and digital. Agency-neutral throughout, so Allwyn could fund experimentation while keeping every existing relationship intact.
Channels / Products Used
Media trading (all channels) · OOH (identified as undertraded) · Research & insight project funding · Agency-neutral barter mechanism
Campaign Timeframe
An ongoing strategic partnership since 2018.
- £74.6m of net media traded since 2018
- £2.1m of incremental value generated for reinvestment
- A dedicated funding pool for research, insight, innovation and non-budgeted campaigns
- A major Q4 campaign funded by value built across Q1–Q3
- Undertraded value identified across OOH and other channels
- Budget flexibility created without a penny of extra marketing spend
- Freedom to test new ideas and back initiatives that would otherwise be deprioritised
- Independent, agency-neutral media intelligence alongside existing relationships
- Transparent reporting and commentary, with all value reinvested into business impact
“If that question came up on my ISBA WhatsApp group, I’d put them forward first. I feel duty-bound to. Really superior knowledge about media mechanisms — and an independent point of view versus the agency.”
Senior Marketing Leader, Allwyn Entertainment
Why It Worked
The Astus Angle
Key Insight or Approach
Big advertisers in layered agency structures rarely get truly independent advice and more value from their media at the same time. Allwyn got both. Astus paired specialist trading expertise with an impartial, agency-neutral view — creating a self-funding pool for innovation while flagging value being left on the table. If your best ideas keep dying for lack of budget, this is where they get funded.
Years of trading
Clients
In billings
Client retention
