The California State Lottery, which has spent decades reminding residents that someone has to win, has decided that two independent agencies are the ones who will help deliver that message going forward.

Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, the Sausalito, Calif., shop known to the industry as BSSP, has won the creative assignment following a review that stretched roughly nine months and included agencies from the major holding companies. Canvas Worldwide, the Los Angeles-based media agency that is a joint venture of Stagwell and Horizon Media, has captured the media planning and buying duties.

The review, which began last fall, represents the kind of lengthy, methodical process that has become standard for government accounts, where procurement rules and public accountability tend to extend timelines well beyond what marketers in the private sector might tolerate. (Nine months is, after all, enough time to produce a human being, though arguably less complicated than selecting an advertising agency.)

BSSP, which was founded in 1993 and has built a reputation for work that leans toward the humanistic and the wry, will be tasked with continuing to thread a particular needle: making gambling seem like harmless fun while the state simultaneously funds education with the proceeds. The agency's roster has included clients in categories from automotive to quick-service restaurants.

Canvas Worldwide, meanwhile, adds a sizable state account to a portfolio that has grown considerably since the agency was formed in 2017. The assignment will involve placing advertising across a state whose media market — or, more accurately, markets — remains among the most expensive and fragmented in the nation.

Representatives for the California Lottery, BSSP and Canvas Worldwide did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the scope of the assignments or the billings involved.

For the independent agencies, the wins are a reminder that holding company scale does not always carry the day, even in reviews where the giants show up to compete.

Original story published in adage.com: "BSSP, Canvas Worldwide win California Lottery agency review - Ad Age"