Luck of the draw? No way. When CEO Beau Lane and his team at advertising firm E.B. Lane set out to win back a five-year, $80 million contract with the Arizona Lottery, nothing was left to chance.

The advertising, public relations and interactive firm managed the many layers of marketing, advertising and public relations for the Arizona Lottery account for two five-year increments (1995 through 2005) and lost the account to another agency in 2005. This year, at a critical point for the state when lottery revenue is heavily depended-upon, E.B. Lane beat three other agencies with a winning plan to penetrate younger markets with new technologies and interactive lotto methods.

Here, Lane spoke exclusively with AFM about the Arizona Lottery, his strategies and what he did when he found out he'd reclaimed the account.

Beau, how were you determined to win back such a huge account after losing it in 2005?

The day it left us in 2005 was the day we started thinking about winning it in 2010- it was an account we won in 1995 and kept for ten years. [We] had done some tremendous work and really helped them build sales over that time period. It was really a core account for the agency for a long time, and as you know with state accounts we have to undergo a procurement process [every five years]. We gave it our all in 2005, it didn't work out and somebody else had the privilege of having the account. We understood that and were not delighted that happened, but know that's how it happens sometimes, so we just were determined that when there was another shot at it that we'd be ready.

Where were you when you'd found out you'd gotten it?

Well, I was on my way to a meeting and I got a call from the staff saying the Lottery Director wanted to meet with me that day, at a Hilton hotel that's right down the street from the lottery- they use it for a lot of off-site meetings because it's so close. I'd been there before- we met there at 4:00 and went into the lobby bar and I sat there with Jeff Hatch-Miller who is the Director and two of the lottery executives and they informed me right there and it was quite exciting.

So when did you share it with your staff?

I was anxious to inform the staff. [Jeff and I] were having a conversation that went on for a half an hour so finally I said "Would you excuse me? I need to tell the staff" and they said "Oh yeah, if you need to go, go tell 'em," so I got in the car and called our President Todd Breshnahan and said "Gather everyone in the lobby, I have some news," so I got back and was able to announce it and of course there was a lot of celebration and we all went to the SideBar and had an open tab for a few hours, made sure everyone got home safely- had a nice little celebration.