Spin to Win: Clever Tactics or Brand Death?

Over the years I’ve seen many retailers using some iteration of the ‘wheel of fortune’ as a traffic driver. Usually everyone is a winner and the default prize is a voucher of some description to get a discount when making a purchase. Sometimes there is a very valuable prize - a full size product for free - but the odds of winning are low - similar to your number coming up in roulette!

I can see why Spin to Win is seductive. Traffic is tough, the brand isn’t getting cut through and customers are just walking past the shop. It seems to make sense to give the retail team something proactive to do that stops customers from passing by, allows staff to engage and maybe causes a little, positive bump in traffic and sales. Inevitably the retail and operational marketing teams will produce data to show that it has been successful.

This is all fair - the idea isn’t without merit. But I’d argue that it’s a reasonable thing to try for an undifferentiated, multi-brand retailer, but not for a brand.

My view is that a brand should be focused on its people talking about its great products and the beautiful story that provides energy and meaning to that brand. Those are the reasons to shop there - you love the products and the brand story resonates with you - not (just) because there’s a deal or a freebie.

Deals have their place; they should drive conversion and/or an increase in spend, but not be the reason the brand is being considered in the first place.

If the only reason you’d consider shopping there is because it’s on offer, it suggests to me that a brand is not in the best of health. It could be sympomatic of a brand that doesn’t have anything new to say and is seeing competitors start to chip away at its territory.

Now, this isn’t to say I’m without empathy or understanding of the whole situation. I once walked into a leadership role at a brand where there were markets (whole countries!) that were totally dependent on spin to win for store traffic, and where 3 for 2 and 40% off were the daily default. Getting off an addiction like that is tough - you have comparable sales to beat, and one year’s peak is the next year’s challenge. So I would argue - if you are a brand - find another way and don’t get caught in the addiction in the first place.

So - with all of that said - what do you think about this photograph, taken in Covent Garden in London? It’s of a famous $1bn+ global brand engaging in a little ‘spin to win’. Kudos to the team because the execution is truly excellent (and no doubt wildly expensive). There is a little brand store on King Street a few hundred metres away that might be struggling for traffic, as there’s an Aesop nearby and they are becoming more and more of a fragrance brand. Jo Malone is famous for its gifting and beautiful packaging rituals, so it’s only right that they are spending marketing dollars at this time of year. Is this the right way to be spending them? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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