Why Michael Hill's ice cream store launch missed the mark
Anaita critiques Michael Hill Jewellery's new store opening, where a free ice cream stand drew a line but didn't convert into store visits or purchases. She suggests using models draped in jewellery, an app that ties ice cream flavour choices to product recommendations and discount redemptions, and viral content moments to actually pull the crowd inside the store.
The lessons
A line outside your store is worthless if it doesn't convert people into store visitors or buyers.
Tie every launch activation directly back to getting people to see and touch your product.
Use tech like an app to connect a fun hook (like ice cream flavour) to product discovery and a redeemable offer.
Leverage trending content formats (viral songs, dances) to make your launch shareable.
Questions people ask
Why didn't Michael Hill's ice cream stand launch work?
People lined up for the free ice cream, got it, and left without ever entering the store, so the activation created foot traffic but no real engagement with the jewellery or brand. Anaita argues the goal should have been getting people inside the store, not just making it look busy or handing out branded ice cream.
Transcript
Michael Hill Jeweller just missed a massive opportunity with its new store launch in Bondi Westfield. I was walking around Bondi Westfield and I saw this line outside of Michael Hill. And I thought what a cool thing for a very old school retailer to have a line like this. They'd actually set up an ice cream stand outside their store to lure more people into this new opening.
But when I looked more closely at it, people were lining up for the ice cream, they got the ice cream and then they left. They didn't even enter the store then. My question is, what is the point of having the ice cream stand? Is it so that people are walking around Bondi Beachfield with Michael Hill Jewellery branded ice cream?
Or is it that they are just making it look like it's a busy store opening is, in my opinion, both of those goals are meaningless goals because they're there to get free ice cream and there's no real tagable moment. There's no buying from Michael Hill Jewellery. Here are some things that I think they could have done to make the whole experience so much better. First of all, they needed to leverage that line.
They needed to have models with the jewellery on them or like human mannequins doing different poses with jewellery draped all over them. Michael Hill bag charms and necklaces and all the new things that they're displaying, everything that is new in store. Needed to be draped all over these models and people could take photos and touch them and feel them and see how good the jewellery is. The second thing they needed to do was to play with the concept of jewellery and ice cream and doing really cool little things like this.
Another thing that they could have done is to have an app. So while people are standing in line, they use the app to choose the flavour of ice cream that they want. Then the app gives them recommendations based on their flavour choice of what bag, charms and jewellery and all the new stuff that they're launching in store. And then when they go pick up their ice cream, based on the flavour they chose, they actually get a discount code or a freebie or something cool where they have to go into store with their ice cream and redeem whatever the app gave them.
I just think getting people in the store rather than just getting a free ice cream and walking away so much better. Another really simple thing they could have done is build their own tray with ice cream and jewels from Michael Hill. Also, they could have jumped on this song, which is viral at the moment. They could have had a flash dance or they could have had a cover artist singing it with the jewellery on.
There's just so much.
