Glassons advertised A$400 ($481) vouchers for the first 20 customers through the doors, while the first 150 shoppers were eligible for gift boxes.
Lang said the online exposure was worth far more than the cost of the promotion.
“The exposure that Glassons would have received through what we call user-generated content, so people posting on social media predominantly, would have been worth easily in the tens of thousands, maybe even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth.”
He said the promotion tapped into well-established drivers of consumer behaviour, including incentives, scarcity and ease of use.
Massey University professor of marketing Bodo Lang says the online exposure for Glassons was worth more than the cost of its Sydney promotion.
“If I’m one of the first 20 at the Glassons store, I’m handed a A$400 gift voucher. Well, if I spend a couple of hours waiting early, that’s a pretty good hourly rate.”
Scarcity also played a key role.
“If they would have said, ‘Anybody who comes into the store at any point will go in the draw to win’, that would have generated some excitement, but nothing like this really short, sharp spike.”
Lang said the difference between being one of the first 20 customers and missing out helped fuel the rush.
He said the real value for Glassons was not necessarily the shoppers who attended in person, but the attention generated online.
“It’s not so much about the people going into the store. It’s part of it, but it’s really about the wave that’s online that this is creating.”
A Sydney Glassons store opening descended into chaos as shoppers sprinted through a shopping centre chasing vouchers and giveaways, with attendees alleging people were injured in the rush. Photo / Tiana Noy
Graphic designer and content creator Tiana Noy, who attended the opening and filmed the rush, said these types of launch events appeared to be becoming more common in Australia.
“It seems to be the norm here now,” Noy said.
“People try to go really early to be first in, best dressed.”
She said other brand launches, including events by White Fox, had led to people camping overnight to secure their place.
Noy said giveaways and brand activations created a “win-win” for retailers and shoppers.
“The customer gets perks for buying and the brand gets customers to buy. Clever marketing.”
She said there was also “massive hype” around activation pop-ups, where brands created experiences people wanted to talk about or share on Instagram.
“Heaps of people kind of fear missing out, believe it or not,” she said.
However, Lang warned there were risks for brands that created events designed to generate excitement.
“There’s a real risk that if somebody would have got seriously injured, suddenly your brand is linked to those injuries and to that antisocial behaviour.
“That’s not great for brands.”