AIBU to never shop at Space NK again?

[JenniferJupiterr]

I’ll preface this by saying that if instagram, influencers and celeb type culture is not your thing, you’ll be better off skipping this one as it truly won’t be of interest!

Anyway. I noticed a few days ago that Space NK have organised a PR trip to Miami. Stacey Solomon, her sister, Rochelle Humes plus husband, Perrie Sian etc etc are all there and I just can’t understand the point? Could anyone enlighten me because all I can see is sheer bloody excess for the sake of it - tons of freebie products for these people (and all power to them! This isn’t a jealousy thing) , boat trips, £££ dinners laid on, huge limo type vehicles laid on - you get the drift.

but why? What are Space NK hoping to achieve here? They all flew out first class and it genuinely must have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I get PR gifting and trips. But this seems just sheer OTT excess for no reason that I can fathom. It’s REALLY put me off shopping with them again. Not entirely sure why - maybe because I’ve got the ick?

Anyone else feel similar?

The reason I usually avoid shopping there is that they don’t put a price sticker on anything. Well… maybe 15% of their stock but it’s really random and it’s the kind of place where (to me) similar looking products could be priced anywhere between £25 and £125, and I find it all the cringe to walk around saying “how much is this?, ok thanks. How much is that one? Ok thanks”

anyway, back to your point OP… I cannot even really understand why they have organised a trip for those people. I mean, I have nothing against Stacey Solomon or her sister but I have never ever thought of them as being ‘the face of’ spaceNK. I don’t mind the lavishness of it or the first class flights etc., but I am surprised at the line up

There are prices on the shelves for every item I’ve looked at . I’ve never had to ask.

I can live with the Space NK one - it’s a ‘luxury’ shop so it stands to reason they’d do this - although why they’d choose bargain basement celebs baffles me. The one that infuriated me was when Clarks sent a boat load of Instagram grifters school shoes for all their children to advertise to the normal masses who were actually struggling to meet uniform costs.

Stacey S being there is just so weird...😂 Shes not famous really is she - all i ever read is about how much of a chav she is, i saw her once on XFactor and she wasnt that good either, how did she get famous?!😂I dont know who the other people you speak of are so im off to google them hahaha

But the data says it does work. Maybe not on you personally, but in general, social media campaigns and influencer partnerships are hugely impactful for sales.

The cost thing also - maybe it cost the Space NK £75k all in with first class flights, accommodation etc. Maybe a bit less if they had tie-ins with hotels etc. You couldn't even get a low budget local radio ad for that. Let alone TV or billboards. And people like Stacey reach literally millions of people.

What's more surprising to me is the choice of celeb in this case. I always think of Space NK as being very high end and not at all aligned with her personal brand at all.

I would say these days almost everything is through influencers / instagram. Way easier than going to a shop and hunting through racks and a few I follow have similar body shape and coloring to me so if an outfit looks good on them I know it'll suit me too!

All brands of this type do this. I used to work in lifestyle PR. Rather than boycotting Space NK I think you'd have to specifically search for a brand that stood against this practice.

You should watch her BBC show Sort your Life Out. She’s a good presenter.

I always think Charlotte Tilbury sticks out like a sore thumb in there.

Who honestly buys something because Stacey Solomon is involved with it. Who are her fans?

Totally agree - the packaging is so tacky.

The brand has looked at the costs and calculated that they will make more in revenue because of the publicity than the cost of the trip. They wouldn’t do it otherwise.

I think they must be struggling as someone else said previously. It is a crowded market now, before online shopping was as established as is it now, Space NK was the place to get your hands on niche and exclusive brands. Now you can get anything anywhere so their USP has been diminished. So they are trading down. It is easy to think that SS and her wannabe sister have no wealthy fans, that they appeal to Asda and Primark customers but Space NK must have done some research on who is best to flog their products. It seems a bit odd to me though, a jarring mismatch with the brand. (Maybe her BBC career, particularly her at home series with Joe and kids, is the draw. Despite a BBC ban on advertising she promoted and referenced several of her brands on there. She really is the BBC’s golden girl. Other people were dropped for a lot less.)

It’s puzzling, because they’ve always been an aspirational shopping experience based in affluent towns. There’s a store next to my office, so it’s the perfect place to browse each week to buy entirely unnecessary pretty things that make me happy 😂 And now this trip shows I’m not their demographic after 25 years of being a loyal customer.

I’ll stick with the Liberty advent calendar this year (and maybe Harrods lol) and skip SNK!

There is something 'icky' about very wealthy people being given even more free stuff, that they don't deserve. And the cost being paid by the consumer. I'm skint not their target customer, but if I was I'd find this obscene excess offputting. A pp was right when she said it makes the intended customer feel excluded, rather than included!

I guess years ago, when brands were sending freebies to beauty journalists and celebs, it wasn't so overt. The average woman reading a magazine wouldn't really have considered that the journalist reviewing a particular spa or product, would likely have received a freebie trip or some products. If she did think about it, it still wasn't so 'in your face' as it is now. I think maybe this kind of marketing is on its way out, because when times are tough economically, no one wants to see obscene excess .

I totally agree with this take. I probably am in the target market but have spent the last year unfollowing people as it just rubs me up the wrong way. Also I’m so surprised that HMRC isn’t all over these influencers as these are benefits in kind and should be taxed! They are a bunch of tax dodgers!

I quite like Stacey, she’s a bloody hard worker, she does actually champion small businesses, but it was the constant selling that made me delete her in the end. Air fresheners, bedding it was relentless.
Made in Chelsea lot, loved Millie M’s style and think Ashley James does a great job on This morning but the relentless product promos free trips to Disney etc just yuck. They can afford to do this stuff, just enjoy the time with your kids rather than selling them out.

I think there’s going to be a lot of “celeb” kids in therapy from having their lives on show it’s just horrid.

I just went on SS’s Insta. She says to her fans she is taking them on the trip with her. All quite clever speak for the lonely and less able minded, making them feel part of her life, to be invested in her family. She is a multi millionaire, with a lifestyle beyond most people’s wildest dreams, a tv career but flogging stuff like Del Boy as a lucrative side hustle. If you can’t see through all that, we’ll, let me sell you some magic beans.

I’m not sure it’s that simple. I think a lot of brands are currently flailing to determine the best marketing strategies and are constantly behind the curve.

I stopped shopping in space nk after the way they made me feel in their store. There's loads of other places to shop that sell the same products. I prefer Boots and Harrods beauty.
I don't use influencer type social media, so I don't follow anyone, nor have I seen any of the trip you're discussing. However the names mentioned on here are all 30+ possibly nearer 40! This surprises me as space nk feels more of a under 30 target. Surely no-one under 30 is following mums approaching 40? Or are they trying to be aspirational to the under 30's, in a here look what you could be doing in a decade kind of way?

I have had a couple of bad experiences in SNK physical stores. I was in one when I started looking at a lipstick I had researched. I asked the very smiley SA for her help, and she put her hand on my arm and said, these are very expensive, are you sure? I just said are they, nonetheless I am buying one. I don’t look run down but who knows.

The other one was a male SA, I went in there and started looking at skincare. I asked his advice and he told me with a sneer he could see I have issues on my chin. He just took against me. I had no issues with my chin then. Now I do, there are two of them.

Recently went into the one on Kings Road and they had a male greeter on the door. Not a security guard, a SA. I said hello, he totally ignored me. SA at till was lovely. Went out, made a point of eyeballing the greeter in the door, said goodbye. Again he just looked straight through me, and said nothing. A strange greeting style for someone who was put there specifically to be the one who welcomes you to the store.

Male SAs from french brand cosmetics companies (not SNK) but Selfridges and other department stores have also been very unpleasant to me. Like I am not worthy to wear “their brand”. That was a while ago - I don’t buy make up from department stores now. That is why I go to SNK, but I am pulling back from all of them now.