Nottingham’s given birth to plenty of amazing things. Things that, considering you’re reading LeftLion, we’re pretty sure you know lots about.
Well, Nottingham has spawned something new. Something exciting. Something that allows you to buy sex toys; as well as an umbrella and a cat feeder… err, hang on a minute?
Let me explain. Spin4 is a new website that is the vision of three NTU alumni with a fairly simple concept. You create an account and fill in some basic details such as location, interests, age, etc. Then, you spin the wheel - a bit like a shopping Wheel of Fortune - and you are presented with exciting, interesting products, that you never knew you wanted.
Don’t groan, but I took the concept for a … whirl. I’ll let you in on my experience. So, I’m nineteen years young. I live in the fine city of Hoodtown. By clicking a few boxes I’ve told Spin4 that I’m interested in style, work, music, grooming, ‘the pad’ and ‘sex ‘n’ stuff’’. And then I span the wheel…
First - some limited edition Field Notes pocket notebooks. Good choice. I’m a big fan of jotting things down on paper as well as digitally. Field Notes are some of the best pocket notebooks in the industry, and I had no idea that they’d released this particular special edition. Tick.
Second, an iPhone dock called Pinhead. It’s basically a little body without a head, you rest your iPhone where the noggin should be and it keeps it propped up and charged. It’s cute, and I like it - probably not for fifteen quid though. And luckily I do have the correct type of iPhone to fit it, which very easily could have not been the case. But they ended the description with “he’s a real stand up guy…” Did I write that sell text?
Third, ooh, a board game. I love board games... oh... it’s one of those kind of board games. Yes, the third thing Spin4 suggested for me was a “Let’s F*ck” board game. Now, as wonderful as I’m sure this board game is for couples who can’t keep their hands off each other; I do not have a partner right now. In fact, it was only early this year that I came out of a serious relationship. It’s okay, put your violin away, I’m a strong lad, but I feel this is where Spin4’s major flaw is.
It’s all well and good choosing location and a few very broad interests, but I feel they need to be a bit more specific. In this situation for example, imagine if I was chronically lonely, or depressed after a breakup, and wanted something for more of a, shall we say, solo pursuit. Let’s F*ck wouldn’t have put me in the best of moods, would it? Also, the items range from the affordable to the extortionate, yet there’s no where to say your budget.
On the flip side, for those who don’t quite know what they’re after and are a bit of a sucker for falling in to the internet for unspecified amounts of time, this site can be thoroughly entertaining, and can show you one or two things that you may never have known existed.
An event on Spin4
We wanted to find out a bit more about how it all started, so we hit up Mikey Emery, Marketing Director, and one of the founders of Spin4. He explained the concept for the site first came about when he and Jon Proud, were sat in the university library, procrastinating away, they had the novelty idea of an online student focussed roulette wheel, where you could bulk buy products such as a years supply of toilet roll or 10 kg of pasta. A few months passed, third co-founder Matt Auburn jumped on board, they received support from The Hive (NTU Enterprise Scheme) and got involved with the Creative Quarter. Then the site became what it is today.
One thing that’s clear about the site is that they were design conscious. Now, I’m no graphic designer, but I do like things that look good; and the site is very pleasing to the eye. With a striking colour palette, and a simple design, they’ve managed to make themselves an identity which sticks them out from the crowd. Which is good, considering they’re not the only people in the window shopping game. There are already a few well-established competitors out there, Fancy being the main one that springs to mind. But Mikey is confident that their spinning concept, and places/events feature makes them stand out from the crowd.
Speaking of the places feature, it works rather well. Basically, in between all your rude little board games and notebooks, ever so often Spin4 will show you a place instead of an object. They’ll show you a picture or two, and a bit of description. The team implemented the feature cos they were sick of sitting around in Wetherspoons, and wanted a site that could tell them all about the hidden gems in their city, considering TripAdvisor just wasn’t cutting it,
It’s a great concept, and it is well executed, so now it’s just a case of what the future holds for Spin4. Mikey admits that they’re all still massively learning the ropes, considering none of them have experience in running anything like this. But, for now, all they’re focussed on is developing Spin4 into a successful brand.
Their motto is “spinning is winning”, let’s see if that’s true.
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