Big Changes Are Coming to Tim Hortons’ Roll Up The Rim Next Year
By Thomas Kenzaki
May 1, 2019If you’re a fan of the yearly Roll Up The Rim contest from Tim Hortons, big changes are likely coming for the 2020 edition.
Jose Cil, the CEO of Tim Hortons parent company Restaurant Brands International Inc., recently announced that sales were down for the most recent quarter and pointed a finger at severe winter weather and a poor performing Roll Up the Rim campaign.
Tim Hortons sales in Canada dropped 0.4% and 0.6% worldwide for the quarter ending March 31st.
Since you can’t change the weather (unless you happen to be Mr. Burns), Tim Hortons is going to focus on changing up Roll Up The Rim instead.
The not so popular yearly tradition of rolling up your coffee cup in hopes to win a prize began seeing a decline in engagement during the 2018 year. Tim Hortons tried to boost sales this year by adding prizes (over 7 million additional prizes over the previous year) but it doesn’t seem to have worked.
I have a few of my own guesses as to why the contest was less successful this year:
Lack of Innovation
In years previous to 2018, Tim Hortons had experimented with a digital online component to the contest (2016) and even TWO rims to roll up on each cup (2014-2015).
The 2017-2019 editions went back to basics by simply having the single roll up per cup.
Stiffer Coffee Competition
A big competitor to Tim Hortons in the coffee space is McDonald’s. Not only do they have a product that many Canadians find superior to Tim Hortons, they also have always had an on-cup loyalty rewards program. A guaranteed winner every 7 cups in the form of a free coffee.
McDonald’s has also been running more regular $1 Any Size McCafe Coffee campaigns which likely stole some sales from Tim Hortons.
People Aren’t Actually Winning
With alleged 1-in-6 odds of winning at Roll Up The Rim, you’d expect to win almost once a week if you bought a cup every day.
1 for 70...... thanks @TimHortons #RollUpTheRim #RollUpTheRimToLose. #PleasePayAgain pic.twitter.com/cRhpwTTWGk
— ⭕Gamer Graham ???????????????????????????????? (@GTM618) March 14, 2019
Looking online at social media, you’ll find multiple customers like Graham who somehow defied all odds by winning on just 1.4% of his rolls.
New Changes for 2020
What changes we can expect to see in 2020 are currently unknown. The CEO mentioned that the company needs to take a “modern and fresh approach”.
CBC reported that the company is working to reboot the program which will also include a seamless digital integration. Whether Tim Hortons decides to go with an all-digital approach or some sort of hybrid physical/digital contest, a change should at least spark some new interest.
Do you buy Tim Hortons’ excuse of poor weather and an outdated contest for their sales woes? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Related: Tim Hortons Changing Tims Rewards Loyalty Program to New Points Based System on February 26, 2020!
Showing 5 Most Recent Comments
View all2. Mcdonalds always have coupons on thier app. Tim hortons started to have them too but thier app has lots of problems. I still dont see any coupons in my app from Tim Hortons and stated frommany users as well.
3. Doller for any size few times a year! Summer time dollar drink days. McDonalds got my loyalty lol.
McDonalds won the coffee war. Sorry Tim Hortons. I see your trying to take pages from thier book but your behind!