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November 10, 2003
Krispy Kreme Mania
On October 27, we traveled a few hours south to witness the mania that is a Krispy Kreme store opening.
It was cold and rainy at 5 a.m. in Mishawaka, Indiana, but that didn't deter about 75 people from gathering for the opening of a new store about two miles from the campus of Notre Dame University.
The assembled throng stood behind Rob Perugini. For 17 days, Perugini was the David Blaine of Indiana, camping in a tent at the front door to claim first-in-line privileges. During that time, he faced cold weather, high winds and curious onlookers. He was the subject of local and national media coverage, hoping to break the previous camping-out record by four days.
Why?
Because Krispy Kreme has expertly marketed its store openings as events worthy of wild customer devotion. In Mishawaka, the company and its PR partner, Villing, spent weeks planning the store launch around events and promotions, including:
- Giving away doughnuts at high school football games
- Sponsoring a study break for Notre Dame students
- Giving doughnuts to businesses all over town
- Providing doughnuts to radio stations for giveaways
- Pledging donataions to a local homeless shelter for each dozen purchased
- Inviting a local high school marching band to play
- Cheering Rob Perugini on in his quest
- The list of tactics goes on, literally, for pages
It's a grassroots, buzz-building strategy. And, per Krispy Kreme's usual approach, the company did not purchase any ads, although there were 12 media outlets at the opening. It's a model many businesses can learn from.
The keys:
- Immerse yourself deeply in the community
- Work with a PR partner with deep community roots
- Support a good cause
- Provide overwhelming opportunities to try your product for fr*e
- Make it fun
Belive it or not: Between the two of us, we only had one doughnut all day. But we did inhale alot of calories, if that's possible.
Take a look at Rob Perugini and his tent, plus other pictures from the Indiana opening, here.
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