April 17, 2005
Krispy Kreme
Before doing this assignment, I always assumed that Krispy Kreme advertised. Everyone I know almost all over the world knows who this North Carolina based company is. It is astonishing to me to discover that they rely so much on word-of-mouth advertising. I look forward to seeing if they will be able to survive on word-of-mouth advertising in the online arena.
Building its brand:
Krispy Kreme has maintained their brand for decades on word-of-mouth advertising. Aside from the occasional billboard, Krispy Kreme does little advertising. Their Senior Vice President of marketing points to the Krispy Kreme in-store experience as their main branding asset. He said, “You can eat them hot. That’s a huge brand-building asset for us.”
Krispy Kreme’s self-appointed competition includes Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and New World Coffee. This helps transform the small company into the underdog of doughnut-makers. Additionally, their retro-cool image that has not changed since 1937 when they first opened their doors authenticates the company’s longstanding history.
Krispy Kreme does an excellent job at creating a buzz around new store openings, offering samples to their customers, and building a community. By limiting their store locations, they maintain a level of mystique and the scarcity helps to drive up demand.
Projecting Krispy Kreme’s image:
Krispy Kreme spends close to nothing on advertising and still their brand is well known. Television, radio, and print media give them free press by covering their store openings, which are reminiscent of a Black Friday at Wal-Mart; hundreds of people lined up just to see the sheet of glaze drop down onto the conveyer belt of dough. Additionally, to generate publicly, they offer free samples before opening one store per community.
Over the past few years, consumers have seen boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts in their local grocery stores. While this makes the product available to more people, it undermines the scarcity of Krispy Kremes and diminishes the Krispy Kreme experience. For a product that depends so greatly on the in-store experience and word-of-mouth for their advertising, this product placement is dangerous.
Meeting the information needs or wants of its target audiences:
Krispy Kreme’s target audience has changed in the last few years. After going public in early 2000, their popularity soared. However, by 2004, the honeymoon was over and their stock began to drop. Regardless of the reasons, this added a new category to their target audience: investors.
Krispy Kreme continues to meet the needs of their traditional target audience though their grand openings and free giveaways. Krispy Kreme still relies on word-of-mouth and free press coverage, but now, they play an active role in communicating to their target audiences with press releases, events, and their website. This integrated system, although not as sophisticated as others, is an improvement in meeting the needs of their target audiences.
Looking Holistically: TV, Print, and New Media
Krispy Kreme does very little to advertising on television, in print, or on-line. They rely almost completely on word-of-mouth, product scarcity, and the Krispy Kreme experience to sell their product. With the growth of the company and their recent pitfalls, this strategy needs an overhaul. Krispy Kreme will have to begin using traditional combined with new media to remain a competitive business.
Looking Specifically: Analysis of online strategies and uses of Websites
Krispy Kreme’s website is very well designed. The images online are consistent with their signs and stores. They both project the look and feel of the 1930-50 eras with the use of fonts, colors, and images. Their menu bar communicates exactly who they are: Krispy Kreme, Doughnuts, and Coffee. Capitalizing on their back-to-the-past charm, they clearly communicate their charisma in a historical section using images and short paragraphs relevant to that decade.
The Krispy Kreme website lacks interaction and fails to provide an online experience that could mirror the in-store experience. They have an online press kit and they update their press releases, but you cannot sigh up to receive notices. A browser can purchase toy trucks, look for the nearest store, and send emails to the company but that is the extent of the interaction.
Compare the New Media Use with Old Media Use:
When you ‘google’ Krispy Kreme, the first three hits are for the organization, after that, you find other news sources. It is clear that Krispy Kreme continues to rely on word-of-mouth both on-line and off-line for their advertisements.
Suggestions for better leverage of their website abilities to serve their target audience:
1. More online interaction to simulate the in-store experience online in needed. For example an online competition to redesign the flimsy box the doughnuts come in or a game that lets you manipulate the glaze as it falls over the doughnuts
2. Continuous website updates – not just the press releases.
Posted by arosenst at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)