Unlike so many other retail and food service companies, Krispy Kreme’s employees and executives seem to have a clear understanding of the company’s uniqueness and what attracts customers. They are careful to never lose sight of that as they move the company forward,expanding into new markets and product categories, such as coffee and other hot and frozen beverages. This, in turn, makes for a strong brand,says New York brand consultant Alan Siegel, whose clients include Harley-Davidson, another company that connects well with its customers and has achieved a cultlike status of its own. “I think a strong brand really comes out of a clear, relevant, and differentiating brand promise—a projection to the marketplace of what the company is, what it stands for, what value it provides, and what’s distinctive about it,” Siegel observes. “These people [at Krispy Kreme] have built their brand around this proposition of going into stores, smelling the product, watching the product being made, and getting a hot product.”
Krispy Kreme markets itself as a purveyor of magical moments and special memories—not just doughnuts—and therein lies the company’s brand strength. “Pretty much everything this company does seems to flow out of their commitment to create a distinctive experience in buying doughnuts and creating an emotional connection to the company and having the product stand out as the hero,” Siegel says. Sheri Bridges, the Wake Forest professor who is also a marketing and branding expert, says Krispy Kreme never fails to keep its promise to deliver a rewarding eating experience to customers. That’s what makes the brand such an integral part of many people’s lives. “It’s not just that we know them. We know what they stand for. We know what the brand means,” Bridges points out. Krispy Kreme strives to never disappoint anyone, be it customers, civic groups seeking donations, or members of the media looking to do a story on the company. That feeling tends to rub off on you, according to Gayle Anderson, who is president of the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce. Anderson’s job is to promote the businesses in her city, so it’s no surprise she’s high on Krispy Kreme. It’s not the biggest company in town. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Sara Lee are among the city’s much larger employers. But she feels a special connection with Krispy Kreme and always mentions that company first when
meeting someone new. “I’m from Winston-Salem. That’s the headquarters of Krispy Kreme doughnuts,” Anderson begins every introduction of herself to the potential business prospects she is trying to lure to the area.“And then I just shut up and I hear a Krispy Kreme story,” she says.“Either they have a store in their own town, one’s going to open, or they ask how they can get one. Every single time. As soon as you say Krispy Kreme, you can hear the smile in their voice.” As her city’s biggest business booster, Anderson is willing to do a lot of things to cast Winston-Salem and its companies in a good light. But she is a busy executive, with too much on her plate to run errands for out-of-towners seeking Krispy Kreme doughnuts.At least that’s what Anderson thought when a woman from a tiny chamber of commerce in Ohio called and asked for help buying some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The woman’s son was a student at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem and had an upcoming theatrical performance. His mother wanted several boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts delivered backstage on opening night.
“Have you lost your mind? We don’t have time to do this,” Anderson thought. “But we did it,” she remembers, laughing at the incident. “I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that it was Krispy Kreme and we wouldn’t want to disappoint them, and I really didn’t want to disappoint this woman. So, there I was one morning getting the Krispy Kreme doughnuts.”
of its own.