A PR Case Study on Krispy Kreme’s Pre-Launch Campaign for Nutty Chocolatta Doughnut

About:

Krispy Kreme came up with a mouthwatering recipe, the limited edition Nutty Chocolatta. It was filled with Nutella, dipped in rich chocolate icing decorated with a white chocolate swirl and caramelized hazelnuts. It was priced at £2 and available at all the UK Krispy Kreme stores and cabinets from Friday, May 27 2016 – Sunday, September 04 2016.

Challenge:

Use the news of the Nutella partnership to cause frenzy, drive sales, and create an emotional connection to the new Nutty Chocolatta doughnut.

Strategy:

An integrated campaign designed to announce the new Nutty Chocolatta doughnut and give consumers a sneak preview of the product before it went officially on sale.

1. Leaked email to announce new Nutella filled doughnut.
2. Media Teaser
3. The ‘ATM’ that dispenses Nutella-filled Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (Hole in the Wall).

Tactics:

1. Leaked email to announce new Nutella filled doughnut:

• Harnessing the power of FOKK to spread the news of the iconic partnership, they ‘accidentally’ leaked the news via a memo ‘intended for’ store managers’ from Krispy Kreme’s CMO Judith Denby and recalled it 45 minutes later.

2. Top Secret Media Drops:

• To drive curiosity around the Hole In The Wall, they conducted secret media and influencer drops, delivering Krispy Kreme branded Nutella jars just days before the launch.
• Visited 15 media with a Top Secret suitcase with a Nutella jar and a unique code enclosed for the journalist to use at the pop-up.

3. Hole in the Wall:

• Krispy Kreme introduced ‘Hole in the Wall’, a pop-up that offered The Hole in the Wall popped up in Krispy Kreme’s London, Holborn store on Monday 9 May and fans had a chance to sample the doughnut before it went on sale around the country.
• The experience costed £2 and all profits went to Krispy Kreme’s supported charity, Teenage Cancer Trust.
• Created a teaser animation of the Hole in the Wall concept to fuel further desire among fans.

Timeline:

May 6, 2016: CMO leaked email

May 9-21, 2016: Hole in the Wall

May 27, 2016: Launched Nutella filled Doughnut

Results:

Leaked email:

• 237 organic tweets per hour were published throughout the day
• 16 pieces of organic coverage appeared across all major news networks, including Buzzfeed, The Sun Online, The Mirror Online, AOL, The Daily Telegraph.
• Dunkin’ Donuts UK tweeted about the Nutty Chocolatta doughnut saying ‘Sounds amazing! Definitely going on the wish list’

Hole in the Wall:

• Generated a staggering 157 print and online articles in 14 days, resulting in a combined reach of 61,853,459!
• 66 organic social media posts generated via media and influencers resulting in a combined reach of 13,534,771.
• People came from all across the UK to take part in the Hole in the Wall.
• 6,904 Nutty Chocolatta Doughnuts were sold. That’s 1 doughnut sold every 1 min 40 seconds during opening times.
• 4,791 Sales transactions.
• 1,734 Number of unique codes claimed.
• 3,013 customers visited 13 days

References:

http://mix.krispykreme.com/orchard/Media/Default/pdf/Nutty%20Chocolatta%20-%20June%20FINAL.pdf

-Prerna Porwal

Prerna is a Post Graduate in Public Relations from School of COmmunications & REputation (SCoRe), #ClassOf2017. She is currently completing her internship at Adfactors PR, one of India’s leading Public Relations firms. A firm believer in perfection, Prerna has completed her MBA in Entrepreneurship from Institute of Management, Nirma University. She has gained abundant knowledge and expertise in playing managerial roles. Understanding as well as communicating effectively with an audience is one of her core strengths.

She can be reached @Porwal_Prerna on Twitter and as Prerna Porwal on LinkedIn.