When COVID-19 emerged in the U.S. in March, businesses faced terrifying unknowns from the pandemic. How do we keep employees safe? How will consumers react? What operating innovations are needed to remain open? Will our business survive? As business leaders addressed operational overhauls, marketers faced a different challenge: retreat and conserve budgets or embrace the new environment? Krispy Kreme and agency moved instantly as marketers to listen, analyze and understand what customers needed and wanted, and developed a brand response strategy that stayed authentic to Krispy Kreme’s purpose. Objectives:

• Reinforce Krispy Kreme’s brand purpose of touching and enhancing lives through joy, especially for youth and their families.

• Concept and implement a cost-efficient brand action to drive sales and preserve the business during economic uncertainty.

• Make a major push for online and drive-thru order conversions, understanding that the pandemic operating model required safely serving customers while social distancing.

After weeks of quarantine and cancellations, Americans were eager to have basically anything to celebrate and were beginning to adapt. “Drive-thru” birthday parades began trending on Google while Mother’s Day media coverage replaced “gift guides” with how people could connect with those isolated in nursing homes. Krispy Kreme could not make masks, respirators, etc., to contribute to America’s pandemic battle, but it could bring a lot of joy, including to graduating seniors whom the pandemic denied one of the rites of passage: a graduation ceremony. Our idea: make an epic emotional connection and leave a long-lasting impression by bringing joy in a simple, personalized, magnetic alternative to traditional graduation ceremonies and virtual speeches, giving graduates the platform to celebrate their achievement together by turning the brand’s drive-thrus into graduation “stages” and creating a special Graduate Dozen, available for one-week … and free for seniors one entire day – their day.

In early May, celebrities began to activate around “graduation season,” including offering virtual commencement speeches. Yet an audit of social conversation revealed that what seniors really wanted was a way to celebrate with their classmates. Additionally, research from McKinsey revealed that Generation Z is not only eager for more personalized products but also willing to pay a premium for products that highlight their individuality. So Krispy Kreme created a special “Graduate Dozen” doughnuts and announced “Senior Week” (May 18-24), the highlight of which being May 19 when any senior donning their cap and gown or Class of 2020 shirt, letterman jacket or other swag could come to any Krispy Kreme drive thru for a free special Graduate Dozen just for them. The approach to assets and implementation needed to be simple and efficient with budgets lean and video shoots not an option due to the pandemic.

Programming relied on cleverness and timeliness that would make news headlines and drive mass social conversation.

• Timing the campaign to a sweet and ownable spot of the news cycle. The limited release Graduate Dozen was available for purchase May 18-24, a window intentionally identified as between many college and high school would-be graduations – before most brands moved to celebrate and just days after celebrity virtual commencement speeches began.

• Generating immediate mass awareness through earned media, including embargoed outreach. Agency tapped relationships with reporters, editors and producers across national consumer, food, lifestyle, business and cultural media to give hundreds of targets the news in advance under embargo. With stories strategically “loaded” ahead of launch, we saw immediate coverage, positioning the news to “trend.”

• Developing crave-worthy creative assets anchored by Krispy Kreme’s icon – the Original Glazed Doughnut – in the perfect Class of 2020 graduation theme.

Senior Week and the Graduate Dozen led to an amazing 36 percent increase in same store sales compared to same week in 2019 – during an economic downturn when shops operated at half or less capacity due to closed dining rooms. The campaign propelled Krispy Kreme to a high double-digit growth month – 30 plus percent vs. previous year – while competitors were down approximately 30 percent for the month.

On May 19, lines generated by the campaign bordered on legendary as graduates celebrated during their first time safely “together” in months, creating an unforgettable bonding experience in unprecedented times. Proving long-term brand affinity, thousands of thank you’s poured in on social – from grads, their families and teachers.

We broke through in culture: the campaign trended on Twitter and was the No. 1 search on Google. Rock ‘n Roll Hall-of-Famer Gene Simmons tweeted a sweet “KISS” to the brand. Krispy Kreme saw the highest single day of website users since July 2019 and overall Krispy Kreme organic web search grew 43% in May over April.

Media relations generated a record 2,300-plus placements and 613 million viewers/impressions (in a week). The campaign “broke the interstate” as news helicopters and drones captured miles-long lines of the hundreds of thousands of graduating seniors throughout the country who drove to Krispy Kreme in caps and gowns and decorated cars. In additional to national coverage, 78% of placements were high value broadcast coverage (vs. online), far surpassing 2020 overall.