Financing

A look at Krispy Kreme’s innovative marketing strategy

A Deeper Dive: Dave Skena, global chief brand officer for the doughnut chain, talks about the company’s efforts to get attention in a competitive market.

This edition of A Deeper Dive is brought to you by Lamb Weston.

Lamb Weston

Getting attention is the name of the game in the ultra-competitive restaurant industry, and Krispy Kreme has been doing quite a bit of that lately.

This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Dave Skena, the global chief brand officer for the doughnut chain.

Skena’s job is to get attention for a well-known brand and the company has been doing some interesting things lately to accomplish that, sometimes taking a few risks in the process. That includes last year’s notable vaccine promotion, offering a free doughnut to customers who could offer proof of vaccination.

He discusses the company’s numerous other marketing promotions, such as one offering customers a dozen doughnuts for the price of a gallon of gas. He talks about the chain’s overall strategy and the challenges of marketing a brand that is evolving into an omnichannel concept that sells doughnuts in a lot more places than just a shop.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Subscribe on Spotify.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Why social media, and not price, is behind Starbucks' sales problems

The Bottom Line: The coffee shop chain lost momentum quickly in November. That was too fast to be explained by consumer reaction over the prices of its beverages.

Financing

Franchisors who want faster remodels should reach into their pocketbooks

The Bottom Line: Burger King is spending $550 million to get more of its restaurants remodeled, not counting its own upgraded restaurants. More brands should do this.

Leadership

Meet the restaurant fixer who now owns Etta

Tech entrepreneur Johann Moonesinghe suddenly finds himself leading a growing group of restaurants. His secret? He doesn't expect to make a profit.

Trending

More from our partners