bake - June 2012 - 20

anniversary on April 5. They might well have toasted the special occasion with their smart phones rather than a glass of champagne. This neighborhood donut shop anticipated selling several hundred donuts a day from their cozy location across the street from the Chicago Merchandise Mart. Instead, they are selling 1,000 a day.
The Doughnut Vault uses Twitter and Facebook to promote its unique varieties of donuts.

One only need browse Doughnut Vault’s website (www.thedoughnutvault.tumblr.com) to discover a new approach to marketing to Millennials. It’s a highly visual site (with photos of delicious donuts and people enjoying them) with lots of quick notes about latest happenings. The tone is conversational. The result feels like a community. “In the store, we have such a short amount of face time with the customer,” Szmyd says. “That’s why it is so important to have people connected to us.” Consider that almost half (49.7%) of all US mobile subscribers now own smart phones, as of February 2012. According to Nielsen, this marks an increase of 38% over last year. A recent Nielsen survey of US smart phone owners indicates that consumers use their phones differently depending on the type of store. For example, mobile couponing (either using or requesting a coupon) is most popular at food stores (41% of mobile shoppers reported using coupons there). New technology companies abound, offering retailers a slew of options to change the way they market to consumers. Key Ring (www.keyringapp.com), for example, is working with clients such as La Madeleine Country French Cafe, a chain of 61 bakery cafes, and Sheetz, a 400-store chain of convenience stores that specialize in fresh foods and bakery. Key Ring provides a tool for Sheetz to market directly to customers.

“We constantly update people [through their smart phones] on how many people are in line, or what varieties are left.”
Julie Szmyd, The Doughnut Vault

“This was such an unexpected scenario,” says Julie Szmyd, manager of the Doughnut Vault, who credits a portion of their success to real-time updates they provide to customers on Facebook and Twitter. “We constantly update people (through their smart phones) on how many people are in line, or what varieties are left. If we see the lines dying down, we update people immediately on what varieties are left. We deﬁnitely try to do our best to make everyone happy. The response has been fantastic.” A signiﬁcant reason why retailers like the Doughnut Vault, who embrace new technology, are winning over customers, especially Millennials (ages 13 to 29), is they make a real connection. And the connection is suited to the needs of the customer, not the bakery. That’s the secret.

MySheetz card holders using Key Ring now receive exclusive digital coupons that can be redeemed with the use of their card at any Sheetz location. Mobestream Media is the maker of the Key Ring Reward Cards (Key Ring) mobile application available for all iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry devices. Key Ring’s millions of users download the app to scan and store existing loyalty cards, join new programs and receive mobile coupons via their smart phones. According to the Food Marketing Institute’s 2012 US Grocery Shopper Trends research, more than half of all shoppers now use technology either before or during their shopping trips. Much of this activity focuses on value discovery: deals, coupons and price comparisons.

20 < JUN 2012 | bakemag.com

http://www.thedoughnutvault.tumblr.com http://www.keyringapp.com http://www.bakemag.com

bake - June 2012

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