Superstar Doughnuts

STEEL launched Greggs new Doughnut range, solely through online social media. This was a promotional first for Greggs and it proved to be incredibly successful.

When the Superstar Doughnuts came to town, we made sure everyone knew about it. We transformed an ordinary Jaffa Cake Doughnut into a rock star from America; Strawberry Milkshake became a ditzy supermodel from Cheshire; Triple Choc Vanilla a Premiership footballer from Newcastle and Coconut Snowball, a Hollywood actress. This wasn’t an advertising campaign. It was social entertainment.

We brought the 4 Doughnuts to life on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Through these channels, they fought to be crowned Greggs Superstar Doughnut 2011 (these awards were positioned as the Oscars of the Doughnut world - they were a BIG deal.)

We gave them personalities based on popular A-list stereotypes and detailed backstories, including their jobs, hobbies and past romances. By creating this virtual Doughnut world, the Doughnuts felt like real ‘people’ you could talk to, get to know and have fun with.
And people did. A lot. Especially on twitter.

People loved that they were ‘Superstars’. The campaign had the feel of programs like X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent and it was great to capture imaginations with a taste of ‘celebrity’ life. The fact that the Doughnuts ‘flew in’ especially for the awards meant people felt privileged to speak to them and join their world. Comments like ‘I just ate a Jaffa Cake Doughnut, now I’m talking to one!’ were common. As were conversations about everyday things like TV and sports. People interacted with them as if they were friends, not Greggs products.

It was great to see the enjoyment, entertainment and creative diversion they provided. Especially at a time when voucher and discount sites seem to be dominating advertising. These Doughnuts provided a refreshingly light-hearted and fun approach to product promotion.
Has an MTV-nominated artist ever enjoyed your tweets so much that they wrote a song about you?! ‘Rhondasongs’ did for our Doughnuts! http://rhondassongs.com/song244.html

By chatting to people and being entertaining, the Doughnut’s popularity grew by the best advertising possible - word of mouth.
To tick the ‘what’s in it for me’ box, we gave a free Doughnut voucher to everyone who voted for their favourite Superstar Doughnut (these were awarded on Doughnut Day – this was the day we announced the winner of the Superstar Doughnut Awards).
The Superstar Doughnuts were a momentous success. They revolutionised Greggs B2C communication, kick-started thousands of new relationships, lead to peer referrals and hugely increased footfall in store. 1.5 MILLION Superstar Doughnuts were sold in 5 weeks!