To celebrate April Fools Day 2016, Krispy Kreme is honoring a fictional event called the Doughnut Harvest. Whether you believe doughnuts really come from trees or not, the event provides a tasty way to indulge in a classic Krispy Kreme treat.
According to Krispy Kreme's website, April 1st is marks the annual Doughnut Harvest Celebration. This refers to the winter season during which " hundreds of thousands of bushels of doughnettes" are hand-selected and bought into Krispy Kreme locations for glazing and decorating. This year, the chain is marking the occasion by giving away free Original Glazed doughnut to customers.
While the Doughnut Harvest is obviously an April Fools joke, the giveaway is very real. This means that even non-believers can get their hands on a delicious doughnut on April Fools.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Fictitious Marketing Holidays
- Opportunities to celebrate fictitious holidays that align with a brand's values or products, giving consumers a playful and memorable experience.
- Free Product Giveaways
- Brand activations that offer a free product are an opportunity to engage customers and attract buzz on social media.
- Product Seasonality Celebration
- Celebrating a product's seasonality can increase perceived value, while hinting at limited time offerings and get customers excited to try them out.
Where This Applies
- Fast Food Industry
- Restaurants can leverage marketing efforts to offer fictitious events, promotions and limited time offerings to bring in traffic and gain brand loyalty.
- Marketing Industry
- Implementing creative, playful and humorous marketing strategies, ads and promotions can connect brands with audiences and increase virality.
- Food Industry
- Food companies can create and market seasonal products that drive demand and increase excitement among customers.
