Challenge.

What do doughnuts and a six-pack have in common? They’re hot commodities, craved by everyday Aussies. When homegrown brand Doughnut Time announced its return under new ownership, following a highly-publicised wage scandal and company collapse by a previous owner, we were challenged to re-launch one of Australia’s most loved brands and re-gain consumer trust.

Solution.

Employee Communications
We prepared an internal communications strategy to first and foremost ensure Doughnut Time employees were given the opportunity to be reimbursed. We set up an information line for the workers to call and launched a community management program via social media.

Publicity
Our next focus was the message to the public. Capitalising on consumer cravings, we implemented a two-phase launch that included the announcement of Doughnut Time’s return under new ownership, followed by a QLD launch. We conducted comprehensive media training and met with press one by one to undo the damage, garnering a wealth of reassuring headlines.

Social Competition
To excite other states, we ran a social media competition, offering to deliver a six pack anywhere in Australia to one lucky winner who could give us a good reason. After thousands of entries, we found our winner. Gary from Cronulla who wanted one thing. Well… two. A six pack that would (hopefully) open his wife’s eyes to true perfection.

With a freshly baked six pack in hand, new owner, Pete Andros, flew via chopper from the kitchen in Burleigh to Cronulla Shark park, where he met Gary and satisfied his doughnut cravings. To take our customers on the journey with us, we produced video documenting the mission and amplified it via social media.

Most importantly? We didn’t attract a single piece of negative publicity.