Krispy Kreme turns glazed waterfall into BOGO bar code

The glazed “waterfall” descending upon fried doughnuts on a store conveyor belt is almost as iconic to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. as its colorful “Hot Now” sign.

For this year’s annual Day of the Dozens celebration — a buy-one-get-one-free promotion every Dec. 12 — the company has tweaked the waterfall into a bar-code image that can be used as a scannable digital coupon.

Roger Beahm, a marketing professor at Wake Forest University, said BOGO deals have “the potential to move the needle in four key consumer metrics — awareness, interest, store traffic and unit sales.”

“For those consumers that take advantage of the offer, it should also increase favorable attitudes toward the brand and company. The fact that it’s a one-day-only event also helps cap the potential financial liability/cost — something every marketer and finance manager considers when offering promotions like this.”

Beahm said the glazed waterfall bar code “is certainly interesting and attention arresting. Integrating the appetite appeal from the glaze into the redemption technique is also very creative.”

Read the full story in the Winston-Salem Journal.