Crumbl: A Billion Dollar Cookie Craze

How a cookie chain used social media to become a billion dollar franchise

Author

Ali Kaltman
December 15, 2024

Brand: Crumbl

Campaign: Social Strategy

Read time: 5 minutes

**Quick note this week! Feedback is a gift 🎁 In the spirit of the holiday season, if you could reply with 1 thing you like about this newsletter and 1 thing you’d like to see improved or added, that would be IMMENSELY helpful! Thank you & happy holidays!!**

💬 Overview 💬

Crumbl is a national phenomenon.

If you told a friend in 2017 that you wanted to start a cookie company, they’d say, “Isn’t that just Insomnia?”

Turns out there was a huge branding white space to build a “treats” business that wasn’t just GF or Better-For-You…

In 2017, Crumbl Cookies started as a small, family-run business with one location in Logan, Utah.

The brand set out to create the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

That changed, quickly, when they saw the demand amongst female customers.

Despite operating in a highly competitive food category, Crumbl decided to franchise the business and grew to over 1,000 locations, achieving billion-dollar status in less than a decade.

A significant driver of this explosive growth?

Social media.

While there are many aspects of Crumbl’s meteoric rise that could be relevant for The Branded Moment, I’d love to dive deep into how the chain used social media to amass its success.

Let’s get into it…

💙 The Branded Moment 💙

Crumbl’s success on social media is far from random.

They’ve mastered the perfect recipe (!!) for viral social success:

First Ingredient: Weekly New Flavor Drops

Every Sunday night, Crumbl announces its new lineup of cookies for the week.

These announcements are perfect for generating FOMO, and the comment section of the drops are FULL of friends tagging friends.

(A social media manager’s DREAM)

They post these drops across all socials including TikTok, IG, and YouTube in formats native to the platforms.

Second Ingredient: Beautiful & Distinct Aesthetic

Crumbl’s aesthetic is recognizable & fun.

When you see the infamous light pink & black, you instantly know what it is.

And because Crumbl’s cookies are oversized visually stunning (sometimes with toppings), they’re ideal for sharing on social.

Source: Crumbl’s IG

Third Ingredient: An Experience Set-Up for Content

Crumbl’s unboxing experience is like no other in the food space. It’s so unbelievably shareable.

Source: Crumbl’s YouTube

The brand calls the act of opening their cookies an “unboxing” and therefore, they’ll never need a PR gifting because every time someone opens a box of Crumbl cookies, they feel that experience happening again and again.

The Final Product?

A cookie brand perfectly set up for viral success.

And that’s exactly what the brand has achieved.

There’s no reason a new cookie chain needed to exist, but with the power of branding & social media, Crumbl has redefined the dessert industry in just 7 short years.

💡 Results 💡

Crumbl’s TikTok account has over 9.6 million followers, making it one of the most-followed food brands of all time.

Their YouTube alone has 2.61B subscribers.

Their videos routinely achieve millions of views. There are even Facebook groups and TikTok accounts dedicated to announcing / reacting to the weekly menu drops.

And from a financial perspective, their strategy has delivered as the subject line declares…

The franchise is now set to earn over $1B of annual revenue.

🎬 Take Action 🎬

How do you create the perfect recipe for social media success?

Crumbl has: a compelling premise (weekly drops), beautiful aesthetic (indulgent COOKIES), and an experience worth documenting (the unboxing).

How can your brand recreate this concept and give your fans ample opportunities for content worth sharing?

What’s New This Week

One new product I tried this week 👉 Finally bought the Ninja Creami and we are obsessed!

One new campaign I’m loving 👉 Chief made a game to show the decisions women make & how it impacts their career!

One new piece of content to watch 👉 Kylie Kelce’s podcast is already topping the charts.

Brandkeeping

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it on to 3 marketers you know!

And if you have a brand or campaign you want to spotlight, please reply directly to this newsletter.

Let’s chat!

See ya!

Ali

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