Case Study: Krispy Kreme achieves 30% e-commerce sales growth and major engagement gains with Instagram

Krispy Kreme - Customer Case Study

Krispy Kreme Australia, known for its Original Glazed doughnuts and barista coffee, launched a Throwback Party range in 2019 featuring four retro flavours. Facing the challenge of not being top of mind with younger consumers, the brand aimed to boost relevance with millennials by tapping into nostalgia and cultural trends.

Krispy Kreme turned its Instagram profile into a virtual retro arcade, promoting playable, retro‑inspired games via photo and video ads in Feed and Stories that users could swipe into and play without leaving the app; a leaderboard and prize packs drove engagement. In a five‑week campaign this approach delivered strong results: a 25‑point lift in ad recall, a 33‑point increase in unique users, a 51% year‑over‑year rise in mobile site visits and a 30% year‑over‑year increase in e‑commerce sales.

Krispy Kreme

Russell Schulman

Former Chief Marketing Officer