Putting the nuts in doughnuts?
Unless you live under a rock (and I'm not knocking you if you do, it's probably quite cosy) then you probably noticed Cardiff went a little crazy last month at the arrival of American chain Krispy Kreme.
Stories of thousands of die-hard doughnut fans queueing for up to two hours for a freebie even made the national press. Comedian Jack Dee, hosting that week's edition of Have I Got News For You, joked it was the city's first health food store - oh how we laughed *rolls eyes*.
You have to hand it to them, the marketing was spot on, with hundreds of boxes given away across the city and further afield, in the weeks leading up to the opening creating a huge buzz around the brand, previously only available to UK fans across the Severn Bridge.
There's no denying that the doughnuts are good but are they worth camping out overnight for?
I couldn't help wondering what local independent retailers were making of all the buzz.
"The press attention surrounding Krispy Kreme and there simple but very effective marketing seems to be of great success." said Gareth, of award-winning sandwich shop, Fresh Baguette, "In my opinion a company producing and selling a desired product, that’s creating jobs and bringing people to the city centre without stepping on to many toes has got to be a winner."
However, Kasim, of Cardiff favourite Waterloo Tea Garden, thinks the hype says more about our city than maybe we'd like to admit, "The coverage in the news and media is an indictment of the media. The fact that a company who makes doughnuts made big time news confirms that Cardiff is still not established as ‘big city’. Until a few years ago Krispy Kreme were based just in London, and when they moved to Manchester and Birmingham, it made big news there too. We are 5 years behind those cities."
All the independents I spoke to agreed on one thing, whilst they may not be able to match Krispy Kreme in terms of marketing, they do have an ace up their sleeve, as JP from Cegin y Ddraig explains, "From my point of view, I can offer a more personal service. I know where all our food comes from, all our staff are involved in the making of each dish (often from scratch)." He adds, "As a cafe I believe I have to give each customer the experience that will make them want to come back & bring a friend, that is how we will compete."
Add to this canny use of social media and the future looks bright for Cardiff independents, "We have recently started using Twitter where we inform our followers of our daily specials and also carry out weekly competitions," explains Gareth, "It has definitely created a lot of interest and is working well. We will shortly be introducing some sort of incentive scheme for my Twitter family too."
Cegin y Ddraig recently teamed up with local site Cardiff Deals to drum up more business for the eatery.
In the words of Kasim, "If you are good, you will do well. People are slowly realising that the journey they started with the big chains is slowly coming to an end, and the next step is the independent. The good independents will do it better, fresher, and cheaper. Customer service on the whole should be better, which is the holy grail."
So next time you find yourself confronted by a queue at a multinational chain, why not visit your local independent instead?
Did you queue for free Krispy Kreme? Does your local independent cafe stack up against the big boys? Have you used social networking sites to drum up interest in your business?
Stories of thousands of die-hard doughnut fans queueing for up to two hours for a freebie even made the national press. Comedian Jack Dee, hosting that week's edition of Have I Got News For You, joked it was the city's first health food store - oh how we laughed *rolls eyes*.
You have to hand it to them, the marketing was spot on, with hundreds of boxes given away across the city and further afield, in the weeks leading up to the opening creating a huge buzz around the brand, previously only available to UK fans across the Severn Bridge.
There's no denying that the doughnuts are good but are they worth camping out overnight for?
Ben Easterton camped overnight to be the first customer at Cardiff's Krispy Kreme. (Photo Mischief PR)
"The press attention surrounding Krispy Kreme and there simple but very effective marketing seems to be of great success." said Gareth, of award-winning sandwich shop, Fresh Baguette, "In my opinion a company producing and selling a desired product, that’s creating jobs and bringing people to the city centre without stepping on to many toes has got to be a winner."
However, Kasim, of Cardiff favourite Waterloo Tea Garden, thinks the hype says more about our city than maybe we'd like to admit, "The coverage in the news and media is an indictment of the media. The fact that a company who makes doughnuts made big time news confirms that Cardiff is still not established as ‘big city’. Until a few years ago Krispy Kreme were based just in London, and when they moved to Manchester and Birmingham, it made big news there too. We are 5 years behind those cities."
All the independents I spoke to agreed on one thing, whilst they may not be able to match Krispy Kreme in terms of marketing, they do have an ace up their sleeve, as JP from Cegin y Ddraig explains, "From my point of view, I can offer a more personal service. I know where all our food comes from, all our staff are involved in the making of each dish (often from scratch)." He adds, "As a cafe I believe I have to give each customer the experience that will make them want to come back & bring a friend, that is how we will compete."
Add to this canny use of social media and the future looks bright for Cardiff independents, "We have recently started using Twitter where we inform our followers of our daily specials and also carry out weekly competitions," explains Gareth, "It has definitely created a lot of interest and is working well. We will shortly be introducing some sort of incentive scheme for my Twitter family too."
Cegin y Ddraig recently teamed up with local site Cardiff Deals to drum up more business for the eatery.
In the words of Kasim, "If you are good, you will do well. People are slowly realising that the journey they started with the big chains is slowly coming to an end, and the next step is the independent. The good independents will do it better, fresher, and cheaper. Customer service on the whole should be better, which is the holy grail."
So next time you find yourself confronted by a queue at a multinational chain, why not visit your local independent instead?
Did you queue for free Krispy Kreme? Does your local independent cafe stack up against the big boys? Have you used social networking sites to drum up interest in your business?
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