Cranky’s Doughnuts
A neighborhood favorite gets a makeover — and a new fan in Alton Brown.
• Cool rebrand
• Upgraded site
• Big gains on social media (2x–3x audience size on FB & Insta)
• Streamlined operations for ordering and curbside
IMPLEMENTATION
This won’t be a long case study to write. This is my neighborhood doughnut shop. I became fast friends with Joey the proprietor. I could see during our first meeting that he and his aunt had some vintage typeset stuff in the corner, and I took the design cues from there.
I created a new WordPress site for them (2013) as well as a complete rebranding, which extended from logos to signage to social and online branding.
I used to have a practice—as part of every project—of giving every business owner a copy of Gary Vee’s Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook as part of their social marketing strategy (this was back in 2012–2013). Since most small businesses didn’t have the means to pay me to manage their social presence, I made it a point to give them something they could use to increase their presence.
Joey Carioti is the only proprietor I know of who took this book, read it, and implemented it on his social media accounts. The result? A shoutout from Alton Brown when he came to town to visit. Twice. The business blew up. I remember lines out the door on the weekend.
This was before I was wise enough to gather sales data, but from conversations with him, I learned that my work helped his business grow and become more successful and cemented their status as the place for doughnuts in East Tosa.
