Johnny Cupcakes: a lesson in brand equity
Johnny Cupcakes is an inspiring fashion brand story. John Earl (aka Johnny) has managed to build amazing brand equity through a simple product offering. How so? Well, in essence by simply injecting his personality into every touchpoint of the brand and leveraging that through viral marketing techniques.
One of Johnny’s latest campaigns was his suitcase tour around the USA last year. On the tour he had a Cupcake Canon built that fired cupcakes at the faces of people at Kamp Grizzly. Check out some of the footage here.
Johnny also organises random events like his movie nights and recently a gigantic game of dodgeball at an indoor soccer field. What a fun and unique way to get to know your target audience while using social media to do the promotion and to capture the events. These events then become brand promotions online that continue to record comments and engage with the audience.
What I think Johnny does really well is to create an experience built around his brand. If you look at his stores they are so different. The Johnny Cupcakes stores have been designed to reflect the brand and Johnny’s personality as a prankster. Instead of traditional rolling racks, T-stands and four-way fixtures that are common in clothing stores, the Johnny Cupcakes shop looks like a bakery. Each of his five stores are different and feature things like a four-foot-tall dough mixer from the 1940s in the window and bakers’ racks and cases with stainless-steel trim. T-shirts are folded and placed in traditional baked goods display cases.
To create the perfect atmosphere (and a bit of aroma marketing!), employees use vanilla-scented air fresheners throughout the store so it smells like a bakery. Plus, free cupcakes are handed out whenever a new T-shirt is released or a new collection is launched.
If you want to experience more of the Johnny Cupcake brand check out his website.
Yours in building brand equity,
Belinda
