An Ode to Doughbies — Why One Company Will Always Have a Sweet Spot in Our Hearts

Sutherlandgold
Sep 6, 2018 · 4 min read

When the San Francisco cookie startup, Doughbies announced they were closing last month, the Bay Area lost more than a business, we lost the definition of an amazing brand. After all, the best brands aren’t just companies; they’re symbols of what we want to become or extensions of the lifestyle we aspire towards. For the people in our office at SG, the Doughbies brand was synonymous with celebrations and a job well done. When the doorbell rang, you’d hear a chorus of our colleagues on the first floor ask: “DOUGHBIES?”

But why did a cookie startup inspire such loyalty in our office? Located in the heart of FiDi, on any given day, we’re just blocks away from Specialty Cookies, Miette, Stella Bakery, or any number of delicious other options. Plus, our office manager, Patti, keeps our office fully-loaded with fresh fruit, chocolate covered almonds, and all of the fun-sized Dove bars a girl could ever want. (Thank you Patti!)

Still, losing Doughbies felt like finding out one of your best friends was moving away… WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU’RE LEAVING? Our #office-chatter Slack Channel was full of despair all afternoon.

To cope with our feelings, we decided to dig deeper. How did Doughbies inspire such brand loyalty, and what lessons can we take away from them?

The It Factor and Playing to Fan Favorites

“I just loved Doughbies. Maybe it was how quickly I could order it. Maybe it was the sea salt on top of the gooey chocolate chip cookie. Maybe it was me and John asking Patti and Margie everyday if they could order us a box, or five (and then getting laughed at).”

— Yalda Rafie, Cookie Connoisseur, Zags Enthusiast, and Account Executive

The cookie market is a crowded one. If you want to standout, you need to differentiate yourself and not just with your messaging, but with a superior, quality product.

Each person at SG did not only have one favorite cookie, but multiple. Did we want to try the chocolate chip sea salt cookie, or take a walk on the wild-side and try one of their seasonal brownies? How about all of the above?

Doughbies researched their market and catered to it. Their website was super user-friendly to navigate and they could not have made it easier for consumers to make a purchase. Not only that, they physically delivered their cookies to you. Find out what your customer wants, perfect it, and then go make it happen!

Matching the Brand to the Message and the Experience

“Doughbies had a way of magically transporting you from the office to your grandmother’s kitchen. Their departure from the San Francisco bakery scene has left not just a hole in San Francisco, but a hole in my heart — and my stomach!”

— John Bruno, Restaurant Critic With Strong Feelings on “Funfetti,” and Account Supervisor

Live a little, I dare you. Check out Doughbies website. What do you see?

Colors like cotton candy and the funfetti sprinkles they added to their much-celebrated sugar cookies. The site was bright, fun, and intuitive. Straight sweetness with images of delicious, drool-worthy cookies that you had to have.

And can we get an ‘Amen’ for their Instagram feed? What a beautiful, shareable, covetable page of everything I want to eat. On IG, you literally knew who was who based on who got Doughbies, when, and how often. Their social media success was a wonderful example of how word of mouth and social engagement work together as free marketing for a brand and increase brand reach, awareness, and loyal followers (ok we’re not really followers, more like, evangelists!).

Doughbies matched their messaging to their experience. That is the perennial challenge for any brand. Everything from their voice, tone, personalization, and tiffany blue stickers screamed: you’re special.

Running on a Good Reputation

“There was hardly a day that would go by without hearing the word “Doughbies.” Someone got a media hit and you’d hear high pitch squeals of, “Doughbies?!” Someone new started at the company and at least one person would promptly ask, “Have you ever tried Doughbies?” It was a Tuesday, so, obviously, your neighbor would ask, “You know what we need? Doughbies!”

— Samantha Spielman, Gluten-Freer on the Dairy-All-Day Diet, and Senior Account Executive

Sam is a gluten-free girl who dreamed of eating Doughbies. Why? Because her neighbors and the entire office would describe in torturous detail how chewy, gooey, and perfect Doughbies were. (Pssssst, the gluten-free cookie market has untapped potential, future cookie entrepreneurs)

Doughbies could have taught a master-class on priming their audience. You wanted Doughbies because everyone else wanted doughbies.

The “Apple” of the sweet world, Doughbies were the undisputed best player, the proper way to treat yourself. Would Doughbies have been aspirational if they rode on their laurels and phoned it in like every other shortbread cookie maker in San Francisco? I think not! To be an aspirational brand, you have to constantly change up your offerings and deliver what your customers never knew they wanted.

Dear Doughbies: when you realize your time is not up, we’ll be here. Call us. You don’t need a rebrand, just a relaunch, and we have just the right press contacts to break the news!

Sutherlandgold

Sutherlandgold’s blog for all things creative, inspirational, and interesting

Sutherlandgold

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We champion the changemakers and the stories defying convention

Sutherlandgold

Sutherlandgold’s blog for all things creative, inspirational, and interesting

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