Today is National Doughnut Day, and that’s definitely worth celebrating. Who doesn’t like a good doughnut? Or even a bad one?
In honor of the day, here’s a shout out to our favorite UNCOPYABLE doughnut spot: Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, Oregon. Kelly went to college in Portland, and introduced us to Voodoo during one of our first visits. (After that, let’s just say we visited her a lot.)
Voodoo Doughnut makes delicious doughnuts. But that’s not what makes them Uncopyable. Delicious doughnuts aren’t the reason Voodoo has raving fans, an ever-present line that snakes out the door, and 60k followers on Instagram.
Voodoo Doughnut goes way beyond the ordinary, and makes for a great study. Voodoo gives you an opportunity to see many of the concepts in Steve’s new book, Uncopyable, in action:
Own a color.
“Good things come in pink boxes,” is one of Voodoo’s catch phrases. Their color is PINK. Their boxes are pink, and the photos of doughnuts on Social Media all have the same color background. Perusing their feed is like swimming in a sea of pink.
Use branding to differentiate yourself from the competition.
Voodoo’s signature doughnut – and namesake – looks like a Voodoo Doll. It’s filled with raspberry jelly, topped with chocolate frosting and comes with a pretzel “stake.” That’s what I call a morbidly delicious joke. And the joke is Uncopyable. If anyone tried to steal it, it would be over-the-top obvious.
Some doughnut shops think maple bacon doughnuts are creative. (Sea Salt Caramel, anyone?) All doughnut shops make cool new flavors now. But at Voodoo you can also get a doughnuts with names like “Old Dirty Bastard,” a “Pot Hole” or a “Maple Blazer Blunt.”
Yes, “Blunt” means what you think it means…
But wait, there’s more! Voodoo has “doughnut artists,” who create “tribute” doughnuts to commemorate the passing of an eclectic assortment of celebrities. These aren’t for sale, but are an important part of their brand. They’re shared on social media (and they’re amazing to look at).
Look at what everyone else is doing, and don’t do it.
Let’s talk about customer service. While other doughnut shops like Krispy Kreme offer drive-thrus and speedy service, at Voodoo you wait in line. When you finally get to the front, you squeeze your way through and peer into the case, ordering quickly so as not to piss off the potentially hangry folks behind you. Then you pay — IN CASH.
No crisp uniforms here, but quirkily tattooed folks with a lot of personality (at least at the location in Portland). They may not give amazing customer service in the traditional sense…but the customer doesn’t care.
Know your moose
Voodoo knows their moose want quality ingredients (including vegan doughnuts), personality, creativity and a unique experience. Their moose stampede in herds for the experience Voodoo Doughnut provides. For that, and more, Voodoo Doughnuts is an Uncopyable Rock Star.
