Barkley comments may have connected new customers with Krispy Kreme, marketing expert says
NBA Hall of Famer and former Phoenix Suns star Charles Barkley is introduced during halftime of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers in Phoenix in January. In March, Barkley took time during his NCAA tournament analysis to praise North Carolina based Krispy Kreme. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
North Carolina-based Krispy Kreme doughnuts enjoyed some unusual time in the sports spotlight recently when NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley effusively praised the glazed good.
Barkley’s comments, which can be found on YouTube, came in March in a light-hearted but passionate exchange with fellow CBS Sports basketball analysts during the NCAA tournament. Barkley said there’s no better doughnut than from Krispy Kreme.
“When that ‘hot’ sign come on, I don’t care where y’all are going, your car is going to start going that way toward that ‘hot’ sign,” he said.
Roger Beahm is a marketing expert at the Wake Forest University School of Business. He says unsolicited comments like Barkley’s can help tie a company to that person’s fan base.
"When a celebrity like Charles Barkley — that a lot of people respect and a lot of people follow — makes a comment like that, certainly provides an endorsement the way he has on the air, that’s gonna create a connection, between people who follow him and the brand,” he says.
Beahm says despite the potential blowback from fans of other doughnuts, Barkley’s public embracing of Krispy Kreme probably won’t hurt him.
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