The Cronut went viral because consumers could instantly visualize the product
“I think, first, like, the name is cool. The simplicity of, like, when you look at it looks like a donut. When you hear about it, It's croissant and donut, so you can visualize it without even eating.”
Over 150 people queued before opening after Grub Street covered the Cronut
“And by day three of the article being posted, we had, I look outside, and I see a line, and I see lines stretching around the corner, so I go around the corner, and it's going all the way down to the block, to the end of the block. I was like, what the hell's …”
Secondary market scalpers sold Cronuts for $2,000 each
“I know someone that bought, like, two cronets, and they pay, like, 2000 dollars each.”
Ansel lost friendships enforcing a strict no-VIP line policy for Cronuts
“Yes, I mean, I lost a few friends in the process, but I wanted to be true to myself, you know. I was out of respect of people coming as early as two o'clock in the morning. If you want to try, you have to go in line.”
Ansel raised $100,000 for charity by auctioning off a dozen Cronuts
“So the first first auction we did we went to a charity event and we sold the For a 100,000 dollars.”
Rivals filed 24 copycat trademark applications within days of the Cronut
“So she registered the trademark Cronut for me. And three or four days later, there were like, 24, 25 applications for the same, from the same mark.”
Ansel refused to mass-produce and ship frozen Cronuts worldwide
“I don't want to run a factory, you know, producing like a million cornets every day and ship it frozen around the world. It's, I don't believe in that.”
Ansel: The Cronut launched with zero marketing budget and four employees
“There was no marketing. There was a team of, like, literally, like four employees and myself, and when people approached me and asked me what my marketing strategy was and what was my budget to launch a campaign like this, I'm like, you guys don't understand. …”
Ansel: Money and smart teams cannot force viral product hits
“You cannot force it. You know, even with all the money of the world, like, you cannot recreate the Cournot. Even if, like, you can hire, you know, like, the biggest team, like, the smartest people, you cannot recreate something like the Cournot.”
Parr: Cronut creator could have made tens of millions licensing the name
“He actually trademarked the name Cronut and he is like a purist. He's like an artist. So he didn't actually want to license it to people, but he easily could have made tens of millions or more by licensing that name to someone.”