Crumbl Cookie was founded by cousins Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsely. Jason had a passion for technology and wanted to form a business. He contacted his cousin Sawyer who was still in college and wanted to pursue a business. He said “Let’s just do something really cool and we’re going to do cookies.” They were able to begin to form their business with ease, but struggled on forming the perfect recipe. After numerous tries and getting feedback, their cookies were perfect and were ready to open up their first shop. In 2017, the first shop opened in Logan Utah. This was an instant success and the business continued to thrive over the years. In less than four years, around 200 shops opened in 32 different states. They were getting referred to as the fastest growing cookie company in America. They credited their success to a couple factors. This includes their store format, box design, and weekly menu. The store format at every location is different and unique, however they all are open so you can see the cookies being made in the back of the store. Next off is their trademarked pink box. This pink box makes the cookies fit perfectly and encourages people to take pictures of it. This box made the company blow up on social media and make them trending. According to Marshed, Crumbl has, “5.6 million TikTok followers (and 56.9 million likes), plus 2.6 million Instagram followers. There even is a trending hashtag on TikTok, #CrumblReview, in which people film videos of themselves rating the chain’s famous cookies — so far the hashtag has 498 million views.” This has allowed Crumbl to avoid spending money on influences and advertisements. The final example is their weekly menu. They initially were famous for their chilled pink icing as well as chocolate chip cookies but have expanded their menu. Every week, they have a new group of cookies so that they can explore new flavors.
I would describe the owners of Crumbl as very innovative and adaptive. They are always looking for new ways to improve and stay trending. Through their social media as well as their constantly changing menu they are able to keep customers wanting to come back. I find it super fascinating how they were able to be super successful by starting a company in a well dominated market. They found a way to differentiate themselves and were able to succeed because of this.