Creative cookie displays can add something specials to events like wedding receptions.
One of the top wedding trends for 2017, as published in Brides magazine, is ditching the after-party and keeping guests in one location. Celebrity wedding planner David Tutera recommends that brides set up an eye-catching dessert station at the wedding venue to help create movement and energy.
One great idea for any bakery doing weddings is to offer custom-designed “Mr. & Mrs.” cookies in complementing colors, along with wedding ring cookies and other creative sweets.
For upcoming Christmas and other holidays, another clever cookie-inspired idea involves making cookie pops on a stick. This requires cookies to be at least ¼-inch thick to ½-inch thick. Roll the dough and cut into desired shapes prior to inserting a lollipop stick halfway into each cookie. Then bake and decorate to your heart’s content!
Acorns, pumpkins, flowers and other fall-inspired ideas are good places to start. You can even stick a dozen cookie pops into a base (made to resemble a hay bale) for a catchy merchandising idea, positioned at your sales counters during the fall holidays.
It’s important to tie in your promotions with key words like “hand-iced” and “buttery-rich” to trigger emotional reactions for your customers that put them in the mood to make a purchase.
Another clever merchandising strategy starts with campaigning with local charities and communities.
Tim Hortons is spreading brighter smiles with a total of $7.2 million raised in this year's Smile Cookie campaign. During the recent week-long initiative, guests who purchased a freshly baked chocolate chunk “smile cookie” for $1 had the full amount donated by the Tim Hortons restaurant owner to support more than 460 local charities, hospitals and community programs across the country.
And for the first time, Tim Hortons gave guests two new opportunities to show their support. A Smile Cookie car decal was available for purchase at the same cost as the traditional smile cookie, and guests could share their smile cookie “selfies” using a special Snapchat Geofilter available in Canadian restaurants.
The Smile Cookie campaign began in 1996 as a way to help raise funds for the Hamilton Children's Hospital in Ontario, and has grown to become a major fundraising event at Tim Hortons Restaurants.
