Crumbl transforms Martha Stewart collaboration into a viral dessert-matching experience with a Braze-powered SMS quiz

Crumbl is on a mission to bring friends and family together over a box of the best desserts in the world. The company was founded in 2017 and rapidly evolved from a single storefront in Utah into a dessert phenomenon, with over 1,000 locations across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. The brand is defined by its iconic pink box and a unique menu of over 200 recipes, featuring four specialty flavors that rotate weekly and six classic flavors that remain the same week over week.

Every Crumbl location has an open-concept kitchen where customers can witness the baking process firsthand—from the initial dough mixing to the final frosting—transforming a simple dessert run into an immersive, aesthetic experience. By blending a tech-driven operational approach with a viral social media presence (over 10 million followers across TikTok and Instagram), Crumbl has established itself as more than a bakery; it's a cultural phenomenon with a cult-like following.

Customer engagement as the engine for growth

For Crumbl, customer engagement goes well beyond their marketing strategy—it's the fundamental engine behind their business model. Outside of the always-fresh rotating menu, there’s plenty to keep customers coming back, with promotions like Thin ThursdaysTM—where customers can order pairs of thin and chewy chocolate chip cookies—or limited-time collaborations with celebrities. A simple cookie purchase brings the customer into a shared moment across social, digital, and physical stores, and if you love a limited-edition cookie, it becomes a memory.

The brand routinely creates hype that outperforms traditional advertising. Their engagement-first approach drives exponential viral growth, translates directly into foot traffic and sales, builds community loyalty and emotional resonance, and creates “buzz” that attracts passionate franchisees. However, as Crumbl scaled to over 1,000 locations, they needed a more sophisticated tool to consolidate marketing channels, remove data silos, and enhance personalization. The brand’s goals for adopting a new tool were threefold: continue acquiring new customers, increase return customers, and reduce store cannibalization (to keep new locations from taking customers from existing storefronts).

These goals led Crumbl to choose Braze to power their customer engagement strategy. After partnering with the Braze 427 Innovation Lab for a “Brazestorm” in late 2024 to explore the recipe for locking in loyalty with customers across channels, Crumbl was ready to put their learnings into action.

Finding the creative spark

When Crumbl teamed up with Martha Stewart to celebrate the re-release of Martha's first book with a limited-edition (yellow) dessert box featuring renditions of her prized recipes, they saw an opportunity to do more than announce new flavors. They wanted to create an interactive experience that would help customers discover their perfect dessert match and drive immediate action.

The challenge was to create something that felt personal and fun—not just another promotional blast. Nine different desserts (seven of them takes on Martha’s classic recipes) were placed into three distinct "vibe" categories: Classic, Elevated, and Nostalgic. And through the Braze platform, Crumbl guided customers to their ideal choice.

Building an interactive SMS experience in Braze Canvas

Crumbl created a two-way SMS flow in Canvas that turned dessert selection into a personality quiz. This campaign leveraged the Braze platform’s real-time, action-based messaging capabilities and built-in keyword processing to create a truly interactive, conversational experience.

Canvas 1: The invitation

Users who opted-in to SMS received an introductory text asking "Which Dessert are You?", prompting them to respond "DESSERT" to begin their personalized journey.

Canvas 2: The interactive quiz

When users responded with "DESSERT," they were immediately entered into an action-triggered Canvas that delivered three sequential questions about their dream tablescapes and flavor preferences.

Question 1: Which scene fits your vibe?

• A sunny garden party
• A cozy fall kitchen
• A chic dinner table set to perfection

Using a Canvas Action Path, Braze split users based on their response (1, 2, or 3). Users who didn't respond within three days received a gentle nudge asking if they'd like to continue. Those who did respond moved to the second question.

Question 2: If your dessert personality were a recipe, it'd be...

• A timeless, perfected classic
• An elevated twist on a favorite
• A cozy treat that feels like home

Another Action Path divided users into three groups based on their answer, routing each to the final question tailored to their emerging profile.

Question 3: Which best describes your taste?

• You gravitate toward rich & chocolatey
• A refined classic with a touch of flair
• Elegant, simple flavors done flawlessly

A final Action Path delivered personalized results in real time. Based on their answers, each user received their perfect “Martha Stewart x Crumbl” dessert match from one of three categories:

• Classic: Fudge Brownie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Thins, or New York Cheesecake
• Elevated: Mile-High Lemon Pie, Chocolate Tart Cookie, or Coconut Layer Cake
• Nostalgic: Classic Fudge Brownie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Thins, or Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Each match included a description and image of the dessert, along with a call-to-action to place an order. The experience was delivered entirely via SMS and MMS, creating an intimate, conversational feel that took users into the Crumbl app.

This was accomplished in part through data integrations via SDKs on mobile and web, and Braze Cloud Data Ingestion, which is the easiest way to ingest data from Snowflake into Braze, as well as an integration with AppsFlyer to power deep-linking that ensures users land exactly where they need to within the app.

Sweet results that exceeded expectations

The interactive two-way SMS experience delivered results that surpassed standard promotional campaigns:

• 373% higher conversion rate than average: The personalized matchmaking approach transformed passive recipients into active participants who were invested in their recommended dessert.
• 249% higher click rate than average: The quiz format kept users engaged through multiple touchpoints, with each question building anticipation for the final reveal.
• 82.16% app opens within 2 days: The deep-linking experience made it effortless for users to act on their personalized recommendations.

“Creating an interactive SMS flow was such a fun and successful experience for us! Braze made it easy to turn our creative idea into a meaningful moment with our customers. The two-way flow was easy to set up in the Canvas and it worked seamlessly after launch. Our customers loved getting to interact with us and finding out their unique dessert suggestion at the end of the quiz!”

Grace Murphy

Manager of Customer Retention, Crumbl

A recipe for continued innovation

The success of the Martha Stewart “vibe check” campaign directly supported Crumbl's goals of driving sales across locations, increasing app traffic, and strengthening brand equity through innovative customer experiences. And, Crumbl now has a scalable framework for future interactive campaigns.

Crumbl was already a viral brand, but a strong engagement strategy paired with the right software helps keep brands fresh and innovative.

Key takeaways

1. Interactivity drives engagement: Transforming a standard, one-way product announcement into a personalized, two-way SMS quiz increased conversion rates by 373% and click rates by 249%, proving that customers crave interactive experiences over broadcasts.
2. Real-time, action-based messaging creates conversations: The Braze platform's Canvas Action Path functionality enabled Crumbl to build an interactive, branching SMS experience that felt like a responsive conversation rather than a marketing campaign.
3. Seamless integration maximizes conversion: By combining Braze Canvas with AppsFlyer deep-linking capabilities and the Snowflake data integration, Crumbl created a frictionless path from discovery to purchase, with over 82% of participants opening the app within 2 days.

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