Dunkin Donuts makes the world go round for a growing number of customers. The global quick-service restaurant serves tasty snacks and beverages in mouth-watering flavors, satisfying consumers’ appetites. With 11,300 outlets sprinkled across the globe, you can grab your favorite snacks in no time.
Next, you’re enjoying every bite with a perfectly caffeinated iced cup of macchiato to follow through. And for a moment, you might think, “how does this company make its products irresistible?”
No doubt Dunkin does wonders in its kitchen. But the unseen hands of Dunkin Donut marketing strategy take its magical flavors to the world. Like its delicacies, Dunkin Donut's marketing strategy turns out to be fantastic.
So, tag along as we dive deep into Dunkin Donut's marketing strategy and learn how to incorporate it into your business.
What’s Dunkin Donut Marketing Strategy?
Dunkin Donut marketing strategy uniquely merges the marketing mix, social media marketing, and influencer promotion. This serves as its marketing recipe to attract customers and impact business growth. In 2019, Dunkin Donuts had $9.23 billion in sales revenue in the US alone.
In its international stores, this figure came to $834.5 million. And it’s not just the donuts making the dough (pun intended :P). But Dunkin Donut beverages account for 60% of its revenue.
What’s more? The company sells 60 cups of coffee per second. Let’s press on to find out how this happens, starting with the marketing mix.
A Spiced Up Marketing Mix
Dunkin Donuts' marketing mix combines the 4Ps of marketing to deliver best-in-class customer service. This includes product, promotion, place, and pricing.
Here’s a detailed breakdown:
Price
Price is significant to the marketing mix as it is the only aspect that generates revenue. Dunkin Donut marketing strategy doesn’t apply a fixed price globally. This allows it to offer pocket-friendly products, serving as a competitive advantage.
Placement
Dunkin Donuts' expanding chain of quick-service restaurants serves 42 countries. The company also has a notable online presence. Consumers can easily place orders online and pick up deliveries at their door.
This is possible thanks to its partnership with delivery companies like DoorDash, UberEat, and Grubhub.
Product
Dunkin Donuts started with just donuts and coffee but has long passed the duo. The company has extended its product line to bagels, beverages, sandwiches, and a menu of other baked foods. Even donuts, its brand product, now roll in over 50 varieties.
Consumers’ favourite yummy snacks include cheese and egg, maple sugar bacon, hash browns, and sandwiches. While iced tea, coffee, and hot chocolate are popular on its tray of refreshing drinks.
Also, Dunkin Donut has 25,000 ways to serve coffee lovers. This shows you can sip different coffee flavours daily for 70 years, drinking for a lifetime. Its run menu allows busy employees to snack on the go for just $2.
Promotion
Dunkin Donuts’ brand color, pink and purple, and bold fonts voicelessly improve its brand awareness. This leaves a memorable impression. Consumers can easily recall the company’s product when their appetite calls for it.
The fast-food giant also deploys traditional marketing like print media and TV ads for promotions. “America runs on Dunkin,” its greatest ad of all time and tagline, was explosive. The ad campaign was designed to refuel the consistent effort of hard-working Americans.
They keep the country running on innovation, and Dunkin Donuts keeps them re-energized and their appetite satisfied. And its customer loyalty program, DD Perks, plays a satisfying role here.
DD perks offer chilling rewards. Consumers can unlock them with a Dunkin or a credit/debit card. For instance, a free medium cup of Dunkin refresher is up for grabs by just signing up. Dunkin Donuts’ point reward system offers 5 points on $1 spent. And a free beverage is within reach when it raises to 200 points.
Beyond the Marketing Mix: 3 Dunkin Donut Brand Growth Ingredients
Dunkin Donut marketing strategy goes beyond the marketing mix. The fast-food giant has other ingredients that make it a delightful restaurant. This includes social media marketing, rebranding, and improved customer service.
With this, Dunkin Donut pastes its name in the young generation's hearts. A 2021 survey from Piper Sandler proves this true. The investment bank showed that teens ranked Dunkin Donut 4th on their list of top restaurant brands.
This is impressive, considering thousands of chain restaurants in the US alone. Dunkin Donuts knows where to get the teens, and that’s TikTok.
Dunkin Donut TikTok Marketing Strategy
Dunkin Donut deploys TikTok Marketing in three simple ways. This involves:
1. Partner with TikTok Stars and Superfans
The company was part of the early brand to join the platform and get talking with its audience. What’s more? Charlie D’Amelio, most followed TikToker with 140 million followers, joined the engagement, too. The icing on the cake for Dunkin Donut to push its brand forward.
They partnered with Charlie and had a time-limited sale of her signature drink. Customers could get Charli's cold brew drink. The next day, sales were up by 45% thanks to this initiative. And Dunkin Donut was chugging in hundreds of thousands of sales within days. Also, its Dunkin’ app downloads rose by 57%.
But even fans, precisely super fans, can come on onboard. Dunkin only follows top fans that share amazing content about its brand. All Dunkin Donut TikTok followers are super fans, including Charlie D'Amelio.
2. Employee Participation, Customized Merches, and TikTok Challenges
But it didn’t stop there. The food-fast giant got its employees delivering on TikTok. For instance, they dish out content about menu items–including drinks and snacks. So, consumers don’t have to be in-store to spot the new ice cream toppings.
Furthermore, the food business went the fashion route, selling custom-tailored merch. Customers don’t just eat donuts but have their imprints on hats, sweatpants, beddings, and wedding attire. This entirely different product was a cool cash stream for Dunkin Donuts.
The fast-food giant also loves Tiktok challenges, its hot source for inspiring innovations in consumers. The #DunkinMenuHackContest saw many food lovers improving their favorite menu items to taste irresistible. The best came up on the Dunkin menu for a short time, and winners got $100 gift cards.
Dunkin Donuts' highly-concentrated TikTok marketing effort yields a huge following. They have over 3 million TikTok followers. While Starbuck and McDonald’s, its major competitors, have 1.7 and 1.9 million followers, respectively.
3. Rebranding to Meet Consumers Needs
Rebranding focuses on improving business image, changing its logo, name, or other brand identifiers. Once a small coffee and donut shop, Dunkin Donuts rebranded to capture the expanding business course.
Dunkin’, the food giant’s new name, surely delivered desired changes. For instance, 32% of people surveyed were attracted to Dunkin’ new logo. Dunkin’ represents more than its 22 classic donut flavors, serving beverages and providing quick services.
Dunkin’ rebranding didn’t end on its announcement page. The company soaked up everything about it, from exterior signage to product packaging like coffee cups. But this Dunkin Donut marketing strategy gulped down some cash.
According to WSJ, Dunkin’ rebranding effort consumed $100 million from Dunkin’. The result? The rebranding also impacted Dunkin’ customer services, improving equipment and its on-the-go strategy.
For instance, the Dunkin’ digital kiosk on Beacon hill fills orders via mobile app or in its in-store kiosks. Customers can pick up orders at a designated Dunkin restaurant center without verbal interaction with salespersons.
Competitor analysis: Comparing Dunkin’ with Other Espresso Empires
Globally, the fast-food industry had a market value of $862.05 billion in 2020. Data predicts this value would rise as consumer demand increases and new products hit the market. Also, there’s steaming competition within the food industry as thousands of restaurants spread across the US.
However, only a few competitors stay at the apex of the industry. And just a handful of them dominate the espresso empire. Amongst them are Starbucks, Dunkin’, and McDonald’s.
Starbucks has 40% of the US coffee market share, but Dunkin’s is not brewing too far behind. The Donut maker has 26% of the market share. This result is impressive compared to competitors like McDonald’s, which holds 13%.
Furthermore, Dunkin ranks 6th amongst the top coffee brands in the US. Considering Dunkin Donut marketing strategy, you could see the company’s potential to come up the list.
How Small Businesses can Benefit from Dunkin Donut Marketing Strategy
Startup founders often do the homework for building great products. They identify consumers' pain points and create a solution for them. But one thing is left to deliver their fantastic result.
And that’s marketing. Here are some actionable tips from Dunkin Donut marketing strategy to boost your brand:
Design valuable products
Entrepreneurs often build products with no use case or market to bring in sales. Craft products that solve consumers’ problems and have an existing market or potential avenue for sales.
Dunkin’ started with donuts and coffee, providing fresh breakfast to employees. This way, it provided breakfast to the busy working class at an affordable price.
Explore the trend
Dunkin Donuts tapped into TikTok early, giving it a competitive advantage over other food brands. Your ability to utilize new platforms with your target audience can generate impressive results.
Expand your product line
Dunkin Donuts went beyond its initial product line of donuts and coffee. It added sandwiches, fruit juices, waffle breaded chicken tenders, and more. This initiative ensured they could meet growing consumer needs.
You should consider tapping into Dunkin Donut marketing strategy to improve brand awareness and drive sales. But there’s more you can do with marketing to improve your online presence.
Check out Netflix marketing strategy to make your brand go viral. Also, drive traffic to your website with our in-house technique for generating 1 million monthly traffic via SEO.
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