Analysis Of Dunkin Donuts

Just last week, as I settled into my window seat on a flight from Boston, Massachusetts to Seattle, Washington, I prepared to read chapter 14 of the marketing textbook for Unit 8 of this Marketing Management course. As I was getting settled the passenger in the middle seat arrived and along with her backpack she was carrying a box of Dunkin’ Donuts. I inquired why she was carrying a box of donuts across the country and her reply was that they were for her young daughter. Her daughter had liked the Easter themed donut pictures she had sent via her smartphone, and in addition to that, the donuts were not available in Seattle, Washington. As my mind was already in the marketing management mode, this verbal exchange made me wonder what Dunkin’
When Jon Luther took over Dunkin’ Donuts in 2003 he, “found the company to be a coffee leader disguised as a donut maker.” He realized that people go for coffee several times a day and sought to make Dunkin’ Donuts a part of its customers’ daily routines. Therefore, they researched their target market heavily and developed the attributes of their customers. These attributes showed that their customers are people who would be considered “Regular Joes”. They are down to earth and live simply without the need for frills. They also love routines and efficiency and are not worried about fitting in. Given that customer profile, they concluded that Dunkin’ Donuts was not blue collar but had a blue-collar soul (Cohen, n.d.). Thus, their updated value proposition became, “Dunkin’ Donuts is about getting the people in this country running day after day, by providing whatever quick, delicious, pick me up they need, whenever they need it.” This proposition also led to their new tagline, “America runs on Dunkin’.” (Cohen, n.d.). This marketing strategy has led to Dunkin’ Donuts becoming the number one coffee and bakery chain in the world. Their number ones include, bagel sales, donut sales, the number one in coffee, flavored coffee, and iced
Given that coffee and beverages are their main source of income, they have already toyed with the idea of dropping the word donut and going strictly with Dunkin’ (Picchi, 2017). This strategy would be consistent with one of my thoughts as I read about Dunkin’ Donuts. I felt they should focus on coffee or donuts, but not both at the same time. They have also initiated a green agenda in an attempt to possibly shake their Styrofoam cup use by 2020 and thus increase their appeal to the environmentally conscious crowd (Wohl, 2018). One thing that I noticed when reviewing their current marketing strategy, was a slight lack of commitment to the college-age crowd. These are people that drink a significant amount of coffee and enjoy socializing over coffee and other beverages. Therefore, this is maybe an overlooked target segment. Although they do have some campus locations (Dunkin’ Brands, 2014), perhaps an increased focus on opening stores on or near college campuses, that included areas for study and socializing, would be a method to grow their market