Regent’s University London

European Business School

Molly McNeeley
Student ID: S01003441
Date 12th May 2017
Module: DSM5A4
Alyas Latif
Word Count:
Dunkin Donuts- Branding Project S01003441

Table of Contents
1.0 Reflection…………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
1.1 Brand………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
1.2 Team………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3

2.0 The Problem…………………………………………………………………………………. 3

2.1 Background…………………………………………………………………………………… 3
2.2 SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………………………………. 4
2.3 Areas of Improvement………………………………………………………………………... 5

3.0 Business Context…………………………………………………………………………….. 5

3.1 Customers…………………………………………………………………………………….. 5
3.2 Competition……………………………………………………………………………………5
3.3 Perception Map……………………………………………………………………………….. 6

4.0 Solution………………………………………………………………………………………. 6
4.1 Consultancy……………………………………………………………………………………6
4.2 Quality…………………………………………………………………………………………7
4.3 Stores…………………………………………………………………………………………. 7
4.4 Marketing Campaign…………………………………………………………………………. 7

5.0 Plan…………………………………………………………………………………………… 9
5.1 Visual Brief…………………………………………………………………………………… 9
5.2 Timings……………………………………………………………………………………… 10
5.3 Cost………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

6.0 Concept Map……………………………………………………………………………….. 11

7.0 References………………………………………………………………………………… 12

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1.0 Reflection
1.1 Brand
In week 7, my group and I gave a presentation on two brands that we discovered needed
help with their branding. The first company we worked on was the popular coffee and bakery
chain Dunkin Donuts. We determined that this company had some good things going for it such
as their focused menu and clear vision for the company, but also had many areas of potential
improvement such as their interior design of their stores and their inconsistency with their
mission and its execution. Thus, we concluded that rather than completely re-brand the company,
we would simply make a few adjustments to it which would ultimately strengthen its brand. The
other company we researched was the shoe store Schuch. In our research, we found many
problems with this brand such as its lack of mission statement, crowded setup in stores, and
focus on a non-lucrative shoe brand. Because of these factors, we decided that Schuch would
benefit from a complete re-brand.
1.2 Team
As a team, we worked incredibly well. We each did our own research, and then came
together to discuss our findings and determine proper paths for the re-branding process. My role
in the team was to focus on the solutions to the problems we discovered in each brand. In
addition, I have had previous experience as an employee of one of the companies we researched,
Dunkin Donuts, so I was able to act as an inside source for certain areas of branding for our team
which I believe very much improved our understanding of the brand and what its problems are.
For this paper, I will be focusing on the brand of Dunkin Donuts with a focus in the United
States of America.
Report
2.0 The Problem
2.1 Background
The purpose of Dunkin Donuts is to provide beverages and baked goods that will fulfil
customers’ desires. Dunkin Donuts wants to provide a service that will fit into their schedule
whether on a commute to work or school, or if they are looking to sit down and spend time with
family and friends. They serve a wide range of products which include 52 types of donuts, 12
types of coffee, assorted pastries, breakfast sandwiches, hot chocolate and tea.

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The mission statement of Dunkin Donuts is “to be the leading provider of the wide range
delicious beverages & baked product around the kingdom in a convenient, relaxed, friendly
environment, that insures the highest level of quality product and best value for money. We
provide our guest, the elegant service and unforgettable experience to meet their expectations in
every single visit” (Dunkindonuts.co.uk, 2017). Their vision is “to be always the desired place
for great coffee, beverages and delicious complimentary donuts and bakery products to enjoy
with family and friends” (Dunkindonuts.co.uk, 2017). Dunkin Donuts views itself as standing on
a basis of low price for high quality. The believe they provide quality customer service which is
fast and friendly. They are a franchised institution which allows them to be available to their
customers. With their 11,300 stores worldwide in over 36 countries, they are very accessible for
customers. On paper, these factors sound great for any company. Their mission statement is
idyllic, the amount of stores they have lend themselves to accessibility no matter what location,
and their view of themselves is ideal. However, there are discrepancies between how Dunkin
Donuts view themselves, and how customers view Dunkin Donuts.
2.2 SWOT Analysis

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2.3 Areas of Improvement

There are a few areas of potential improvement for Dunkin Donuts. The first is that their
advertisements are not appealing. They are often boring and typical, only featuring their coffee
and donuts. They sell more than just these items and those should be promoted more.
Additionally, the interior of their stores are old and out of date. They are often saturated in bright
colors and worn furniture. They have recently updated some store interiors, but these simply look
like a copy of Starbucks stores. When re-designing stores, Dunkin Donuts needs to update while
maintaining their own character. As a previous employee of two different Dunkin Donuts stores,
I can personally attest that their needs to be consistency with their management, hiring and
training. I did not receive any formal training in either store. The management was poor and it
was not uncommon for customers to be often very disgruntled. Ultimately, there needs to be
coherence between their vision, mission, and execution.
3.0 Business Context
3.1 Customers
The brand’s current audience is males and females ages 35-65+ (infoscout.co, 2017).
These are their loyal customers. Often, they are ones who come in every day to pick up their
daily coffee on their way to work. There is a big potential audience in a younger crowd.
Customers aged 18-25 could be a big target audience for Dunkin Donuts. These are the students
who could benefit from a caffeine boost in the middle of their studying day. This is a big
audience that is not being targeted by Dunkin Donuts.
3.2 Competition
Dunkin Donuts current competitors in America are Starbucks, McDonalds, Tim Hortons,
Panera Bread, and local bakeries.

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3.3 Perception Map

Price
(High)

Quality
(Low)

4.0 Solution
4.1 Consultancy
There are a few consultancies that I would look into working with for this re-branding
process. The first is VGROUP based in London. They have worked with companies of various
sectors from technology to food. The second is Brand Image located in Chicago. The benefit of
this company is that it is located in the city which the Dunkin Donuts re-brand will start. The
final consultancy is Liqui Image. This consultancy is based in London and specializes in coffee
shops. Ultimately, I would choose VGROUP. This consultancy does work with digital marketing
which is a large part of the re-brand, has experience from various sectors of business, and is
based in London so it would have outside influence when working in America.

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4.2 Quality
First, I would like to change the ingredients of the donuts and other baked goods in each
Dunkin Donuts. They originated with their main draw being that the donuts were produced fresh
each day in-house. Out of convenience, they have gotten away from that. The donuts are now
produced in a separate factory and then delivered to each store every morning. Because they are
now mass produced, they are also produced with more processed ingredients. This results in a
donut that tastes overly-processed and not fresh. To combat this, I propose that Dunkin Donuts
re-design the ingredients it uses in its donuts. I recommend that it transitions to fresher, higher
quality ingredients. I also recommend that they are produced in smaller batches. These will all
result in a higher quality donut, just as Dunkin Donuts currently promises.
4.3 Stores
Next, I would re-design the interior of the stores. The current stores are old, worn in, out
of style, and saturated in color. I would like to update the furniture to be more modern and sleek.
The overall look of the store should be clean and open, but comfortable. However, I would keep
small pops of bright color, pink and orange, throughout the store. This will help to maintain
Dunkin Donuts’ character, while also becoming a more sophisticated interior.
4.4 Marketing Campaign
The second thing I would like to do is start a marketing campaign. I would call the
campaign “Artisan Summer at Dunkin Donuts.” In addition to its classic flavors like glazed,
sprinkles, or maple donuts, we will also feature a more fancy, upscale flavor that will be
available for two weeks. After those two weeks, that donut will no longer be available and a new
artisan donut will be featured. These can be flavors such as Almond Blueberry Glazed,
Blackberry Jam and Custard, Matcha Green Tea, Lemon and Pistachio, Honey and Lavender,
and many more possibilities. Dunkin Donuts would offer these interesting flavor varieties, ones
that could be found in small bakeries in large cities such as Crosstown Doughnuts in London,
Rolling Donut in Dublin, or Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland. The idea behind this is that Dunkin
Donuts could offer these distinctive flavors for those who cannot make it to these unique donut
places. These artisan donuts would be changed every other week for the whole of the summer-
May through August.

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This campaign will also feature an Instagram competition. Each week, customers can go
pick up the artisan flavor that week and post a picture of it with the hashtag #ArtisanSummerDD.
The social media team at Dunkin Donuts will pick a winner every two weeks, one winner for
each flavor, and the winner will have their photo featured on the official Dunkin Donuts
Instagram page. Additionally, each winner will receive a $25.00 gift card to Dunkin Donuts.
The reasoning behind this Instagram caption is three-fold. First of all, it encourages
people to go out and buy the new donut. Often, people will not buy just one item when they go to
a food establishment, so while they are picking up their artisan donut for the Instagram
competition, they may also pick up a coffee to go with it. Then, when they post the picture on
their Instagram, most of their followers will see the picture. This will spread the word about the
unique donuts at Dunkin Donuts, so these people will want to try one themselves.
The next reasoning is to encourage social media followers for Dunkin Donuts. Their
official Instagram page is currently at 1.1 million followers. If people want to see who wins the
contest each week, they will follow Dunkin Donuts’ official Instagram page so that will
automatically increase followers. Then, even after the contest is over, when people are scrolling
through their Instagram and they see a photo from Dunkin Donuts, they may immediately feel
like they need a coffee or donut from Dunkin Donuts.
The final reasoning is that it utilizes social media, which inherently targets a younger
audience. This is the potential audience discussed earlier (section 3.1) that Dunkin Donuts can
benefit from.

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5.0 Plan
5.1 Visual Brief

9 Advertisements

Advertisements that feature

products other than just
Simple Advertisements that
coffee or donuts.
feature small pops of color.

Artisan Donuts

Instagram Contest

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5.2 Timings
Uniformed training of all employees will begin immediately and last through the end of
the year to ensure that all managers and all employees in every store across the world. The
designing of the new interior of the stores will begin in October 2017, with the first stores being
re-designed starting in January 2018. The plan to start designing the new donuts would begin in
January of 2018 and follow through April of 2018. During April is when promotion of the new
artisan donuts and the Instagram contest would be executed. The contest and new donuts will
continue May through the end of August 2018.
5.3 Cost
From the training to the re-designing to the new donut campaign, I expect this re-brand to
cost around $4 million. This is including that since the restaurants are franchised, the owners will
have to pay for some of the re-designing of interiors and for the training. Additionally, since
much of the marketing is through social media, the cost is reduced.

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6.0 Concept Map

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7.0 References
Branding Agency | Brandimage. (2017). About Us. [online] Available at: http://www.brand-
image.com/about [Accessed 12 May 2017].

Dunkindonuts.co.uk. (2017). Home | Dunkin' Donuts. [online] Available at:

http://www.dunkindonuts.co.uk/ [Accessed 12 May 2017].

infoscout.co. (2017). Dunkin Donuts Consumer Insights and Demographics | InfoScout.co.

[online] Available at: http://infoscout.co/brand/dunkin_donuts?utm_expid=75303912-
24.l6L7NHOEQze-M9P-
hvusJw.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F [Accessed 12 May
2017].

Liqui Design. (2017). Coffee Shop Consultants | Award Winning Designers | Office Design.
[online] Available at: http://www.liquidesign.co.uk [Accessed 12 May 2017].

Morris, T. and Goldsworthy, S. (2012). PR Today: The Authoritative Guide to Public Relations.
1st ed. Hampshire: Palgrave and MacMillan.

VGROUP. (2017). VGROUP Branding Agency | Strategy | Design | Communications. [online]

Available at: http://www.vgroup.com/about/ [Accessed 12 May 2017].

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