Samantha Robyn Kurdas

MKT 395: Essentials of Advertising

Mi Hyun Lee
July 20th, 2016
From Means to Motivation
Dunkin Donuts has kept the same branding for years. Pink, orange, light roast coffee,
America runs on Dunkin. While their donuts and coffee might be made fresh, their brand
identity has become stale. That is why they launched a new campaign in the beginning of June,
2016. Linda SanGiacomo, senior director of advertising and customer experience for Dunkin'
Donuts, told Ad Week that the initiative was to evolve the brand into something not only more
modern, but more personal. #KeepOn is meant to celebrate that positive energy and
perseverance that defines [Dunkin Donuts] guests and brand. This catchphrase evokes
motivation and pushes consumers to excel, rather than imply a means to operate. SanGiacomo
expands, It's the idea that we're your partner in crime, or we're like your wingman, your buddy
in your daily struggle and we give you the positive energy through both food and beverage but
also emotionally, we believe in you and we believe in the consumer.
The #KeepOn campaign takes form and weight in countless formats; from social media
(i.e. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), print and even music playlists on Spotify. Advertising
and marketing specialists at Dunkin Donuts have strategically placed the brand within existing
contexts of various medias, silently attaching the Dunkin name to morph brand equity by
association. This can be viewed on their #KeepOn feeds in social platforms. Most tags have
nothing to do with Dunkin Donuts or even coffee, but the association of the hashtag is building a
brand that promotes adventure, happiness and living. The campaign branches from directed

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media, to target audience. The audience is

selected based on what product is to be sold, this
is undifferentiated target segmenting. In the case
of print, one of the advertisements Dunkin
Donuts chose to run was surrounding their new, at
home, Bold Brew coffee. The image to the right
was printed near the center-fold of Better Homes
and Gardens magazine, for August of 2016.
This advertisement depicts a smiling,
middle-aged man holding a cup of coffee in a
warm

and

generic

kitchen.

Striping

the

advertisement of product placement, icon, logo

and text; this simple image could be anyone
drinking anything. However, the soft and relatable setting invites readers into the advertisement
to explore who this man is why he is standing there, happily glancing into the distance. Entering
the text back in, viewers are suddenly provoked. The captioning suggests that this calm and
casual guy, Erik Weihenmayer, is some how BOLD. In attempt to unriddle this contrast,
readers will discover that the indicative phrasing is viable. The entire motive of the
advertisement is rationalized within the description, The only blind man to summit Mount
Everest. But what does Weihenmayer and his accomplishments have to do with coffee?
Realistically, nothing. In the world of marketing, everything.
Erik Weihenmayer is not just bold but he enjoys the bold, smooth, never-bitter taste of
Dunkin Dark coffee. Dunkin Donuts has used Weihenmayers to endorse their brand and

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product. Whether the reader knows who he is is beside the point. Weihenmayers achievements
express the novel branding efforts behind Dunkin Donuts #KeepOn campaign. The campaign
shows much promise after review of Weihenmayers story because his, is not the only one to be
told. While it is currently the only one featured on the Dunkin Donuts at Home website
(dunkinathome.com/brewedforthebold), there is abundant room for growth within the clever
concept that bold people drink Bold Brew. It can be predicted that other common-folk heroes, of
Weihenmayers nature, will be featured on the site and in print as the brand develops. This
expansion is inevitable, too. As the Bold Brew coffee is Dunkin Donuts premier launch into its
competitors territory mainly, Starbucks.
Neighboring Starbucks food and beverage chains happens to specialize in all roasts of
coffee; light, medium and dark. However, their lighter coffee, Blonde Roast, was not launched
until 2012 and was ignited to combat Dunkin Donuts successful Light Blend. After four years of
being on the shelves, there are only two varieties of Blonde Roast available for purchase. This
demonstrates how Starbucks has fallen short in the competitive market of at home coffee, but
this is not surprising. Both Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds have been offering similar coffees
for a much longer time and hold a strong foundation rooted in their customers loyalty. Yet,
Dunkin Donuts is still fighting back with their Bold Blend. And while Starbucks may only hold
two varieties of Blonde Roast, they have seven Medium Roast blends and nine Dark Roast
blends. Dunkin Donuts is attempting to distance themselves from the widely popular Starbucks
Dark Roasts by advertising that their new Bold Brew coffee as never bitter a claim that even
Starbucks will not make. Depending on the response to Bold Blend, Dunkin Donuts may face a
higher demand for more variations, similar to the line up of Dark Roast at Starbucks. Then again,
they may end face the same challenges Starbucks first faced when they launched Blonde Roast.

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Whether Bold Brew is truly bitter has yet to be determined. One thing is for certain, it
is something that sets Dunkin Donuts new Bold Brew apart from almost every other at home
coffee offered in supermarkets today. This is the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal. A stamp of
approval from the Rainforest Alliance ensures consumers that their coffee is sourced both
ethically and sustainably. Benefiting rainforests and workers is an undoubtable plus but when
considering how it may effect the products market value, it is a major plus. By sourcing beans
from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, Dunkin Donuts is taking a step over competitors that
do not hold the same certification while captivating an increasingly widened audience of
conscious consumers. The psychographic segment of consumers reached with this attribute brand
positioning are consumers that are eco-friendly and/or human-rights supporters.
The entire Bold Brew initiative grabs consumers that consider or aspire to be bold, this
is another brand positioning strategy. Broadening the psychographic segmenting scope,
consumers may be considered to be driven by life-goals or achievements. They may dream big or
strive to live fully. They may be socially and/or physically active, holding themselves to high
standards and admiring others that do the same. In particular to the advertisement featured in
Better Homes and Gardens, the segmented market becomes more filtered and focused because of
the magazines target audience. Homeowners subscribe to Better Homes and Gardens, and
Dunkin Donuts relies on that fact. Specifically, because they are advertising at home coffee. This
media vehicle comes with a high chance that the reader owns a home and probably a coffee pot
which is necessary to make the Dunkin Donuts Bold Brew coffee. Panning out and away
from this facet, the target audience is formed: home owners who drink coffee fill the
demographics and socioeconomics of any gender in an adult stage, averaging 30+ years in age,
with a job or some source of income and most likely educated. This segmenting is individual to

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the Better Homes and Gardens advertisement, but the reality is that Dunkin Donuts #KeepOn
campaign is all encompassing, targeting everyone. It is one twig on a branch of one media
vehicle, connected to an entire tree or marketing strategy for #KeepOn.
The Dunkin Donuts campaign is reaching out in infinite directions to transform the
brand identity. They are taking America runs on Dunkin and saying that Dunkin runs for
America. Lifting people up, motivating them, inspiring dreams and promoting achievement.
They are stepping aside from the need-fulfillment role, where Dunkin Donuts was just the means
to get by, to a friend that that wants to see customers excel and succeed.

Works Cited

Monllos, Kristina. "After a Decade, Dunkin' Donuts Is Evolving Its 'America Runs On Dunkin'
Campaign." AdWeek. N.p., 3 June 2016. Web. 20 July 2016. <http://www.adweek.com/
news/advertising-branding/after-decade-dunkin-donuts-evolving-its-america-runs-dunkin\campaign-171820>.
"Brewed for the Bold Coffee | Dunkin' Donuts Coffee." Brewed for the Bold Coffee | Dunkin'
Donuts Coffee. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2016. <http://www.dunkinathome.com/
brewedforthebold>.

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