America Runs On...Donuts?

On September 25^th, the hearts of most native New Englanders was broken…Dunkin’ lost it’s donuts.

As of January for 2019, the company will have dropped all reference to the delicious treat that made them famous by shortening the brand name to just “Dunkin’”. Chief Marketing Officer, Tony Weisman, made a statement regarding the change and suggested the idea that the company is “now on a first-name basis" with America.

This make some sense. Dunkin' is the coffee shop that 3 million customers start their day so why would the company not try to make that connection with the customer. In their book the Groundswell, authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff mention that one of the most important parts of building a brand is focusing on the connections and relationships with customers rather. So making the large brand seem a little more personal by coming across on a "first name basis" seems like it would work in their favor.It comes across as the fast food breakfast chain as more of a closer community rather than just the larger, international corporation that it is. 

This alias abbreviation is also supposedly making the brand more “trendy”. This new name may be more appealing to the younger generation who grew up on abbreviations from texting and social media such as LOML  or TTYL. If they have analyze the social technographics of their customers and consumers, they may know that they are marketed towards the older generations. This change bring them into the world of the groundswell and opens up their company to the younger population. 

Dunkin’s marketing team thought that the small change would go over fairly well, since they have been using the famous motto “America runs on Dunkin’” for more than a decade. But once things are put into the groundswell, you have no control over how people react. The breakfast food chain that truly popularized donuts - both the food and the word - has people noticing this major identity crisis. The truth is that people aren't feeling the warm and cozy way they were supposed to feel regarding the sudden name switch. This change has brought the companies loyalists out. There has been major backlash from the groundswell. 

Native New Englanders wonder how such a company could turn it's back on the one product that brought the company so much foot traffic for the brand in the first place and claim that the change is "misguided". Donuts are a namesake, so why rid your company of that? Others are just simply outraged over what the name now references,  asking "What is it exactly that one is Dunkin', if not a donut?"

While some are genuinely upset about the change, other people find humor. People have jokingly "demanded democratic justice" and claiming it should have been put on the ballot for New England citizens to vote on. Others made references to a similar, recent yet temporary and solely promotional name switch by the International House of Pancakes (IHOP), who switched shortly this past summer to IHOB to emphasize their menu filled with burgers. 

Twitter user referencing the IHOP name change,
suggesting the company adopt
the new name "Dunkin. Burgers"

Dunkin' Donuts has always been my favorite coffee chain, but the truth is that I've been referring to it a just "Dunkin'" for years. If reaching out to the younger generations of consumers was their goal, I think they are successful. These positive, funny tweets and memes are coming from teens and young adults, whereas the messages appearing to be genuinely upset are from the 'loyalists' who are appear older (at least based on the Twitter profile photos).

For those of you who are loyal customers to the Dunkin' Donuts brand, do you think this shift will push you away from purchasing their products? Do you think the marketing ploy will be successful in gaining in newer, younger customer population?