Dunkin’ Brands Group announces re-brand of more than 12,500 stores globally to emphasise coffee, soft drinks and its food-to-go range
In a press statement, the 68-year-old chain said it would begin rolling out the re-brand across its store signage, web and social media presence from January 2019. The familiar rounded font of its current logo, which has been in use since 1973, will remain in place under the new branding.
The re-brand signals a strategic pivot towards coffee for Dunkin’, which serves around two billion cups of the beverage every year globally according to its website. The coffee and bakery chain, which operates in 46 countries, including more than 9,000 stores in the US, will be hoping to broaden its appeal among US coffee consumers with its simplified handle. The less specific branding will also give Dunkin’ more manoeuvrability to compete with major US rivals, Starbucks, which is battling stagnant growth in its native market, and McDonald’s, which has ramped up its ‘McCafé’ coffee offer in recent years.
Although Dunkin’ offers fixed and seasonal range of Rainforest Alliance certified coffee products, the US brand has not traditionally been synonymous with caffeinated beverages. However, the US chain’s new coffee strategy encourages staff to serve customers ‘like bartenders’, with
cold brew, nitro coffee and iced teas explicitly named as part of its ‘blueprint for growth.’
Convenience will be a key plank of Dunkins’ new strategy, with the brand expanding on-the-go mobile app ordering and integrating the digital service into mobile order drive-thru lanes. This approach looks a safe bet for Dunkin’, with Allegra research revealing US consumers prize convenience above all else in their choice of coffee shop.
“We’re all about serving great coffee fast,” said Dunkin’ Brands’ CEO and US President of the firm, David Hoffmann. “But we’re also about donuts and baked goods and breakfast sandwiches. All delivered at the speed of Dunkin’”, he added.
According to its website, Dunkin’ still sells far more donuts that it does cups of coffee – 2.9 billion a year globally. Nevertheless, the chain is also trialling a streamlined in-store offer in the US market, with a reduced range of 18 ‘core’ donuts instead of its usual range of 30+ varieties.