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Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. has a number of quick-service restaurants worldwide. There you can purchase hot and cold coffee, ice cream as well as some baked goods. This brand includes both Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins.

Next to Starbucks, this is the biggest company in the United States that focuses mainly on making coffee. There are many differences in their business models and ways of store ownership and branding.

This brand was founded in 1950 by a man named William Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts. Its’ headquarters are now situated in Canton, Mass. Dunkin’ Donuts is a part of Dunkin’ Brands Inc., along with  Baskin-Robbins ice cream shops.

The majority of their shops are franchises and there are about 6,700 of them in the United States, and more than 3,000 all over the world. Their products are available in 36 countries which makes them one of the biggest coffee and food chains in the world.

The chain is now rebranding as a “beverage-led company”, as well as changed its’ name to Dunkin’, in January 2019. They sell donuts, bagels, various baked goods, and numbers of hot and iced beverages.

Marketing

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This brand’s slogan is “America Runs On Dunkin‘”. Ten years ago they used an alternate slogan “You ‘Kin Do It!” and made a campaign promotion worth over  $100 million. Some of their other slogans are “It’s Worth the Trip”, “Fred the Baker” and  “Time to make the donuts”.

In the 1980s this company was known for its great television advertisements. William Rosenberg published his biography called ’Time to Make the Donuts: The Founder of Dunkin’ Donuts Shares an American Journey’.

In 2007. they made several commercials that were directly mocking Starbucks.

Logo

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Dunkin’ Donuts was registered on February 2, 1960. their logo presented a figure with a donut head and a coffee cup, but the body of the donut wore a garrison cap. The logo was mostly yellow and brown and put into use on July 1, 1964.

The brand started using a hot pink color for its’ logo. The logo presented a stylized coffee cup that had the brand’s name written in a circle as well as a donut dunking into the cup.

In 2019. they changed their name to only Dunkin’ since they thought that was the common shorthand name for the chain.  Dunkin’ wanted to shift towards being a “beverage-led”  chain as well as start offering healthier options for their costumers.

Primary ad agency

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Dunkin’s current advertising agency is called  BBDO. They replaced Hill Holliday last year which was the brand’s print, broadcast, digital, as well as the billboard advertising company. They worked with Dunkin’ for almost 20 years and came up with the slogan “America Runs on Dunkin’.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a fancy food critic like Janis Griffin or an Average Joe, everyone loves a good donut sometimes. Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc. has a number of quick-service restaurants worldwide.

Affiliations

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Dunkin’ Donuts is affiliated with the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots and together they publish commercials during the promotion season. This brand sponsors some professional sports teams, such as the Dallas Cowboys, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Rays and others.

In January 2014 they made a partnership with the football club Liverpool. They also worked with the National Women’s Hockey League, Big East Providence Friars men’s basketball team, as well as Hartford Yard Goats baseball team.

Controversy and criticism

Dunkin’ Donuts was criticized for many things. They were involved in several lawsuits with McDonald’s company. They were also sued by Subway which is a four times larger company.

In 2009. they stopped selling some products after the concern of salmonella poisoning at some of their facilities. They were criticized by the Human Rights Watch for making a  “bizarre and racist” commercial.

As of March 2024 Dunkin Brands has a market cap of $8.77 Billion. This makes Dunkin Brands the world’s 1765th most valuable company by market cap according to our data.