Dunkin Donuts is known for its business motto of pleasing all the customers. There are many competitive advantages of the multinational donut brand that allow it to express its present in the national and international markets. Mainly, the company started in 1950 and has lasted for over 65 years now (Schmidt & Oldfield, 1998). At times, companies will not be able to maintain competitiveness in the business market for the first ten years, but due to the product placement in the market, it has gained a strong foothold. Moreover, the company maintains many branches and franchises in the middle east, Asia, America, and so forth.
As far as the strategic direction is concerned, the company’s coffee products and doughnuts are the cash cow; this is seen as it is known for these two products more than any other foodstuff in the menu. The company has maintained its target market as both men and women. Primarily, people from various socioeconomic status enjoy its coffee and doughnuts.
While one takes into consideration the substantial footholds of the company in the market, the 4 Ps are also beneficially to assess (Kaufmann & Eroglu, 1999). For instance, the products include the freshly made doughnuts, in addition to the cold/hot coffee products, drinks, and snacks. Regarding the place, the outlets are situated on various streets in the many towns in the U.S., UAE, Pakistan, and other countries (Rangaswamy, 2007). With access to more than 32 countries and over 10,000 branches, the brand has carved its niche in the coffee and doughnut department (Champagne & Iezzi, 2014). The price is very affordable for the middle class; the regular seasonal promotions result in the foodstuffs being accessible to everyone. One can also see many advertisements on the television, billboards, and the radio as well, with famous TV personalities promoting the products.
It is imperative to assess the other coffee giant, Starbucks as well. The two are very successful and have successful marketing schemes. Each of these coffeehouses has evolved over time while developing a strong brand name. There are other fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s also exist, however, Starbucks Coffee company and Dunkin Donuts are the two giants in the food industry. The two have coexisted for a considerable amount of time. One can also recall the 1990s where Dunkin Donuts focused on doughnuts for the most part with slogans such as “Time to make the doughnuts.” Starbucks has over 20,000 stores in 65 countries and the two control 60% of the coffee market with Dunkin Donut consisting of 24% of the market. Dunkin Donuts along sells 1.8 billion cups of coffee in a year (Champagne & Iezzi, 2014).
Amid the competition that Dunkin Donut faces against the coffee giant Starbucks and fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, it has established itself as more socially responsible. Moreover, as opposed to Schultz’s marketing approach, Dunkin Donuts maintains a more traditional approach while marketing products. Though, it has evolved its schemes under John Costello’s leadership. The company has included mobile advertising, social media marketing, Vine-based ads, Loyalty programs, and celebrity parodies as part of its promotional strategies.
Overall, Dunkin Donuts has established a strong foothold as a diversified and communicative brand that understand the customers’ preferences. The business statistics support its strong foothold in many American states as well.
References
Champagne, C. & Iezzi, T., 2014. Dunkin’ Donuts And Starbucks: A Tale Of Two Coffee Marketing Giants. [Online]
Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/3034572/dunkin-donuts-and-starbucks-a-tale-of-two-coffee-marketing-giants
[Accessed 18 December 2017].
Kaufmann, P.J. and Eroglu, S., 1999. Standardization and adaptation in business format franchising. Journal of Business Venturing, 14(1), pp.69-85.
Rangaswamy, P., 2007. South Asians in Dunkin’Donuts: niche development in the franchise industry. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33(4), pp.671-686.
Schmidt, R.A. and Oldfield, B.M., 1998. Dunkin’Donuts-the birth of a new distribution and franchising concept. British Food Journal, 100(2), pp.119-124.