Dunkin Donuts recently announced that they’re dropping the Donuts as part of a “branding test” they’re undergoing. They’ve said that this won’t happen to all locations, and may or may not be permanent. Well isn’t that just brilliant…
First of all, a company’s “brand” isn’t what they say it is. It’s not the name, the logo, the fonts they use or the colors they choose. It’s actually what us as consumers decide that it is. And we decided what Dunkin Donuts’ brand was decades ago. It’s yummy delicious, cheap and fast donuts, and more recently, halfway goodly coffee. That’s it.
Removing the word Donuts from their name will not directly affect their brand, though it could do so indirectly if they actually stop selling donuts (which they haven’t said one way or another).
I’m not sure what their “end-game” is here. Changing the decor on the interiors, adding digital ordering kiosks and altering the sign on the front of the building is going to change very little about them from a customer’s point of view. Changing who they are at their core, changing their brand, most certainly will. And probably not in a good way.
Donuts simply aren’t as popular as they once were. And better donut chains have popped up (Krispy Kreme, etc.) over the years to dethrone Dunkin Donuts as the go-to place for office meeting snacks of choice. I don’t see that changing. Ever. For any reason.
In the end, the only change all this “re-branding” is likely to do is make customers wonder what that new “Dunkin” store is where the donut shop used to be.
Original Dunkin Donuts location. Image courtesy of Clayton Smalley
