One of America’s favorite coffee brands just announced a major brand change – call them Dunkin’ now! America’s favorite curator of delicious doughnuts, eye-opening coffee, and other treats are dropping “donuts” from its name starting in January 2019.
Why the name change? They want to become better friends with its customers, Dunkin’ Donuts says.
“After 68 years of America running on Dunkin’, we’re moving to a first-name basis. Same amazing coffee. Now on a first-name basis,” the company announced on Twitter.
Although the company will still be selling doughnuts and sweet treats, Dunkin’ wanted to focus more on beverages while simplifying its business to reach more customers.
Business Insider reported on the strategy behind the name-change with Dunkin’ Brands’ CEO and U.S. President David Hoffman. Hoffman believes that the name-change “will keep our brand relevant for generations to come” as it moves towards a beverage-led retailer. “For two years, we have been focusing on evolving Dunkin’ into the premier, beverage-led, on-the-go-brand and have been implementing what we call our blueprint for growth,” said Hoffman. According to NPR, the coffee retailer began moving away from a doughnut-based market in 2013 and declared itself a “beverage company” when beverage sales reached 58 percent of its total sales. Now, they’re aiming to push their beverage bar even higher, with 60 percent of their sales solely coming from beverages.
The Business Insider received the scoop from Tony Weisman, Dunkin’ Donuts’ U.S. CMO who said, “in recent years as American and indeed the world’s appetite for coffee and coffee-type beverages has grown, we’ve put even more emphasis on being a beverage-led business.”
Along with the impending name change and complete re-branding, Dunkin’ is also introducing new drinks and beverages, including cold nitro brew coffee, a mobile order drive-through lane and placing baked goods “within arms reach” for guests in glass cases.
Dunkin’s approach to its re-branding and name-change is to “modernize” itself with the millennial generation and generations to come. “Our new branding is one of the many things we are doing as part of our blueprint for growth to modernize the Dunkin’ experience for customers,” says Hoffman. Dunkin’ Donuts is also sending out a new identity message, focusing on simplistic and efficient menus– part of their “overarching strategy.”
Dunkin’ has already begun the process of cutting down its menu by 10 percent this year and is turning to more technology in-store as well.
But don’t worry, doughnut lovers! “Dunkin’” is still America’s go-to retailer for all things doughnuts, sweets, and delicious coffee.
All images courtesy of Dunkin Donuts.