Dunkin' Coffee?

A friend of mine sent me a link from an article in yesterday’s (Wed. Apr. 7) Chicago Tribune entitled Company perk; Can a roasting expert from Chicago give Krispy Kreme a coffee buzz?" (registration required) The focus of the story was about Krispy Kreme taking efforts to increase the quality of their coffee - potentially to compete with Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts.

Starbucks has often defined it’s purpose by saying…

"We are in the people business serving coffee." (Vs. - We are in the coffee business serving people.)

This perspective has allowed Starbucks to focus on the customer need vs. a limited perspective of simply and only coffee. It has allowed experiments like Café Starbucks - a full restaurant concept. (Now defunct). Or the new Starbucks/Hear Music Coffeehouse in Santa Monica where you can hand-craft and burn your own CD in-store with even more options than a barista has in hand-crafting a latte!

The article points out that globally, Dunkin’ is known more for its coffee. (In the states, growing up on the east coast, I’ve always known them as a doughnut place, with coffee). Dunkin’ has 5,600 locations worldwide to Krispy Kreme’s 394. In fact, John Gilbert, Dunkin' vice president of marketing, was quoted as saying…

"We are primarily a coffee business that sells doughnuts. Krispy Kreme is primarily a bulk doughnut business, selling doughnuts by the dozens."

From a brand perspective, this got me thinking…

I’ll bet Dunkin’ wishes it could sell doughnuts in bulk by the dozens. Is that a weakness of Krispy? Or a threat to Dunkin’?

Shouldn’t Dunkin’ Donuts have a similar approach to their business as Starbucks and others have? That they’re not in the coffee OR doughnut business, but in the business of serving their customers?

Comments

[hugh macleod]

"That they’re not in the coffee OR doughnut business, but in the business of serving their customers?"

Yes and no. Sure, it's good to put the customer first, but you can overdo it. We can't all just be "people companies"... or else we just end up like Little Miss Popularity at high school, who "likes everybody", but doesn't really do or say much that is very interesting.

I think a business needs its own core schtick, beyond the customer. Like Henry Ford said, "If I just gave people what they asked for, I would've just given them faster horses."

[Stephen Macklin]

I think Dunkin' Donuts strategy has been somewhere between Stabucks and McDonalds.

[marc hollander]

The problem with Krispy Kremes is they dilute the effectiveness of their brand by selling their product at gas stations, grocery stores, etc.

You can't have the same *hot* Krispy Kreme experience in those venues.

In my experience, I'm often scared off by not knowing just *where* those Krispy Kremes came from!

[Kendra]

i think dunks is great and they don't need to change at all, that is what makes them different, the fact that they were there first and they will always be the best...right down to the orange and purple colors it is truly a new england thing and whenever i see their signs i know i am home!

[Robert]

The worst enemy of Dunkin is themselves. Now they sell pies,hamburgers,and tomorrow their mothers to get a buck.It just hasn't worked for them I mean pouring caramel sauce over drinks must've drove people elsewhere.My guess is they can't make money and can't figure out why not.