Starbucks vs. Dunkin Donuts

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have seen Dunkin Donuts new ad campaign. We are told everyday that "America runs on Dunkin Donuts." Apparently, the marketing staff at Dunkin Brands (manages Dunkin Donuts) had a deep thought about what is actually selling in their franchises and how they could leverage that in their "cold war" with Starbucks.

Apparently what is selling is their coffee and their variety of beverages that look like the Wal-Mart version of Starbucks' offerings. While ideas about installing a sandwich display still speak of "trying to be like Mike," Dunkins has decided to market their products in such a way as to say: That's Starbucks. We're Dunkin Donuts. People buy Dunkin Donuts products not to be posh and ruminate about the quality of the grounds. They buy it because it is good and it keeps them going through out their day.

The new ad campaign seems to be working, in terms of receiving favourable notice. I have not seen Starbucks' answer. I did learn that they are tweaking themselves further. John Moore, who is the deity behind Brand Autopsy and was a Starbucks employee, weighs in on all things Starbucks in his posts at his blog, which is called Brand Autopsy.