Dunkin' Donuts looks to freshen up image and further refine branding strategy

Dunkin’ Donuts has partnered with global creative business Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR) to freshen up its image. The agency will be managing the brand’s identity and branding strategy. Tony Weisman, Dunkin’ Donuts’ US chief marketing officer, explained the JKR has been brought in “further refine” Dunkin’ Donuts’ branding strategy.“JKR is known for producing compelling, brand differentiating work, and we look forward to working together to continue Dunkin’ Donuts’ transformation into America’s favorite beverage-led, on-the-go brand,” Weisman said.JKR’s North American CEO Sara Hyman said going forward, the agency will aim to "further elevate this beloved brand" by celebrating and amplifying the best parts of what Dunkin’ Donuts has always been — fresh, fun, and familiar.Recently, Dunkin’ Donuts had appointed Publicis Media as the agency partner for its US media buying and planning. The team, a bespoke unit of Publicis for Dunkin’ Donuts, will pull resources from across Publicis Groupe’s Digitas and Blue 449 to handle the account. Meanwhile, after an extensive review initiated at the end of last year, Dunkin’ Donuts named BBDO Worldwide as its new creative agency of record, while awarding responsibility for retail and in-store marketing to ARC/Leo Burnett.Last year the company added 440 net new restaurants worldwide and increased out-of-restaurant retail sales of Dunkin’ branded consumer packaged goods by more than 30%. Internationally, the brand said in April that in 2017, it made progress on positioning its international business for long-term success and that it is focused on stabilising the business with an emphasis on our key growth markets.“We are working along with our franchisees to drive traffic through value offerings, product innovation, and by making our brands more easily accessible through digital technologies,” the statement added. Meanwhile, its Baskin-Robbins International brand was focused on ice cream gallon consumption across the business through stores, delivery, and consumer packaged goods. Sales outside of the restaurants have expanded brand’s touchpoints, making Baskin more accessible and driving incremental ice cream sales throughout the year.“Delivery continues to be an opportunity for both brands, and we are working with our partners to roll-out delivery programs internationally on a market-by-market basis, based on the success that our Middle East and Asia franchisees are experiencing,” it said.The company’s key markets for both brands are predominantly based in Asia and the Middle East, which accounted for approximately 69% and 17%, respectively, of international systemwide sales for fiscal year 2017.For fiscal year 2017, US$2.1 billion of total system wide sales were generated by restaurants located in international markets, which represented approximately 19% of total systemwide sales, with the Dunkin’ Donuts brand accounting for US$733.6 million and the Baskin Robbins brand accounting for US$1.3 billion of our international system-wide sales.For the same period, our revenues from international operations totaled US$135.3 million, with the Baskin Robbins brand generating approximately 85% of such revenues.