105 Westwood Drive
Lexington, KY 40503

April 22, 2013

Mr. James Marinelli
University of Kentucky
1522 Patterson Office Tower
Lexington, KY 40506

Dear Mr. Marinelli:

As students at the University of Kentucky, we are required to take a class titled “business writing.” In this class we were assigned a project which allowed us the opportunity of creating a proposal for a specific company. Due to the fact that Dunkin’ Donuts is already successful company with many loyal customers, our group decided to make your company the topic of our choosing. Because of the current success of the company, we realized that Dunkin’ Donuts already has an effective marketing strategy. Instead, we wanted to create another aspect to this current marketing strategy to take Dunkin’ Donuts to another level. We have spent a great deal of our semester researching your company and effective advertising methods. Because of this, we hope that you will find this proposal to be beneficial for the marketing department and could possibly incorporate it into your marketing strategy in the future.

Since your company is very successful currently, we did not feel it was necessary to change any of the current marketing strategies and techniques. However, we do feel it is time to incorporate some new and young ideas. Through our research we noticed that Dunkin’ Donuts is lacking in the many college communities. As a result, we are concerned that college students will support companies that have a strong presence on campus. Because many people quickly become loyal customers after one positive experience, these students are likely to remain loyal to the companies on campus. This can potentially be a problem for Dunkin’ Donuts, but with the simple marketing campaign we have designed this problem could be resolved.

As stated previously, not only did we analyze the target market, we also looked at effective marketing strategies to find what we feel is best for this specific target market. As a result, we thought about factors such as range, costs, and ease of operation before making our final decision of what will be the best advertising campaign for Dunkin’ Donuts. In conclusion, we hope that this proposal will be beneficial to the Dunkin’ Donuts Company. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me regarding the proposal.

Sincerely,
Sarah Covington and Associates
University of Kentucky sarahecovington@aol.com Enc. Proposal

Dunkin' Donuts Marketing Analysis:
Marketing to a New Demographic

Prepared for

Mr. James Marinelli
WRD 203 Instructor
University of Kentucky
1522 Patterson Office Tower
Lexington, KY 40506

Prepared by

Holly Palmer, Tyler DeAgano, Samantha Rhind, Sarah Covington, Mathew Perry
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40508

22 April 2013
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report proposes a college specific Facebook page directed towards the demographic of college students. Currently, the company has very little to no presence in the college market. In order to provide a possible solution as well as expand the current advertising strategy we have completed much research. Some of this research includes: what the current marketing strategies consist of and a detailed comparison of many other companies that already target college students. Each method we explored further and to determine whether it would be advantageous or of no use.

According to research, a large proportion of coffee drinkers are college aged people. (ADD SOURCE) With this information, it would be logical for Dunkin’ Donuts to target this age group. As a result, Dunkin’ Donuts will be able to gain customer loyalty before these young adults graduate school. As a group researching Dunkin’ Donuts, we examined various methods of advertisements that we felt were possibilities to reach this intended audience. Finally after much thought, we have determined which method would best reach the intended target.

Since college students are most always busy with school work, we found that television advertisements would not reach the potential target effectively. This is for the simple reason that college students do not have enough time to sit down and watch television. In the same way, students also do not have enough time to sit down and read a magazine. Generally, most students are reading coursework material and are not reading magazines. In addition, college students are most likely on a small budget and are not going to spend what little money they do have to purchase magazines. Another reason they are less appealing is because they lack the luster of digital media. Digital media allows for students to interact instantly with peers, friends, family, and anyone that uses the internet. Information can be spread quickly and effectively on the internet. Furthermore, students have grown up surrounded by this technology. They know how to use the internet to its maximum potential and do this with little to no difficulty. Due to this fact, utilizing social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter would easily be the most cost efficient way to reach the intended audience of college students.

As stated previously, because the intended target market is busy as well as budget cautious, the advertisements need to keep this in mind as well. The social media page should emphasize student discounts and daily specials. This will tailor to the needs of the “penny pinching” student. Also, images of the specific location along with local campus “heroes” such as university athletes or local celebrities should be incorporated onto the page. This will allow the student to feel as though they can relate to the company. Additionally, a Twitter account will also be linked to this Facebook page so that multiple forms of social media will be used to expand the consumer base of the Dunkin’ Donuts average costumer. Due to the fact that Twitter seems to be the new Facebook, by creating both accounts, Dunkin’ Donuts will be able to market to everyone.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction1
Current Problems3
Products3
Atmosphere4
Locations4

Effective Marketing Strategies5
Locations on Campus3
Student Discounts4
Slogan4

Why College Students6
Students Drink Coffee3
Easily Targeted4
Future3

Solutions to Improve7
Television4
Magazines3

The Proposal7
Conclusion7

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1. Dunkin’ Donuts Locations in U.S. by Region3
Figure 2. Percentage of People Aged 18 to 24 Enrolled in College in 2000 and 20104
Figure 3. Online Demographics by Age in 20124

INTRODUCTION

Dunkin’ Donuts has been very successful in reaching the American working class since the first store opened in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1950. Marketing strategies are important to any company, no matter if they are new upcoming business or an established business such as Dunkin’ Donuts. Therefore, having an effective marketing strategy is what determines whether your company will have positive company growth or if it will be just enough to keep your company going. It is important to examine outside factors such as the competition when developing a marketing strategy. By looking at the marketing strategies of other companies, our group has come up with a marketing strategy that we feel you should incorporate into their current marketing strategy. Dunkin’ Donuts has a very solid foundation concerning loyalty to their customers and obviously has a good marketing strategy. However, we are noticing is that the younger generation is growing up drinking Starbucks Coffee because of its strong presence in the college community. We are suggesting that Dunkin’ Donuts incorporates college students into their current target market and make them loyal customers for life by directly advertising to them. By incorporating college students into the target market not only will your sales increase but by targeting these students Dunkin’ Donuts will be the brand name that they remember. They will grow up knowing Dunkin’ Donuts coffee is what got them through college and they will remain loyal to the company as they continue to grow.

Dunkin’ has been a dominant force in the coffee industry by competition is starting to get rough. In this proposal we will look at the basic issues we feel Dunkin’ Donuts should address such as their products, the atmosphere of their stores, and the location of their stores. Majority of Dunkin’ Donuts profits come from one specific region in the United Sates. If Dunkin’ Donuts were to put more energy into other regions just image what positive effects it would bring.
We have come up with a strategic plan to reach the intended target market. We will discuss why we have chosen it and why we feel it will work later in the proposal.

CURRENT PROBLEMS

As stated before, Dunkin’ Donuts is a fairly successful company, but improvements can be made to target college students and make them customers for life. By changing certain problem areas of your company, Dunkin’ Donuts can improve business by targeting college students while keeping their old customers. However, college students need to be targeted in a different way than the typical Dunkin’ Donuts customer. Since your company does not offer specialty products, a comfortable atmosphere, and closer locations, college students will not be loyal Dunkin’ Donuts customers.

Products

Despite the fact that Dunkin’ Donuts is making progress in adding selections to their coffee menu, their products are still extremely simple. For example, your stores are very limited in the variety of specialty drinks and this is a problem when selling to college students. Without a large variety, college students will be less likely to find something they want to purchase. To maintain original customer loyalty, Dunkin’ Donuts should continue to sell their traditional blend and other popular beverages. However, the absence of specialty drink options and impersonal orders are preventing college students from buying at Dunkin’ Donuts.

To further explain the limited variety, your company only offers one version of hot coffee. There is a lack of variety in Dunkin’ Donuts’ roasts and blends, and low-fat drinks are not an option. Dunkin’ Donuts does not offer a selection of roasts or blends, which causes college students to be uninterested in the “original brew.” Dunkin’ Donuts is falling behind top coffeehouses because other companies are providing options such as light roast coffee and soymilk, which appeals to a younger audience. College students, especially females, tend to lean towards buying products that are marketed as healthy or low fat. College students are not buying their coffee at Dunkin Donuts because it does not seem as guilt free as other companies’ products. As coffee products expand, college students want to order drinks as customized as a “non-fat, no whip, extra espresso, iced caramel macchiato.” With a lack of variety, Dunkin’ Donuts does not make it easy for customers to select a coffee that best suits them. Therefore, the scarcity of special and customized products at Dunkin’ Donuts is causing college students to buy their coffee elsewhere.

In addition to the lack of specialty drinks, Dunkin’ Donuts does not personalize orders and makes every drink taste the same. Customers do not have the power to precisely control how much cream and sugar they want because a machine controls the amount. Also, your company does not provide visitors with a milk bar, which prevents customers from personalizing their beverage to their preference. Moreover, Dunkin’ Donuts employees do not write customers names on their products. Handing a standard blank cup to the customer could potentially make them feel as if their product is impersonal and boring, and that they are not important to your organization. By not customizing orders, Dunkin’ Donuts will struggle to succeed in targeting college students because adolescents want to feel special.

Atmosphere

Equally important as specialty drinks, the environment of your store is key in targeting college students. Dunkin’ Donuts has not gained loyalty from college students because they do not provide an experience with their product. Providing an experience for students requires having a comfortable atmosphere and environment.

Currently, many Dunkin’ Donuts have small, plastic tables and chairs as the only option for seating. Instead of having uncomfortable seating, your company should provide a relaxing, comfortable atmosphere that invites students to meet up with friends or study. That being said, without any cushioned and upholstered furniture, Dunkin’ Donuts customers do not feel at home and do not feel inclined to go to the restaurant. In addition, the interior of the store resembles more of a fast food restaurant than a coffee shop. Therefore, college students do not go to Dunkin’ Donuts to meet friends or do homework because it does not have a home-like environment. For example, the bright, florescent lighting of the store contributes to the uncomfortable environment. With this environment, it is clear that Dunkin’ Donuts does not offer anything more than the products they sell. Consequently, college students do not feel inclined to go to Dunkin’ Donuts because they do not feel comfortable in the store. With a comfortable store environment, college students will have the option to relax and do homework, as well as make a quick purchase on their way to class.
Locations

Dunkin’ Donuts does not have store locations on college campuses and this is crucial for targeting college students. Dunkin’ Donuts is also heavily focused in northeast America, which causes their brand not to be as recognized as it could be across the nation. According to Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications, the majority of Dunkin’ Donuts stores and revenue in the United States are in one region, the northeast (“Brand Transformation: Dunkin’ Donuts”). To display the unequal distribution of Dunkin’ Donuts stores throughout the United States, the locations of the stores were divided by each region. Figure 1, below, reveals the percentage of Dunkin’ Donuts locations in each region in the United States.

Figure 1. Dunkin’ Donuts Locations in U.S. by Region.

Source: Dunkin’ Donuts Restaurant Locator, www.dunkindonuts.com

Based on these statistics, the majority of Dunkin’ Donuts locations are in the Northeast and there are very little stores in the West. By only utilizing one area in the United States, Dunkin’ Donuts will not succeed in targeting college students. With only one percent of Dunkin’ Donuts stores in the West region, your company is preventing itself from targeting a large percentage of college students. The West Coast is home to thousands of impressive universities and colleges and your company lacks locations in these areas. By not having Dunkin’ Donuts locations on college campuses, your company is falling behind to competitors like Starbucks. Due to the lack of stores in regions other than the Northeast and the absence of stores on college campuses, Dunkin’ Donuts is not effectively targeting college students as customers.

Effective Marketing Strategies

Since Dunkin’ Donuts has been successful for many years in targeting working Americans, especially in the northeast of America, we do not want to disregard this age group with our proposed marketing plan. However, we believe that switching the focus from working Americans to college students would be an extremely wise and beneficial strategy for the Dunkin’ Donuts organization. By directing your advertisements towards this potential market, you will be able to address several of the company’s current problems, which will lead to a major increase in revenue and customer loyalty across the nation. Moreover, in order to appeal to the college market, your company must utilize three effective ways of reaching this specific audience. With competitors, such as Starbucks, currently dominating the college market, Dunkin’ Donuts must begin to build stores on college campuses throughout the country, offer student discounts for the products being offered, and create a memorable slogan specifically for these students. If your company uses these three marketing techniques, the Dunkin’ brand will become highly recognized by college students, and they will begin to purchase your products, instead of what the competitors are offering.

Locations on Campus

In particular, the most important and effective way of reaching college students is building stores on several different campuses. The majority of companies that establish franchises on college campuses receive a large portion of their profit from these store locations, which exemplifies the fact that this would be a smart marketing decision for Dunkin’ Donuts. For example, Starbucks has continued to dominate the college market, because they have built hundreds of stores on campuses across America. Consequently, according to Renee O’Farrell, “Young adults, aged 18 to 24, total 40 percent of Starbucks’ sales” (“Who is Starbucks’ Target Audience?”). This statistic shows that the establishment of Dunkin’ Donuts on college campuses will increase the company’s sales, as well as gain the customer loyalty of this age group.

Above all, college students are always looking for the most convenient option when it comes to purchasing products. Since these students have to balance their long class days and abundance of homework, they are in need of restaurants on campus, so they can make quick and convenient purchases, instead of taking time out of their day to drive to locations around their specific university. Even though restaurants that offer products for lunch and dinner have achieved success when targeting this market, companies in the breakfast industry, such as Dunkin’ Donuts, are the most essential for college students. As Mike Crimmins states, “A Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, or local coffee place on campus is sure to draw students in because it’s nearby, on the way to class, and an easy way to get the essential caffeine kick-start students often can’t do without” (“Coffee in College”). Since this age group has such a demanding school schedule, the coffee beverages that your company offers would almost be a necessity for these students to stay focused and energized throughout class, and your delicious pastries would be a popular option to satisfy their hunger in the morning. In addition, not only will the college market become frequent visitors to your campus stores, but they will show loyalty by choosing Dunkin’ over competitors when they are not on campus. Furthermore, building stores on campuses across the nation will be a substantial expense for your company, but the benefits that this strategy offers would outweigh these expenses by a large margin.

Student Discounts

Additionally, college students tend to have a spending budget, so they gravitate towards companies that offer less expensive products or even discounts. For this reason, we feel that a student discount system for your company would be very effective in reaching this audience. In fact, some of the most highly recognized organizations in America use student discounts to their advantage. For example, one of the most profitable pizza shops in the country, Papa John’s, has a store location near the University of Kentucky, which offers current students a $6.36 large pizza, if the student brings in their university ID with them to make the purchase. Since other pizza shops in town do not offer this great student discount, the UK students have become frequent visitors at Papa John’s. This makes sense, because the great discount is giving these students an incentive to visit Papa John’s, instead of other competitors. So, we have thoroughly analyzed the potential market and have come up with discount ideas for certain items on your menu. To put it briefly, we believe that your organization will benefit the most, if the discounts consist of a dollar off of every coffee beverage and two dollars off of every dozen doughnuts purchased. However, there is one thing that this age group must remember about the discount. Just like Papa John’s, the student will only receive the discount, if his or her student ID is present at the time of purchase. Even though you may think that this idea will hurt your company’s profit margin, I can promise you it will not, simply because the amount of excess customers taking advantage of this opportunity will more than cover the loss from each discounted sale. With student discounts at Dunkin’ Donuts stores on college campuses across America, your organization will undoubtedly see a drastic increase in sales and customer satisfaction from the college market.

Slogan

In order to raise awareness about the new locations on college campuses and student discounts being offered, a crucial marketing strategy for Dunkin’ Donuts to use would be the creation and implementation of a slogan specifically targeting college students. Since your company’s current slogan, “America Runs on Dunkin,’” has been extremely successful in reaching working Americans ever since it was launched in 2006 (“Dunkin’ Brands: Corporate History”), we believe that it should continue to target that market. However, we have put together a completely separate slogan that will only focus on college students and their needs. If you want this market to recognize and remember your company, this slogan will do just that. The slogan that we have invented is “Affordable and Fast to Get Through Class.” Even though it may sound simplistic, it appeals to the two main aspects that college students are looking for in a restaurant. As previously stated, these students are all about finding convenient stores and saving as much money as they can. Moreover, the slogan would serve as a constant reminder that Dunkin’ Donuts is looking to help this audience save their money with the company’s “Affordable” products and that there are stores on college campuses, so visiting the store will be “Fast” and take almost no time. Not to mention, the slogan will persuade college students into purchasing a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in the morning, in order to stay alert and “Get through Class.” Since this slogan addresses the other two effective ways of reaching college students, as well as the needs of this age group, your company cannot go wrong with utilizing this marketing strategy.

WHY COLLEGE STUDENTS?

From the beginning, Dunkin’ Donuts has done a great job reaching middle class Americans on their way to work in the morning. This has been an important market over the years and there is no need to change targeting that market. The change needs to be in moving the main focus onto college students. There are many reasons why this market needs to be addressed by Dunkin’ Donuts. The ones that will be addressed in this report are that college students are easy to reach with advertisements, their growing love for coffee beverages, and their place as the future of our society.

Students Drink Coffee

College student today often try to balance many different things in their daily lives and they often do not have the energy to do it all. Where do they turn to get their boost? Coffee is becoming the main source for college students to get the energy to make it everyday. The amount of coffee being consumed by college students every year is growing. For example in 2002 only 25 percent of people aged 18 to 24 said they had drank coffee in a two-week period (Aubrey). That number has grown to 39 percent in 2012 (Aubrey). Students continue to lead busier lives and coffee will continue to be an easy way to make it through the day. Dunkin’ Donuts needs to take initiative and go after college students’ business because it is only going to help the company make money in the long run. If they can capitalize on college students ever growing consumption of coffee beverages, then Dunkin’ Donuts will only have success.

Easily Targeted

College students, being part of a generation that is connected to everything, have access to some of the most new technologies. Smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, and advanced computers are just some of them. All of these devices have one thing in common; they showcase information such as advertisements to the people using the device. Also many companies use social media, which is one major venue that college students are all over. It is close to impossible to find someone on a college campus who does not have a Facebook or Twitter account. Often students have both which keeps them connected with people all over the country.

Future

College students after graduation will make the transition into the workforce. One thing that will not change is those new employees need for energy in the morning. Most college students if you were to ask them where they would go to get their coffee would respond by saying Starbucks. This is a problem for Dunkin’ Donuts. As those students get older the brand they will be sticking with will most likely be Starbucks. That is because Starbucks targets college students and gains their business. Those students become loyal to Starbucks, which adversely hurts Dunkin’ Donuts. If Dunkin’ can start targeting college students and gaining their business, it will help create new loyalties for Dunkin’ Donuts.

While not all students will switch to Dunkin Donuts’, the market is too vital to pass up. The amount of college students has been growing every year. Based on information from the Institute of Education Sciences, from 2000 to 2010, there was a 12 percent increase in the number of people aged 18 to 24 up to 30.7 million from 27.3 million (“Fast Facts”). And more and more of people in that demographic are going to college. Comparisons between the percentage of 18- to 24- year olds in college in the years 2000 and 2010 are shown below in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Percentage of People Aged 18 to 24 Enrolled in College in 2000 and 2010

Source: Institute of Education Sciences

As shown in the chart, in 2000, 35 percent of people aged 18 to 24 were enrolled in college (“Fast Facts”). That number has grown in 2010 to 41 percent (“Fast Facts”). With more and more people going to college, that is even more possible revenue that Dunkin’ Donuts that can capitalize on and should not pass up on. This number is expected to grow as more and jobs in the workplace require a college degree. This puts pressure on young adults to further their education and enroll in the school past high school. As previously stated, as the number of people aged 18 to 24 and also those enrolled in college grows, possible revenue grows. Starbucks already has a large portion of this market, and their reputation will draw in part of this new revenue. Dunkin Donuts has to move fast to take advantage of the growing market.

SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE

While issues that Dunkin’ Donuts has is definitely fixable, there are a multiple ways to fix it. In researching different medias that Dunkin’ Donuts could use to target college students, we found some that seem like a great idea in theory but in our opinion would fail to achieve the result that we and down the line, Dunkin’ Donuts, would not be satisfied with. The two major solutions we explored that we felt would not fully work were a new television commercial and a magazine advertisement.

Television

To most people, television seems like a very logical place to launch a new campaign aimed towards college students. Over 97 percent of homes in the United States in the year 2012 had a least one television. That piece of data should by itself be enough proof to show that television is a great way to spread information. But there are other factors that reduce its projected success, at least for the college market.

While people of all ages watch television, the age demographic breakdown shows that as you age, you watch more television. According to Nielsen’s State of the Media in 2010, Americans aged 50 to 64 and 65 and older watched the most television per week (Nielsen). On the other hand Americans aged 12 to 17 and 18 to 24 watched the least per week (Nielsen). The market that Dunkin’ Donuts wants to target, the 18 to 24 age demographic, just does not watch enough television for Dunkin’ Donuts to pursue producing a new commercial for that demographic. On top of that, younger people are watching less television per week every year. From the last quarter of 2011 to the last quarter of 2012, weekly television viewing hours by both the 12 to 17, and 18 and 24 age demographics dropped (Nielsen). For the 18 to 24 age group, weekly viewing time dropped from around 25 and a half hours in Q4 2011 to 23 and a quarter hours in Q4 2012 (Nielsen). People in this group are often too busy to sit down and watch television. Large workloads from various classes and jobs on the side take of much of these people’s time and energy. Add on top of that the need to sleep; television just is not a priority. In addition, television commercials cost large amounts of money to produce, so Dunkin’ Donuts runs the risk of losing money from a commercial if the advertisement does not achieve its desired goal.
-Transition

Magazines

Another venue that we looked into and also felt would not get the result that Dunkin’ Donuts would be satisfied with is magazines. Magazines, while still a major player in the media market, have lost some of their luster. While online publications have helped stop the fall of magazine readership in American, there is still a definite drop in recent years. Media research company GfK MRI conducted a survey of the American consumer, and out of 190 magazines, there was a 1.7 decrease in total print readership in a six-month period in comparison with the previous six months (Bazilian). Again, while digital readership increased substantially at a 24 percent increased (Bazilian). But this statistic is misleading because digital magazines only managed to increase overall magazine readership by 1 percent. Overall, magazines have been down even with a move towards digital media. While there is positive sign that magazines will not be going away, the current market for magazines do not make them very viable for college students. College students are always on the go and cannot find the time to sit down and read a magazine. They are more likely to browse online news sources and websites on their smartphones and tablets. This leaves magazines as a solution, like television, that looks attractive in theory but will not get Dunkin’ Donuts to reach their goal of effectively drawing in the college market in the United States.

THE PROPOSAL

The effectiveness of the Dunkin’ Donuts new marketing campaign will depend on whether or not the right target audience is reached. Likewise, with a target audience of college students one must first determine the best way to reach as many students as possible. As stated previously, Starbucks is one step ahead of Dunkin’ Donuts when it comes to marketing to college students because of the many locations they have on college campuses. For example, just on the University of Kentucky campus alone, there are four Starbucks locations and zero Dunkin’ Donuts locations. As a result, Dunkin’ Donuts will need to utilize other forms of marketing in order to stay competitive. In other words, Dunkin’ Donuts needs to market their products and brand name through a means that many college students will see and hear about. For this simple reason, advertising on social media sites is the most logical way to reach these students. Particularly, our group is proposing to utilize the two most popular social media sites. These sites include; Facebook and Twitter. According to Craig Smith, a writer for Digital Marketing Ramblings, Facebook currently has 1.06 billion users and Twitter has 500 million users (Smith). Combining these two social media sites reach an astonishing amount of people.

It is common knowledge that there are very few college students that do not have a Facebook and/or Twitter. In a study conducted by Royal Pingdom, one can break down which age group is on the internet most often. With this being said, Figure 1, below, shows the percentages of people that use the internet the greatest amount of time, by age groups.

Figure 1. Online Demographics by Age in 2012.

Source: Social Network Demographics in 2012, Royal Pingdom RSS.

As one can see, the ages 18-34 years old make up 42% of the population that is using the internet. Actually, this is the range of ages that most college students are as well. For this reason one can conclude that college students are utilizing the internet most often, and will most likely be connected online through Facebook and Twitter. In fact, Facebook was originally created with the intent that college students would use it to connect to other students. Because of these facts, one can make the assumption that by creating a Facebook page and Twitter account, Dunkin’ Donuts will be able to reach a younger audience that contains college students. Consequently, this will increase traffic into the Dunkin’ Donut location around campus as well as spread the brand name.

However, Dunkin’ Donuts does have a Facebook page and a Twitter account currently. But these two social media sites contain information about the company in general. Alternatively, instead of a general Facebook page and Twitter account, Dunkin’ Donuts will be able to increase sales if a specific Facebook and Twitter account would be created and maintained by a specific university. College specific social media sites can be described as, a Facebook page and Twitter account that specifically markets to the students at a specific university. For example, potentially a Facebook page and Twitter account could be created for University of Kentucky students’ about the Dunkin’ Donuts that is located on Broadway Rd and possibly a new Dunkin’ Donuts location on campus. In order to maintain and update these two sites a campus representative could be hired. Additionally by hiring a representative, this will allow both the Facebook and Twitter accounts to stay current with information that the students of the specific university care about and are interested in. Because there are many different universities across the United States, Dunkin’ Donuts will be able to become more personal by putting forth the extra time and money in order to build a relationship with every campus across the United States.

For example, we will analyze what the Facebook and Twitter accounts would look like for the University of Kentucky. Each university that a Dunkin’ Donuts is located at will be able to create a page similar to the one described, containing specific information pertaining to that school. On the Facebook page one would be able to find photos of the Dunkin’ Donuts on campus as well as some photos of specialty drinks and donuts. Also, posting pictures of local celebrities, such as the incoming UK basketball team or other UK athletes eating at Dunkin’ Donuts, will make this facebook page relatable to the University of Kentucky campus. Also, contests could run weekly with gift cards as prizes. These contests as well as prizes and prize winners can be advertised on the Facebook page. For example, one contest could potentially be, giving a gift card to someone who has “liked” the page. As a result, this will increase traffic into the store as well as spread the Dunkin’ Donut brand name. Furthermore, we will be able to link this Facebook page with a Twitter account.

Using today’s technology it is possible to link social media sites together. For example, when a status or photo is posted on the Facebook page it will also show up on the Twitter account and vice versa. With this in mind, tweets can be made daily about upcoming events, contests, and student discounts on the Twitter feed. The university representative will be able to tweet about campus events and information. Dunkin’ Donuts will be able to gain followers as well as follow other students that attend the university. Thus, students will be able to gain information about Dunkin’ Donuts at any point throughout the day. Because Twitter is instant, the information being shared by Dunkin’ Donuts will also be instant and up to date. Due to the fact that, Twitter is gaining users every day and seems to be the new Facebook, we believe that having both a Twitter and Facebook will allow Dunkin’ Donuts to remain current with the college audience.

While utilizing these two social media sites, Dunkin’ Donuts will be able to market specifically to University of Kentucky students and other students across the United States. Because social media sites are essentially free to use this new marketing strategy will be very inexpensive for Dunkin’ Donuts. Hence, the campus representatives’ wage would be the only increase in expense. In conclusion, by creating a Facebook page and Twitter account, Dunkin’ Donuts will be able to increase marketing to college students and thus increase sales revenue overall.

CONCLUSION

Dunkin’ Donuts currently has a strong advertising campaign focusing mainly on the working class. However, there is substantial room for this company to expand and have a larger consumer base. As stated previously, our group has chosen college students as our target market because they are the future and thus the future of this company. College students will grow up being attached to whatever coffee company is easy on their pocket and in an easy to reach to location. As stated previously, once college students’ graduate, they will transition into Dunkin’ Donuts dominant target market, the working class. To decide on an appropriate method of advertisement we looked at many different factors: cost, reach, effectiveness to name a few. We also took into consideration the amount of time a college student has concerning that they are in school. We feel that by looking at these factors, we have come up with the most effective solution which is a Facebook and Twitter page that is university specific.

Having university specific Facebook and Twitter accounts allows the target to be reached on a more personal level. We feel that by offering student discounts and holding special events that Dunkin’ Donuts will be able to dominate the college coffee industry. Additionally, hiring campus representatives will make this a fairly inexpensive and simple advertising strategy for the company. Adopting our proposed marketing strategy would be a great opportunity for Dunkin’ Donuts to get into the college market and create new, loyal consumers that they would not have been able to otherwise.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"About Us." History. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. http://dunkinbrands.com/aboutus/history.html.

"Are Young People Watching Less TV? (Updated)." MarketingCharts. Watershed Publishing, 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/television/are-young-people-watching-less-tv-24817/.

Aubrey, Allison. "Young Adults Swapping Soda For The Super Buzz Of Coffee." NPR. NPR, 14 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/01/14/169161207/young-adults-swapping-soda- for-the-super-buzz-of-coffee>.

Bazilian, Emma. "MRI: Magazine Digital Readership Tiny but Growing." AdWeek. AdWeek, 30 May 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/mri-magazine-digital-readership-tiny-growing-140837>.

"Brand Transformation: Dunkin' Donuts." Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications Marketing Coach. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2013. http://www.ivycohen.com/MarketingCoach/BrandTransformationDunkinDonuts.html.

Crimmins, Mike. "Coffee in College." Daily Shot Of Coffee. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2013. http://dailyshotofcoffee.com/coffee-in-college/.

"Fast Facts." Fast Facts. Institute of Education Sciences, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.

Goldschein, Eric. "The Global Coffee Industry." Business Insider. N.p., 14 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

O'Farrell, Renee. "Who Is Starbucks' Target Audience?" Small Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/starbucks-target-audience-10553.html.

"Report: Social Network Demographics in 2012." Royal Pingdom RSS. N.p., 21 Aug. 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. http://royal.pingdom.com/2012/08/21/report-social-network-demographics-in-2012/.

Smith, Craig. "Top Social Media." Digital Marketing Ramblings. N.p., 03 Apr. 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2013. http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/.

"State of the Media, Trends in TV Viewing-2011 TV Upfronts." Nielsen.com. The Nielsen Company, 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/newswire/uploads/2011/04/State-of-the-Media-2011-TV-Upfronts.pdf.