Dunkin' Donuts' primary marketing slogan is that "America Runs on Dunkin'." But in 2008, the chain found that consumers weren't necessarily running on doughnuts.
Despite being the top doughnut seller in the country, Dunkin's doughnut sales were down -- even with a product awareness rate that is greater than 90 percent.
"We are the category leader, and we weren't doing much marketing," said Cynthia Ashworth, Dunkin's VP of consumer engagement. "We had to rekindle America's doughnut love."
This led to Dunkin's "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" campaign, a unique interactive promotion that let consumers design their dream doughnuts online, with the possibility of their confectionary concoction being sold in stores nationwide.
Launched in conjunction with digital agency Studiocom, the interactive campaign was designed to reawaken consumer interest in the doughnut and appeal to the deep emotions associated with them.
To start rekindling the love, Dunkin' went straight to the source -- the doughnut eaters themselves.
"What were we going to say to get consumers back into doughnuts?" asked Ashworth, speaking at the iMedia Brand Summit in Coronado, Calif. "We talked to lapsed doughnut consumers to see what was going to get them interested in doughnuts again."
Those conversations with consumers yielded two interesting tidbits of information: Consumers were looking for more variety, and they also had a sense of nostalgia when it came to the breakfast treat.
"Everyone has a great doughnut memory, whether it's getting them after church with your family, or maybe getting them with your grandparents," Ashworth said.
Dunkin's campaign started by appealing to those two consumer traits. TV, out-of-home, and in-store advertising played up the variety with colorful photographs, but the centerpiece for consumer interaction was the "Create Dunkin's Next Donut" campaign.
Studiocom designed a rich-media doughnut configurator website, which let consumers select the doughnut style, topping, filling, and sprinkles.
Ashworth touted Studiocom's great work in pulling together the website, which also featured tools to post a doughnut on Facebook, send it to a friend, and participate in online offers.
At the heart of the doughnut-making contest was the nostalgia factor. The campaign offered $12,000 and the chance for the doughnut to be sold in stores across the country, but with every entry, Dunkin' also asked for the story behind each doughnut.
And nearly everyone had a story to tell. Some consumers combined wacky flavors like bananas and peanut butter in homage to their idol, Elvis. Others made blueberry doughnuts after fond memories of blueberry picking with their grandmothers.
The response exceeded Dunkin's wildest expectations, according to Ashworth.
Consumers spent an average of nine minutes on the website building and sharing their doughnuts -- triple the average time per visit on DunkinDonuts.com. Ashworth originally expected somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000 contest entries, but the promotion brought in 129,000 entries.
In fact, Dunkin' pulled an online banner campaign promoting the website after three days because the campaign had taken on a life of its own through word of mouth and social media impressions.
The winning doughnut -- Toffee for your Coffee -- was announced on June 1, which happened to be National Doughnut Day. And the campaign did exactly what it set out to do -- reinvigorated America's love of doughnuts.
"The sales volume was huge, and all of our doughnut metrics during this period were through the roof," Ashworth said. "America's in love with doughnuts again."
Rich Cherecwich is associate editor of iMedia Connection.