Working on our final project, “Big Ideas” are on the forefront of our perspective. While trying to find that “something spectacular” to win the battle of the brand for our section, I’ve had a tendency to look at the world around us for inspiration. One such example that I came across is Dunkin’ Donuts attempt to compete with the coffee mega-giant Starbucks by recently contemplating changing their name to simply Dunkin’ by testing the new name in certain markets. The test that will run throughout the year will start at a Pasadena location and is meant to showcase the company’s beverage services rather than its round pastries they are infamous for. But will this “Big Idea” be enough to save the company’s struggles?
Dunkin’ Donuts has seen a 1.5% sales growth since 2014 compared to Starbucks’ 5-7%. While it tried to get on the coffee bandwagon with its slogan “America runs on Dunkin” in 2006, that was years earlier from Starbucks dropping the “Coffee” from its name in 2011, showing that Starbucks encompassed more than just coffee. Would this “Big Idea” have worked better by dropping the doughnuts a decade ago? We may never know. However, there have been many cases where businesses have changed their name and have generated more success. Some of these may surprise you:
Research In Motion to Blackberry – 2013
Apple Computer to Apple – 2007
Backrub to Google – 1997
Datsun to Nissan – 1981
Will changing the name of your company bring you more success? There may be more than a name change that provides the consumer a reason to buy your product and revitalize your brand. Time will tell if this strategy will result in higher profits for Dunkin’ Donuts. Maybe they should bring back the slogan, slightly adjusted…”Time to make the coffee.”
Fairchild, C. 2013. The worst (and best) company name changes. Retrieved from: http://fortune.com/2013/12/06/the-worst-and-best-company-name-changes/
Malone, C. 2017. Dunkin’ Donuts’s Name Change Is a Good Idea—If It Were 2006. Retrieved from: http://fortune.com/2017/08/07/dunkin-donuts-name-change-new-changing-rebrand-coffee/
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