In online marketing, there are some brand names you hear time and time again: Innovators who can simultaneously rock social media marketing, traditional advertising and digital engagement. Over the last two years, Dunkin Donuts has truly emerged as one of those names, and this spring the company launched two newsworthy social media campaigns.
2012 saw a ton of brands get in on last week’s Saint Patrick’s Day action with all sorts of Twitter- and Facebook-based campaigns. Fast food chains in particular were quick to push their green-colored products in hopes that the luck of the Irish would translate to a bump in seasonal sales. Dunkin Donuts launched the hashtag #GooDDLuck to promote its GooDD Luck Twitter Sweepstakes. The clever contest called upon DD’s 134,000+ Twitter followers to tweet what items or rituals bring them good luck (followed by the #GoDDLuck hashtag). Dunkin social media wizards then picked 7 lucky winners to get $50 gift cards. That’s a lot of green donuts! The campaign boasted a lot of responses and even picked up some headlines along the way.
On the Facebook front, DD is one of the many companies capitalizing on March Madness. The Dunk Zone is Dunkin’s Facebook hub for all things basketball. As one of the lead sponsors of NCAA Basketball, Dunkin has partnered with CBS to offer Facebook fans inside info on all the latest games, scores and stories coming from March Madness. While basketball and the company’s new Angus Steak & Egg Sandwich might seem like a brand disconnect, DD has a long history with the sport — even recently calling upon superstar LeBron James to promote the company in Asia. Dunkin has all kinds of other action happening on its Facebook page, as well, and clearly people are responding. As of this writing, Dunkin Donuts has 6 million-plus Facebook Likes.
So what can indie companies learn from a donut digital dominator like Dunkin? First off, seasonal social media campaigns like Dunkin’s are the kind of things anybody can do and are a great internal motivator to plan ahead. Also, Dunkin excels at coming up with interactive conversational campaigns on Twitter and Facebook. Again, all of us could and should do that. Lastly, Dunkin Donuts is a great example of a brand that’s simply well-liked. Donuts are not supposed to be serious or make people think, so Dunkin appropriately speaks the language their customers want to hear.
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