inquisity

I’ve been observing for the past few years how different companies choose to label products and promotions “Christmas” or “Holiday.” Here are two observations about Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks.

Dunkin Donuts’ slogan is “American Runs on Dunkin.” While up in New Hampshire last week, I noticed an interesting holiday twist on their slogan:


Normally, the picture on the left is an outline of the continental United States. Here, however, the marketing folks decided America was best represented by a Christmas Tree. I wonder if it’s the same in all markets.

Also popular this time of year is Starbucks’ seasonal varieties of coffee. According to a catalog I saw at a local Starbucks, there are three holiday varieties: regular Christmas, decaf Christmas, and Holiday Blend. At more than 5 stores I have yet to see this “Holiday Blend” available for sale, either by the bean or the cup. Even on their website they seem to advertise it; here’s an advertisement for the holiday blends (it’s the blue package on the left):

but when you click on the link, the Holiday Blend is nowhere to be found:

I was only able to find the Holiday Blend after using Google. As of today it says the Holiday Blend is sold out, so perhaps that’s why it doesn’t come up on their website, or isn’t at any of their stores I’ve been to.

Check out this ad for identity theft protection from LifeLock:

The CEO, Todd David, has posted his SSN for the world to see (and yes, the fine print says it truly is his social). There are tons of commercials nowadays about the prevalence of identity theft and the need to protect yourself.

So from the consumers’ perspective, which builds more confidence in your service: some commercial about identity theft solutions, or your CEO putting his personal livelihood on the line to show utmost confidence in your service. I would at a minimum seriously consider the latter.

Dunkin Donuts’ slogan is “America Runs on Dunkin.” This is a new direction for the company taken back in 2006. Here’s an excerpt from the press release:

“The new Dunkin’ Donuts brand essence is about invigorating the hard-working people that keep America running day-to-day,” said Gilbert. “Dunkin’ Donuts as a brand appeals to a broad spectrum of customers demographically and is associated with high-quality products for a good value, a strong work ethic, and a grounded sense of our own identity. Because these are concepts that are also central to the American value system, we believe our customers will strongly identify with this campaign.”

Ok using American values is a bit cliche, but I think the slogan fits. According to its website, Dunkin Donuts “is the number one retailer of hot regular coffee-by-the-cup in America, selling 2.7 million cups a day, nearly one billion cups a year”. And let’s be serious – what more American of a way to keep yourself alert through the day than coffee and donuts.

Their strategy seems to target the more working class man as well as people who don’t like the strong, burnt flavor of Starbucks coffee. This seems smart to me since 1) Starbucks is very expensive (though I have to admit I end up there often), and 2) many of my friends like a less strong type of coffee.

At the moment, I don’t see Dunkin having the ubiquity that Starbucks has. This could be intentional, however, because the D.C. area has higher income individuals who may just prefer Starbucks.

After about a year of reading blogs, I’ve decided to start my own. I came up with the word “inquisity” as an attempt at describing my nature: always trying to understand, always trying to explain, always thinking.

And so it begins. Welcome to Inquisity.