This is some of the best news I’ve seen in a while. Love that Dunkin is getting on the technology bandwagon with an iphone app.
DUNKIN’ DONUTS UNVEILS “DUNKIN’ RUN(tm)” TECHNOLOGY
TO MAKE GROUP ORDERS FASTER, EASIER AND MORE FUNUnprecedented new web tools and iPhone app
create a unique social online group ordering experience for Dunkin’ Donuts customersCANTON, MA (June 22, 2009) — America still runs on Dunkin’, but today everything changes for anyone responsible for getting Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and baked goods to keep friends or colleagues running. Dunkin’ Donuts, America’s all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods, today unveiled “Dunkin’ Run(tm),” an innovative interactive web site and iPhone application that will enable customers to solicit and place Dunkin’ Donuts group orders in just a few clicks with unprecedented ease, speed, accuracy and fun.
Dunkin’ Run brings customers a completely new and unique social online group ordering experience and tools. To begin, “Runners” can initiate a group order on www.DunkinRun.com through their computer or mobile device, or via an iPhone application available for free download at the iTunes online store. Immediately, interactive alerts are sent to the Runner’s list of friends or co-workers, telling them when a trip to Dunkin’ Donuts is planned along with a personal message inviting them to place an order online. Invitees can view the Dunkin’ Donuts menu to place their order, and registered users can select from their own personal list of favorites and/or previous orders. All Dunkin’ Donuts core foods and beverages are presented using interactive product images to make personalizing an order both simple and fun.
All of the orders are integrated onto a single page/screen which the Runner either prints or uses their iPhone or mobile device to bring to any Dunkin’ Donuts store. Dunkin’ Donuts crew members will use this checklist to fulfill orders quickly and ensure order accuracy. The Runner can also use this page as a checklist to ensure that everyone in the group gets what he or she ordered.
According to Dunkin’ Donuts’ Brand Marketing Officer, Frances Allen, Dunkin’ Run is a powerful example of the company’s commitment to bring value to people in new and innovative ways. “People love Dunkin’ Donuts because more than any other brand, we’re all about offering high-quality, easy-to-order products and getting our customers on their way and back into their busy lives as quickly as possible,” she said. “Dunkin’ Run extends that same spirit and commitment to the office, the dorm or any group, leveraging fun and exciting online and mobile tools to make it even faster and easier to keep yourself and others running with a great cup of coffee or a breakfast sandwich any time of day.”
Dunkin’ Run was a joint collaboration between Dunkin’ Donuts and its advertising and digital agencies of record, Hill Holliday and Studiocom, respectively.
“We conceived of Dunkin’ Run as a social application that helps hard-working Americans stay slightly more productive,” said Baba Shetty, Hill Holliday’s Chief Media Officer. “It’s based on the idea of reciprocity – I’ll get your coffee today and hopefully you’ll get mine tomorrow – in a way that perfectly complements the ‘we’re in it together’ ethos of the Dunkin’ Donuts brand.”
“Dunkin’ Donuts has always been an innovator, so developing new ways to socially engage with consumers via the mobile web and the iPhone application is an extension of that tradition,” said Thomas Spicer, Managing Director of Studiocom. “We created a platform that simplifies and expands upon existing consumer behaviors, making it easier and more convenient for groups to interact and order, whether they are at home, work or on the go.”
As the festival’s ‘Official Worldwide Internet Radio Station,’ mvyradio will kick off the weekend’s broadcasts by carrying the Ronan Tynan / Cherish the Ladies performance live from Newport’s International Tennis Hall of Fame, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. Both the Ronan Tynan and Cherish the Ladies performances will be available for free via a special channel mvyradio has set up for its worldwide audience. Anyone can access that channel through their computer’s web browser by going to www.mvyradio.com/newportfriday.
Read the full article: Dunkin’ Donuts Newport Folk Festival to be Broadcast to Worldwide … – Top40-Charts.com
This morning as I was reading through the latest Inc. I read an interesting article titled The Future of Advertsing is Here by David H. Freedman. David writes a column for Inc. on what’s coming next in the world of marketing and technology, and given my personal bend towards these subjects, I found this article most interesting.
According to David, Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s have begun using cell phones as a medium for connecting with their customers. They are encouraging people periodically to come in purchase from them at a discount. One can assume that based upon their advertising technique they have gaterhed some significant customer data about these individuals and they are not just sending random text messages to any and every phone number (although that is possible).
Mobile phone ads are already big in some parts of Europe and Asia, and it’s just starting to take hold here. McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts are among the companies that have beamed coupons to US cell phones, eliciting coupon-redemption rates as high as 17%. “Mobile-phone marketing today is where Internet marketing was in 1996 – it’s about to take off,” says Michael Baker, president of Boston-based mobile-marketing firm Enpocket, which ran the Dunkin’ Donuts campaign. “There are already more mobile phones in use worldwide than televisions and computers put together.”
It’s interesting to see Dunkin’ Donuts take this step forward with technology alongside the worlds best run fast food chain – McDonalds. By association they are raising their image, and by testing it in the Boston market, they are going about it in the right place.
It will be interesting to see what results this new advertising medium will produce for Dunkin’ Donuts and if they are good results what companies will jump on the bandwagon.
The question I walk away asking myself is two part:
- Would I want Dunkin’ Donuts to send me text messages which are essentially coupons?
- And if I would want that, would I be more likely to act on it and choose them over their competitor?
If you have any insight here, I’d love to read it.
Dunkin’ Donuts has introduced rechargeable Dunkin’ Donuts Cards, available at participating regional locations and online at Dunkindonuts.com.
The rollout will be supported by ads breaking this week, via Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Boston. Dunkin’ Donuts last month launched a $25 million campaign tagged “Bring yourself back.” [Adweek, Oct. 11]. The Randolph, Mass.-based division of Allied Domecq spends about $60 million annually on ads.
The Dunkin’ Donuts Card is currently accepted at participating Dunkin’ shops in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The card is available in denominations ranging from $5 to $100 and can be recharged at Dunkin’ Donuts shops or online.
“Dunkin’ Donuts recognizes that today’s consumer is looking for cashless alternatives for almost every purchase, no matter how small,” John Gilbert, Dunkin’ Donuts vp-marketing, said in a statement. “By offering the Dunkin’ Donuts Card and credit cards as payment options, we are providing our customers greater convenience and flexibility while building customer loyalty.”
Five Honolulu-area Dunkin Donuts locations are being equipped with broadband wireless Internet service by ShakaNet. Installation is complete in the Kapahulu location and plans are to install Wi-Fi-based hot-spots and kiosks in the Kapolei, Pearl City, Kailua and Kane’ohe stores.
The fee will range from $6.95 for one-day access to $19.95 for an ongoing monthly plan, which also allows access at 22 other ShakaNet-served locations, including the Honolulu International Airport, Pearl Harborr and several Waik?ɬØk?É¬Ø hotels.
If you’re looking for free wi-fi in Hawaii then check out HawaiiFreeFi.com.
Voice-based warehouse “picking” systems are doing their part to help spur the use of wireless LANs.
Such systems learn the sound of a worker’s voice through speech recognition, then instruct that worker – who wears a portable computer and wireless headset – as to which items to pick from the warehouse inventory and where to deposit them for shipment.
A highly accurate voice-based picking system can greatly speed warehouse productivity, compared with workers having to print and consult paper instructions. Some workers – like those in the Dunkin’ Donuts Swedesboro, N.J., warehouse – drive carts or other small vehicles. So hands-free voice systems can also contribute to safety in picking operations.
Specifically, Dunkin’ Donuts has been piloting Airespace wireless to support the Voxware VoiceLogistics picking system. The renowned pink-and-orange striped donut chain plans to soon go commercial with its six Airespace multimode 802.11a/b/g lightweight access points and an Airespace 4000 WLAN switch, which it uses to segregate its traffic for performance.
It runs Voxware traffic on the 802.11b 2.4 GHz frequencies, data on the 802.11a 5 GHz frequencies and, for now, has disabled 802.11g to avoid interference with 802.11b traffic, says Boris Shubin, director of IT in the Dunkin’ Donuts Swedesboro site.
He notes that 802.11b (11M bit/sec) is used in lieu of the faster 802.11g (54M bit/sec) radios only because Voxware doesn’t yet work with the higher-speed network.
Shubin says the Airespace switch dictates prioritization for voice traffic according to the frequency band, so all traffic from the “Voxware WLAN” (802.11b) is prioritized highest, while the “data WLAN” (802.11a) has lowest priority.
Adreact, leading mobile marketing and advertising solutions provider, and MobileWay, world leading service provider managing mobile data transactions across the globe, revealed today their co-operation on the successful interactive SMS-based marketing campaign for the World?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s leading coffee, bagel and donut chain ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú Dunkin Donuts.
Donut lovers in Italy can feast upon their favourite Dunkin Donuts goods simply by responding using their mobile handset to advertisements plastered across in store notice boards, billboards and on the radio. By sending a short message to the published numbers, users receive an immediate reply featuring a free gift coupon or special offer exchangeable at local Dunkin Donuts outlets.
In this campaign, Adreact, specialists in maximizing the interactions between brands and consumers using in-obtrusive cross media solutions, has leveraged the power of SMS marketing with its potential to reach more than 500 million mobile phone users globally. This campaign for Dunkin Donuts in Italy is an excellent example of the power of SMS-based marketing, within the first three weeks of the campaign Dunkin Donuts?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ sales rose by 9% in Italy. Working via 2-way interactive SMS messaging, MobileWay?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s unrivalled network of direct connections to 88 operators across the globe is vital to the success of such projects.
David Kelly, Vice President Marketing of Adreact commented, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìBy enticing consumers to request special offers, Dunkin Donuts ensures that they achieve a great consumer push without running the risk of breaking down the client relationship by contributing to the wealth of ?¢‚ǨÀúspam?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ which people receive via email or through their letterboxes day in and day out. Working with MobileWay on projects such as this allows us to tap into a vast market of mobile phone users in an environment dogged by the lack of standardization and interconnections.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù
Cyrille Even, General Manager and Vice President for MobileWay Asia Pacific, explained, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìHaving established bilateral commercial contracts with 88 operators around the globe, we, at MobileWay stand out in our ability to offer a single point of access to an otherwise complicated network impeded by technical and business barriers. Achieving technical efficacy in the mobile advertising sphere is one thing, but ensuring that the power of the SMS medium is put to good use in an ethical way and one which doesn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t encroach upon users?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ privacy is something which is key to the success of campaigns such as this one with Dunkin Donuts. Adreact?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s specialism in designing powerful campaigns that respect the climate of trust is essential to the future of mobile marketing and one, which we benefit from enormously by partnering in such projects.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù
With more than 6 million Dunkin Donuts consumed across the World each day, this campaign, which has proved successful in Rome over the past 2.5 months, represents a new and exciting promotional tool for the global chain.
?¢‚Ǩ?ìDunkin Donuts is successfully reaching its target audience of young people on the move and setting ourselves apart from the competition thanks to Adreact?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s mobile marketing platform,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù explained GianLuigi Contin, President of Sweet & Co., Franchisee of Dunkin Donuts in Italy and Germany. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìThe SMS marketing solution has been a positive brand building experience as we are directly reaching our targets with a message they can understand. Cellular coupons are not cute promotions, rather they are serious marketing tools that not only extend the brand but are also directed towards the people we want to reach.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù
-ends-
About MobileWay
Mobileway provides a world leading service to manage mobile data transactions across the globe. With an unique network of 88 mobile carriers reaching 90% of mobile users throughout the World, MobileWay guarantees cost effective, secure deployment of mobile business applications to professional and personal mobile data users.
By expanding the reach of services such as instant messaging, infotainment, mobile advertising, direct marketing and m-commerce applications, MobileWay increases the value of mobile data for content providers, operators and corporations alike.
A North American company, MobileWay has offices located throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.mobileway.com.
For more information contact:
MobileWay Asia Pacific
Betty Lim
Marketing Communications Manager, Asia Pacific
Tel: (65) 836 4430
Fax: (65) 836 4450
Email: e-mail protected from spam bots
EASTWEST Public Relations
Derrick Koh/ Jann Yip
Tel: (65) 238 3448/ 238 3449
Fax: (65) 222 0124
Mobile: (65) 9691 0292/ 96512844
Email: e-mail protected from spam bots/ e-mail protected from spam bots
About Adreact
Adreact specialises in permission-based SMS campaigns, presenting advertisers with a full and comprehensive offer that aims at creating continuous relationships with consumers.
Adreact?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s interactive mobile marketing solution provides advertisers with pull and permission push SMS capabilities, a full content mix, IVR and HTTP compatibility, reverse billing and premium rates and to wrap up – Data capture and management.
Adreact is a privately held company, based in the UK with an R&D arm in Israel.
Adreact is part of the Sixeye media technologies group offering expertise across three sectors: digital ink, flexible media and cellular media with 60 employees worldwide, providing the full team backing of the company?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s extensive marketing and media, technical, content writing and design experience.
Mmmm?¢‚Ǩ¬¶ donuts
Finally, someone has come up with a worthwhile wireless application. AdreAct ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù an Israeli company registered in the U.K. ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù has teamed with Dunkin’ Donuts to promote the pastry brand in a way that takes advantage of two European traits: a love of short message service and the desire to get free stuff.
Beginning in Italy, where the American brand has the same name recognition that Nutello has in the U.S., AdreAct is putting up billboards offering wireless users free coffee for sending a message with the word ?¢‚Ǩ?ìdonut?¢‚Ǩ¬ù in the text to specific phone numbers. A return message acts as an electronic coupon.
The program doesn’t provide a cut of the transaction to carriers but does increase SMS traffic, which is generally paid for on a per-usage basis. The companies also are offering drawings for a Piaggio scooter to those that buy a donut with their free coffee and fill out a three-question survey.
Another option lets users provide some demographic information in exchange for a Dunkin’ Donuts donation to a local charity.
A recent survey by Cahners In-Stat Group found that 64% of users do not warmly embrace the concept of mobile advertising but would view mobile consumer brands better if they had some benefit, such as special offers or discounts. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìIt’s very important to remember that you’ll never get [the free coffee coupon] unless you ask for it,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù said Ruth Poliakine, project manager for AdreAct. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìYou have to want to participate.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù
Donuts?¢‚Ǩ¬¶ is there anything they can’t do?
Voice-based warehouse “picking” systems are doing their part to help spur the use of wireless LANs.
Such systems learn the sound of a worker’s voice through speech recognition, then instruct that worker – who wears a portable computer and wireless headset – as to which items to pick from the warehouse inventory and where to deposit them for shipment.
Advertisement:
A highly accurate voice-based picking system can greatly speed warehouse productivity, compared with workers having to print and consult paper instructions. Some workers – like those in the Dunkin’ Donuts Swedesboro, N.J., warehouse – drive carts or other small vehicles. So hands-free voice systems can also contribute to safety in picking operations.
Specifically, Dunkin’ Donuts has been piloting Airespace wireless to support the Voxware VoiceLogistics picking system. The renowned pink-and-orange striped donut chain plans to soon go commercial with its six Airespace multimode 802.11a/b/g lightweight access points and an Airespace 4000 WLAN switch, which it uses to segregate its traffic for performance.