Page 70 - Entrepreneur - USA (January - February 2020)
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THE FRANCHISE
upswing. The brand’s famous they become regulars.” Generation store, he now runs What’s most interesting
1980s “Time to make the Experiences like seven Dunkin’ locations with about Dunkin’ isn’t the degree
doughnuts” ad campaign, fea- Baumgartner’s are largely the new branding. to which it’s changed. It’s the
turing a fictional Fred the responsible for Dunkin’s deci- degree to which it’s main-
Baker, was a national hit. Allied sion to drop Donuts from its TODAY DUNKIN’ says it’s growing tained its core values. “Change
Domecq’s restaurant business name. Coffee has long been on the strength of its franchi- is hard, but not changing is
would become Dunkin’ Brands the company’s big sales driver, sees. Through peer-elected harder,” says Benson. Consider
Group and start working and focusing on the winning advisory councils, they meet the fact that Dunkin’ still offers
toward a second IPO. product has proven success- regularly with corporate leaders the original coffee blend it first
So that’s what Baumgartner ful. In 2018 Dunkin’ invested at the local, regional, and brewed seven decades ago.
was walking into when he $100 million to reinvigorate national level. That’s where the The iconic Dunkin’ font is the
opened his Chattanooga loca- and expand its espresso plat- good ideas are born, says same as it was in the 1970s,
tion in 2009, confusing locals form and install the new iced- Benson. And the meetings and the “America runs on
with all those doughnuts. beverage tap systems. In Q1 prove critical to mobilizing the Dunkin’” slogan has been
Then Dunkin’ really started 2019, the upgrades culminated large network in support of big in play for 14 years. When
making moves. In 2009, it with 5.5 percent system-wide brand initiatives. Dunkin’ decided to phase out
brought in former Blockbuster sales growth and the company’s In return, franchisees ben- its environmentally unfriendly
and Papa John’s leader Nigel largest quarterly same-store efit from nearly universal foam cups, it undertook 10
Travis as CEO—and for the sales increase in four years. brand recognition, powerhouse years—10 years!—of weekly
next nine years, he’d grow Opinions about the name marketing support, and flex- meetings, testing, and focus
company revenue by 60 per- change weren’t all positive. As ible build-out options. In the groups to settle on a more sus-
cent and add 6,000 stores. He one Wall Street Journal head- spirit of Rosenberg’s dough- tainable paper alternative.
also took the company public line lamented, “Dunkin’ Fans nut truck, Dunkin’ stores today The trick the company has
again, in 2011. Then in 2018, Say Losing the ‘Donut’ Leaves can be located inside gas sta- pulled off is to be at once old
former McDonald’s executive a Hole.” But it certainly got a tions, airports, hospitals, and and new, to give its custom-
David Hoffmann took over as lot of attention, and signaled supermarkets. In addition to ers something fresh without
CEO and quickly announced a its bigger ambitions. “There the strip-mall and stand-alone betraying its founding princi-
three-year strategic plan called were millions and millions of stores (with and without drive- ples or significantly upending
Blueprint for Growth. It laid impressions [on social media],” throughs), you can find Dunkin’ the daily ritual that brings them
out an aggressive pledge to add says Benson, the Dunkin’ senior inside Walmarts, and some still through the door.
more than 200 new U.S. loca- VP. “In every possible venue cohabitate with sibling brand “We’re talking about coffee
tions annually through 2021. and media outlet, there was an Baskin-Robbins. and doughnuts,” says Benson.
Long-term, it plans to grow opinion being bantered around “How many opportuni- “These are the highlights in
to 18,000 stores—mostly out- about it.” ties are there where you can people’s busy days. So we’re
side the Northeast, where the But sales spoke louder than get involved in a 70-year-old being very true to that legacy,
brand has long dominated. anything else. Espresso became brand that has 10,000 stores retaining all the goodness and
The company soon upgraded Dunkin’s fastest-growing prod- in the United States and richness that’s been earned one
its app, called DD Perks, to uct category, and the company more space to develop?” says cup of coffee or one doughnut
allow its 12 million subscrib- credits it for a year of growth Baumgartner. “And they’re at a time.”
ers to order ahead. It also pre- that, through Q3, saw 135 stores going to give you the support
sented a vision for what it called open and same-store sales grow and the field staff to help you Maggie Ginsberg is a writer
a Next Generation redesign, by an average of 1.9 percent. be successful.” based in Madison, Wisc.
which would give stores a mod- Baumgartner now owns
ern look, a cold-beverage bar, and operates 41 stores in
and quick-grab deli cases for Tennessee, Georgia, and
on-the-go customers. Alabama, with plans to dou- The trick the company
Through all this, franchi- ble his footprint by the end → has pulled off is to be at
sees like Baumgartner saw of 2023. Custom spins on the
their customers change. People Dunkin’ slogan—Knoxville once old and new, to
once thought he ran a dough- runs on Dunkin’, Birmingham give its customers something
nut shop but started to see it as runs on Dunkin’, and so on—
their morning coffee destina- have helped secure local fol- fresh without significantly
tion. “Now it’s almost flipped. lowings in every new market. upending the daily ritual that
All you have to do is get [the After building the compa-
coffee] in people’s hands, and ny’s first freestanding Next brings them through the door.
68 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / January-February 2020
