CANTON, Mass. — For the third year in a row, Dunkin' Donuts has ranked No. 1 in customer loyalty in the coffee category by the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, the company has announced. According to the national survey conducted by research consultancy Brand Keys Inc., Dunkin' Donuts was the leading brand for consistently meeting or exceeding customer expectations.
The Brand Keys recognition follows the recent launch of Dunkin' Donuts' "You Kin' Do It" advertising and marketing campaign, for which the company has implemented several programs, including:
- Offering a free Dunkin' Donuts donut to customers in all of the company's Phoenix-area stores to help Arizona football fans get over their championship loss.
- Offering a free cup of coffee every Wednesday in February to Tampa Bay customers.
- Distributing tens of thousands of free subway tokens to commuters in Boston and New York as well as paying for parking in select areas of Buffalo, N.Y.
Value is key
Brand Keys found that for all 444 brands in 63 categories tracked in the index, overall "value perception" has become more important for driving consumer engagement and loyalty.
"This year's findings indicate that shopper-consciousness has shifted from a personal responsibility to ferret out the deals, to a brand responsibility to provide them," said Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys founder and president.
"The CLEI data predicts a shift in the consumer engagement marketplace," Passikoff said. "This shift is, in a converse sort of way, a move away from price to the expectation of value."
For this year's survey, 26,000 consumers ages 18 to 65 were drawn from the nine U.S. Census Regions and self-selected the categories in which they are consumers and the brands for which they are customers. They were interviewed by phone and face-to-face.
Other quick-service restaurant brands that received high loyalty and engagement assessments this year include, by category:
Coffee
- McDonald's
- Starbucks
- Krispy Kreme
Quick-Serve Restaurant
- McDonald's
- Subway
- Quiznos
- Burger King
- KFC/Wendy's (tie)
- Hardee's
- Jack in the Box/Taco Bell (tie)
