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Dunkin’ Donuts use of push notifications guarantees offer visibility

Dunkin’ Donuts gave its New York customers a reason to celebrate by offering one-dollar coffee to its mobile loyalty members in honor of the New York Jets’ victory over the Cleveland Browns, offering another timed incentive for consumers to join the program.

The promotion was sent out on Monday after the Jets won 31 to 28 over the Browns on Sunday. Members of Dunkin’ Donuts’ loyalty program who live in the New York area received a voucher for one-dollar coffee on Monday morning to celebrate.

“Consumers have responded very well to all of our localized offers that are available through the Dunkin’ Mobile App and the DD Perks program, which now has over 5 million members,” said Sherrill Kaplan, vice president of digital marketing & innovation at Dunkin’ Brands. “The ‘Team Wins, You Win’ program, which is driven by digital and social media, is one of our most successful targeted national and local programs, as it simultaneously rewards our loyal guests and celebrates local events, like Jets wins.

“We love being a part of our guests’ daily routines and are always excited to find more ways to help them continue running on Dunkin’.”

New York City
On Sunday night, the New York Jets played the Cleveland Browns, coming out on top with a final score of 31 to 28.

Dunkin’ Donuts immeditaly took advantage of the victory by sending a notification to all users in the New York area. For New Yorkers who are DD Perks members, Dunkin’ Donuts was offering a medium hot coffee for one dollar, if the user paid with his or her Dunkin’ Donuts Perks-enrolled card.

The offer was only valid for users in the New York metro area, as well as surrounding areas such as parts of New Jersey and Connecticut.

The notification was sent to every consumer who has the Dunkin’ Donuts app downloaded on his or her phone, meaning that consumers who were already Perks members could claim the reward instantly and those that were not were still made aware so they could join if they so choose.

In doing so, the promotion served to reward loyal customers while incentivizing new ones.

Dunkin’ was counting on the deep passion many New Yorkers feel for their local sports team and capitalized on that passion for a promotion that kept current users happy and encouraged non-loyalty users to join DD Perks.

Flexibility
Dunkin’ Donuts has been at the forefront of the mobile revolution, using its mobile app in a number of innovative ways over the past few years – mainly through its extensive use of mobile as a tool for loyalty programs.

Sending timed promotions such as the one celebrating the Jets’ victory is a strategy that Dunkin’ Donuts has relied on in the past, most notably in its multiday promotional campaign leading up to National Donut Day this year, that spanned across social channels and into the brand’s mobile app (see story)

The brand has also made efforts to expand its mobile ordering options to as many channels as possible outside of just its app. For example, Dunkin’ Donuts just recently announced that it would enable purchasing and gifting orders through messaging on iOS 10 (see story).

Mobile allows for a lot of flexibility when it comes to marketing and doing timed promotions such as this one. With mobile, brands can quickly craft and share promotions to celebrate a timely event in a way that is engaging to both new customers and returning ones.

“When we launched the DD Perks program, we immediately started to target our guests with valuable offers in order to drive incremental spend and visits,” Ms. Kaplan said. “This targeting has become more refined as we have continued to learn more about how each guest behaves as a member within DD Perks.

“Our 5 million member milestone, which we achieved this past August, shows that our loyal customers are responding to our efforts to provide a superior mobile experience and our commitment to creating one of the most robust loyalty programs in the market.”