Converge Weekly

A two month mobile interactive ad campaign in Italy has resulted in a 9% increase in sales for Dunkin Donuts, according to the two companies that created it.

As a result of an SMS-based marketing campaign, customers were able to get coupons for Dunkin Donuts goods by using their mobile handsets to respond to advertisements displayed on 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 outlets.
Sales were reportedly up 9% within the first three weeks of the campaign. By 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 ’spam’. SMS is the perfect way to tap into a vast market of mobile phone users in an environment plagued by a lack of standardization and interconnections.
By ensuring that the power of the SMS medium is put to good use in an ethical way and one which doesn’t encroach upon users’ privacy is something which was the key to the success of campaigns such as this one with Dunkin Donuts.
And Dunkin Donuts’ Italian franchisee GianLuigi Contin said that the SMS marketing solution had been a positive brand-building experience: they were directly reaching their targets with a message that they could understand. Cellular coupons were not cute promotions, rather they were serious marketing tools that not only extended the brand but are also directed towards people they wanted to reach.