Hallelujah, hallelujah, praise the post-advertising age! Earlier this week, we wrote an article about Dunkin' Donuts's latest campaign wherein the coffee chain claimed to have beaten Starbucks in a taste test without providing any evidence. Naturally, we slammed DD and then moved on. But then something incredible, something wonderful happened.
DD PR/marketing saw my call for test results (and others' across the web) and put this link on its site (DunkinBeatStarbucks.com), citing the actual results of the study. In the post-advertising age, brand marketers have to be aware that their messages will be discussed and questioned openly on the internet by their audiences. When their audiences react badly to campaigns, BMs have to respond. Kudos to DD on this one.
Here is part of a note i received from the PR person involved:
"I read your article and think your point about there not being any obvious data to back up the claim was spot on. I think you'd be interested to hear that Dunkin' has uploaded a link to the data behind the study on the microsite. ... Dunkin' has a very proactive policy about responding to blog commentary and engaging with the community so I hope my efforts on their behalf reflect well on their efforts to accommodate your comments."
Indeed they do.