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September 2, 2024 Expert's Corner

Deleting ‘Donuts’ and adding mobile: How businesses must adapt to consumer demand

By Ross Nelson

Have you ever thought about the way Dunkin’ Donuts — or should we say, Dunkin’ — has affected your life?

Ross Nelson

You may laugh, but here in New England, the brand known for bringing you donuts and coffee has become the go-to for food and beverages that go well beyond breakfast.

It’s not by accident — Dunkin’ spent the last 10 years expanding its menu and refining its brand to reflect evolving consumer needs, only to scale it back almost as dramatically.

To some, it may seem like Dunkin’ missed the mark. After all, the company went from being a simple stop for donuts and coffee to the place where you could find gourmet bagel sandwiches alongside chicken biscuits.

Despite the seemingly large jump, the brand’s evolution repositioned it to be more competitive in the fast-food industry by meeting consumer demand.

Today, after a few growing pains, Dunkin’ successfully leans into its well-earned reputation for delivering tasty coffee drinks, refreshers and a simple all-day food menu with an emphasis on breakfast.

Coincidentally, Dunkin’s menu transformation overlapped with an industrywide shift in consumer behavior — increased demand for fast-food mobile apps.

Simple changes can be a big deal

As Dunkin’ demonstrated, it’s a business-critical step to recognize that your customers want more, or different, or better — and sometimes, all three.

At Cox, we recently introduced Cox Mobile — a mobile service exclusively available to Cox internet customers. As a company steeped in business IT services and consumer broadband products, offering a mobile service was a new approach, especially when you consider the intensely competitive nature of the mobile industry.

However, like Dunkin’ evolving its brand strategy and food-and-beverage offerings to meet customer demand, Cox recognized that consumers craved a reliable mobile service at an affordable price, from a trusted connectivity provider.

We’re optimistic about our newly-established future in the mobile industry, while continuing to lean into the reality that businesses are trusting us with more and more of their IT operations. Business evolutions like Dunkin’ and Cox Mobile prove that acknowledging customer needs, no matter what those may be, can drive future success.

In the business world, the future can be scary. It can also be incredibly bright.

The next time your local restaurant adds a new menu offering, or your gym adds more cardio classes, think about what it took for that owner/operator to get there.

It may be a bigger deal than you realize.

Ross Nelson is the New England market vice president for Cox Communications.

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