University of Connecticut Athletics is one of Dunkin’s largest partners in the Hartford DMA and when both the men’s and women’s basketball programs were headed to the post season, Dunkin’ had the opportunity to harness UConn pride to build brand love and loyalty.
Cronin created Dunkin’ #BleedsBlue for UConn, a 360˚ local plan to own this moment-in-time and make it uniquely Dunkin’. The brand officially changed its iconic orange and pink to UConn blue during the month of March in all advertising and promotional materials to help fuel CT in support of the UConn Huskies! To drive in-store traffic, there was a market wide offer for rewards members during March – a free classic donut with any beverage purchase every Friday.
To ensure the brand resonated with students, we created an experiential event to build excitement as the Huskies headed into the post season. The 25,000 sq. ft. activation took place on a major artery on campus and included sampling, interactive games and activities, branded giveaways and more.
The program was supported with media relations and social media.
Results:
Dunkin’ #BleedsBlue for UConn generated tremendous visibility and engaged thousands with the brand:
- 13 feature stories across 4 network TV stations generated 15 minutes of coverage & 4.4 million media impressions
- 141,211 social impressions
- 2,500 products sampled
- 10,000+ branded swag distributed
