Evaluating Social Media: A Comparison of Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the social media marketing strategies employed by Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, particularly in the Chinese market. It begins with an overview of both companies, followed by a description of the methodology used, which primarily relies on secondary research. A social media audit is conducted using the POEM (Paid, Owned, Earned Media) framework to evaluate each company's performance, marketing objectives, social media activities, and channel-specific strategies. The report compares the key elements and execution of their social media approaches, assesses the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, and identifies possible factors contributing to differences in their success. Lessons learned from the analysis are highlighted, along with opportunities for both firms to achieve their business goals through social media. The report concludes with a discussion of recommendations for future social media strategy development.

Social Media Marketing
4/20/2018
Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Overview of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts....................................................................................2
Methodology....................................................................................................................................3
Social media audit............................................................................................................................3
POEM framework........................................................................................................................3
GPA...........................................................................................................................................11
Comparison of the key elements and execution of the social media strategy...........................12
The effectiveness of social media marketing.................................................................................16
Possible factors that lead to the difference in effectiveness......................................................18
Lesson learned from the analysis...................................................................................................20
Opportunities for firm’s to achieve business goals....................................................................21
Discussion and Recommendation..................................................................................................22
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................23
References......................................................................................................................................24

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Introduction
The report offer insights related to the use of the social media marketing by the two brands. This
report is generated considering the research on the bases of analyses and evaluation of social
media marketing (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). The company that has been selected for the analysis
is Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts of China. The report talks about the social media audit of both
the companies which will reflect the strategies of social media formed by the company, along
with the challenges faced by them. It reflects the effectiveness of the social media marketing for
the two firms. In the end, the report states the lessons learned from the brand according to their
experience. Moreover, the implication for the development of a social marketing strategy for the
company in the future has been discussed. These strategies will help the companies to achieve
the marketing and business goals.
Overview of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts
Starbucks is a well-known American coffee company and coffeehouse chain. The company was
founded in the year 1971 in Seattle, Washington. The company is highly recognized because of
its coffeehouse chain that the company is selling across the world in more than 65 different
countries (Starbucks, 2018).
Dunkin Donuts is an American global doughnut company and the coffeehouse that is founded in
Canton, Massachusetts. The company came into existence in the year 1950 by William
Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts (Dunkin Donuts, 2018). The company offer products like
donuts, iced coffee, flavored coffee, muffins and many others.

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Methodology
The methodology is a system of methods that are used in a particular area of study or activity.
The method which is generally used for the analysis is either primary research or secondary
research or both. The primary research involves the gathering of data through surveys,
questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. On the other hand, the secondary research includes
the gathering of existing data that has already been produced. The report focuses on the
secondary research which has been used for the study of the use of the social media marketing by
Starbucks and Dunking donuts.
Social media audit
The social media audit provides a review of the social presence and the past performance to
make educated future decisions for the business. The social media audit is effective for every
company (Fuchs, 2017). Similarly, the social media audit for Starbucks and dunking donuts of
China reflect the difference between the performance, objective and the strategies of the
companies. The performance of the companies can be analyzed with the help POEM framework.
The POEM stands for paid, owned and earned media.
POEM framework
This model was first originated by Daniel Goodall in the year 2009 for his post, owned, bought
and earned media.
Paid media- It is advertising based on display ads, paid search, sponsorship to print, TV and
some other medium.

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Owned media- It is media that the company owned through which they can communicate with
their existing and new customers. It includes a mobile site, website, brochures and many others.
Earned media- It is known as the sharing conversation and engagement of the owned media that
comes from social media marketing efforts. The examples of earned media include Twitter,
Facebook, YouTube and many others (Seager, 2011).
Both Starbucks and dunking donuts make use of these strategies in the market of China so that
they can generate the awareness about the brand. Both companies make use paid, owned and
earned media. Starbuck in China performs advertisement through TV, display ads, and many
others. Along with this, the company has its owned website through which they promote the
products. Moreover, they make use of different social media channels with the help of which
they can promote the products. According to the research, Starbucks mainly use Facebook in
China to share the content related to the company culture, value, events and the users can
connect with them directly (Champagne and Iezzi, 2014).
On the other hand, Dunking Donuts also started making the use of media so that they can
promote their business in the Chinese market. The company does perform paid, earned and
limited media but to some extent. The use of all the media is limited comparing it with Starbucks
because the company is still new in the market due to which it is focused towards opening new
outlets in the market. The company uses paid search, display ads, website, brochures and social
media channels (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) so that they can improve the performance.
All these media has contributed for generating awareness in the market due to which the
company is able to open more stores in the market of China. It is essential for the company to

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evaluate the performance of the social media in the China market because the further business
sales and revenue is dependent on the social media performance.
Marketing and business objective
Starbucks- The objective of the company was to listen to the feedback shared by the customers
for the products on social media so that they can effectively use that feedback to improve their
products, services, and digital channels in innovative ways which is essential to enhance the
customer experience. Customer experience is the major purpose due to which the company is
making use of social media.
Dunkin Donuts- The objective of the company was to generate the awareness related to the brand
and their products they are offering. The awareness about the brand name in China is motive
behind the use of social media.
Social media activities fitting into the rest of its marketing plan
Starbucks and dunking donuts know the fact that social media gives an opportunity to the
marketers to raise a voice and an effective way to communicate with peers, existing customers,
potential customers. Moreover, it personalized the brand and helps the company in spreading the
message (Lake, 2018). Along with this, this is the effective way through which the brand can
make the position in the market which is the major objective of the marketing plan. This reflects
that social media activity fits the marketing plan of the company.
Social media channels
Starbucks Company has accounts on below given social media channels: -
 Facebook

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 Twitter
 Google+
 Instagram
Moreover, Starbucks has performed the tie up in the China market with the popular Social media
app Wechat. The company joined the hands with the Tencent, the developer of WeChat. The
company is well-known aware of the channels, therefore, the brand has selected the most popular
channel of social media to promote the products. There is a possibility that company will add
other channels like Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Yelp. There is no as such channel on which the
company has accounts but consider removing them.
Dunkin Donuts Company has accounts on below given social media channels: -
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Instagram
There are many other channels on which the company will maintain its accounts for the Chinese
market such as YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Yelp. The company will always maintain the
accounts on the existing channels there is no scope to remove any channel (Carr, et.al, 2015).
Authority to post and /or respond on each of the active owned social media channels
The authority to post and respond on the each of the active owned social media channels goes to
the Marketing communication manager of Starbucks and Dunking Donuts. They are one who
ensures that their team is working effectively and providing reverts to every customer of the
company. Moreover, the right of the posting and response is always taken marketing manager.

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Both the company has multiple levels of administration rights and moderate rights are with
marketing manager of the company.
Social media policy
The social media policies that are followed by both the companies are given below: Follow the
rules
 Be respectful
 Be honest and accurate
 Post only appropriate and respectful content
 Using social media at work
 Retaliation is prohibited (SHRM (2018)
Yes both the companies are actively maintaining the social media monitoring is done by brand.
The marketing communication manager team is responsible for the monitoring of the earned
media.
Yes, the Starbucks and Dunking donuts both are performing paid social media as they have
posted the digital advertisement on the social media channels. The performance can be measured
with the help of the like and comment of the customers on the social media channel on which
they have posted the digital advertisement.
Channel-specific marketing objective
Website- The customers widely use website with the aim that is extremely high engagement rate
with the fans and gathering thousands of likes and comments on the post in the China market
(Starbucks China, 2018).

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Mobile app- The objective is to make use of this platform for the promotion but they share
different recipes, pictures, and gifs. For instance; Starbucks has opened its world largest 3-D
printed tea bar in Shanghai, China. They have shared the images on this channel.
Comparing it with the dunking donuts
Website- Company makes use of this platform as a promotional material. The posts on the Home
page of Dunkin Donuts in China are stylised and relevant but this doesn't mean that they contain
the high production value. The company also makes use of this channel for the picture and short
videos awareness to the customers (Dunkin Donuts China, 2018).
The current audience on this channel
The current audience that is available on the social media channel include youth and adult on the
majority basis and rest those people who visit the channels for a purpose which include gathering
details for coffee or company. The company target segment who like coffee and mainly youth
and adults who can visit the stores for the coffee on daily basis. The companies share the
information related to coffee due to which they are able to link the audience with the target
segment.
Content company use on this channel
Starbucks- Appealing images of the products and company is one of the effective ways through
which they can gather the attention of the media customers. Most of the details posted by the
company are educational, offering information about the industry, offering recipes and many
other interesting facts associated with the coffee.

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Dunking donuts- Company also provides high-quality short videos due to which the company
can promote their products easily. The company avoids positing long or complicated explanation
related to the product. This is one of the effective ways through which they grab the attention of
target segment (Shon, 2012).
Earned media social interactions
No, both the companies are not using the earned media social interactions on owned channels of
the company.
Paid media on this channel
Yes, the company is doing the paid media on this channel through print advertisement. The
performance can be measured from the number of customers who actually turned over.
Moreover, the number of clicks on the advertisement by the customers can reflect the
performance of the company.
Social media channel
The use of social media channel offers the direct measurable benefits to both brands as this is the
tool through which the company can generate the awareness related to the products in the
market. Moreover, the company can easily analyze the attitude of the customers towards the
brand.
Cost of using this social media channel
This is the fact that use of social media channel for the promotion is one of the cheapest ways as
it includes minimum cost. Starbucks bear high amount in terms of resources spent then Dunking
donuts. Starbucks is using numerous numbers of channels for that they need to appoint different

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peoples who can update the social media on time and can monitor and handle the day to day
operations on social media. Moreover, the company needs to bear some of the financial cost that
is associated with the subscription of channels. On the other hand, Dunkin Donuts doesn't bear
the high cost of the labor like Starbucks. The company has less active participation on channels
and along with this, the numbers of channels operated by the company are also less. Yes, the
company can reduce the cost without sacrificing the quality and performance but for this, both
the brands need to reduce their active participation on social media.
Competitor’s activity on this channel
Starbucks and dunking donuts are competitors of each other due to which their marketing expert
frequently visit the website. Both the companies ensure that they are able to maintain a
unique identity due to which the objective, content and channel, the interaction among the
brand, presence of the brand are totally different which reflects the wide difference
between the brands (Andzulis, Panagopoulos and Rapp, 2012). This is the fact that Starbucks is
performing better than the Dunking donuts in the market of China.
Examples of successes in this channel
Starbucks offer the details related to the rewards, gift coupons, and others making it attractive to
others. Moreover, the website of Starbucks includes blogs related to the recipe and description of
coffee. The information which is shared by the Dunkin Donuts on the website is effective for the
customers as they get to know the new product that company will launch soon.
Examples of failure in this channel

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The channel is not linked with any of the social media channels of both the companies due to
which there is a problem to the audience who visit the website as they have to visit the other
channels manually. Though, Dunkin Donuts has the options for the share on few websites like
Welbo.com and many others.
GPA
Brand Social Media
Channel
Weight Rating Total
Starbucks
Owned social
media
Website 0.9 8 7.2
Mobile App 0.6 7 4.2
Paid Media Ads display 0.5 7 3.5
TV advertisement 0.7 9 6.3
Earned media Facebook 0.9 9 8.1
Twitter 0.7 8 5.6
Google+ 0.5 6 3
Instagram 0.6 7 4.2
Total 42.1
Dunking Donuts
Owned social
media
Website 0.9 8 7.2
Paid media Ads display 0.5 8 4