Gen-Z Opps: Dunkin' significantly increases digital ad spend post-acquisition (Score 67)
After being 
acquired by Inspire Brands late last year, Dunkin' has experienced a surge in digital ad spend, particularly via paid social, this year after a similarly significant rise in 2020. Sellers able to offer relevant ad space should get in touch soon to secure last-minute 2021 ad dollars.
Since Dunkin's new parent company is such a large spender, the brand's spend should continue rising throughout 2021.
Pathmatics reports Dunkin' has allocated roughly $22.5m toward digital ads so far this year, more than 4x the roughly $4.8m it allocated within the same 2020 timeframe. Dunkin's estimated full-year 2020 spend almost tripled to $51.4m from that of $19.2m in 2019. YTD, the company has earned around 3b digital impressions via Facebook (54%), Instagram (24%), desktop video (13%), Twitter (6%) and desktop display (2%) ads. Most (51%) of this year's desktop videos were YouTube videos.
Since the beginning of 2021, iSpot approximates Dunkin' has spent $16.7m on national TV commercials, only half of the $30.5m it approximates the brand spent by this point last year. It ended up spending approximately $109.2m on this channel in 2020, down slightly (less than 1%) from the approximately $109.5m it spent in 2019. Dunkin's 2021 commercials have targeted Gen-Z (slight male skew) viewing programs such as NFL Football, Today, 9-1-1, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Family Guy.
Additionally, Magellan reveals Dunkin' has aired 767 podcast ads within the past 12 months.
As you can tell, higher digital ad spend has been at least partially made possible by lower TV spend, reinforcing the company's commitment to targeting Gen-Z. I've also noticed Hulu ads for Dunkin'. Per Kantar data, it also invests in OOH, print (newspapers), radio and local broadcast.
Agency & martech readers - The recent acquisition could result in agency reviews, especially since it hasn't been long since Dunkin' appointed chief digital and strategy officer Phil Auerbach. Its new parent company, Inspire, just appointed media AOR Publicis, which has also handled Dunkin's media remit in the past. Other than that, Dunkin's roster has also traditionally consisted of BBDO Worldwide (creative and digital AOR), Havas Formula (PR AOR) and Digitas (media buying and planning assistance).
