As many of my friends and family know – there are certain things that definitely make me happy and feel absolutely fabulous.  I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, travel to new places, cooking, and photography.  But, there are two things that my friends and family associate with me:  coffee (a major food group!) and social media.  Now, if you have coffee AND social media together – it is indeed a beautiful thing!  That is why Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts are definitely leaders in social media and evolutionizing their brands online.  Starbucks has clearly been a leader in social media for years.

From jumping on board with Facebook and Twitter – they have grown their online presence to amazing heights.  Starbucks has also been ranked as one of the top brands on engagement with their customers and other stakeholders in 2009.  Now, Starbucks has been considered to be one of the companies that is really taking advantage and setting the tone for businesses on Foursquare.  Starbucks is offering their mayors at various locations (people that check in the most on Foursquare and the specific Starbucks) discounts on Starbucks products as well as having their own barista badge.

While Starbucks is setting the stage for other brands to follow on Foursquare and other social media platforms, Dunkin Donuts also is making a mark for themselves on social media as well.  Dunkin Donuts has utilized social media to definitely create engagement and interaction with their customers through specific campaigns, such as the one where they asked their customers to design a donut that they would like to have through a specific website.  They also rewarded their Facebook fans who changed their profile picture to feature a Dunkin donuts product (ex. coffee or donut).  This is an interesting way to create engagement that is unique and utilizing these various social media platforms differently.

In summary, both Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts are both leading the way with their brands on social media – both in their innovation and application of social media in their traditional marketing and public relations campaigns to using the new medium in engaging with their audiences.  Plus, both companies have fabulous coffee! 🙂  When I go to Starbucks – I get myself a non-fat cafe misto (my friend Angela got me into these!) and an extra large coffee at Dunkin Donuts (HEART!) 🙂  Both companies have great coffee and are indeed leaders in implementing and using social media – more companies should look at what these two brands are doing and use them as case studies.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen