Check out the podcast, Fueling Change: The Success of Dunkin’ Ice Coffee Day, for more details on this award-winning campaign.
By: Mollye Rhea
At the 2023 annual Engage for Good Conference on May 21, Dunkin’ and the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation’s 2022 Iced Coffee Day campaign won the Gold Halo Award for the Best Consumer-Activated Corporate Donation Initiative and the Best of the Best Halo Award for demonstrating best practices in social impact engagement. For Momentum is proud to sponsor this award each year to shine a light on the incredible work happening in social impact.
The Iced Coffee Day Campaign is a great example of how to build and execute a successful social impact campaign through:
- Cross-department and team collaboration
- Multiple media channels
- Unique brand partner engagement
Highly Coordinated Iced Coffee Day Campaign Raised $1.8 Million in 1 Day
On May 25, 2022, Dunkin’ and the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood
Foundation hosted the first-ever Iced Coffee Day with $1 from every iced coffee sold donated to the Foundation by Dunkin’ franchisees, and 100% of all funds raised going directly to children’s hospitals. On that single day, they raised $1.8 million–surpassing their $1.5 million goal.
Dunkin’ and the Foundation’s brand teams created a turnkey marketing toolkit to ensure continuity and seamless execution across all agency partners. The campaign had an integrated, omnichannel marketing plan leveraging extensive partnerships, including:
- National and local media
- Social media
- Social media influencers and partnerships
- Events at Dunkin’ locations and children’s hospitals
- Sports partnerships
- Dunkin’s national digital channels
- The Dunkin’ mobile app
The effort required the cooperation of all Dunkin’ and Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation departments and teams, including:
- Marketing
- Operations
- Training
- Local field teams
- Franchisees
- Crew members
- Agencies
The campaign also uniquely engaged Dunkin’ brand partner Puma by creating exclusive, Dunkin’ inspired shoes that were gifted to 30 child life specialists across the country to honor them for their work in bringing joy to children.
Impact on Children’s Hospitals in 34 States
The Dunkin’ Iced Coffee Day campaign’s all-hands-on-deck approach leading up to May 25, 2022 paid off in truly inspiring ways.
Iced Coffee Day raised $1.8 million to support children battling illness, and the Foundation awarded 91 grants to children’s hospitals in 34 states. These grants funded:
- Art and music therapy supplies
- Therapeutic play programs
- Child life staffing support
- Electronic gaming equipment
- Adaptive bicycles
- Patient milestone celebrations
- Wall art and murals to enhance the hospital environment
- Reiki and yoga classes
As a result of the increased awareness generated by the campaign, the Foundation received more grant applications than ever before and was able to fund 613 of the 800+ grants requested.
From the business perspective, Dunkin’s iced coffee sales increased by 10% on May 25 and stores had a 4% increase in sales volume by store. Dunkin’ and the Foundation gained 1.31 billion impressions across media and social media platforms from pre-promotion, day-of and post-event recognition and grant celebrations.
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