Matthew Miller
May 22, 2013

Dunkin' Donuts wants to take your breakfast and coffee order in bed

SOUTH KOREA - Dunkin' Donuts has launched an alarm-clock app that encourages users to order coffee and breakfast while still rubbing their eyes, then begins a countdown to get to a store to redeem a smartphone-based coupon for that order.

wide player in 16:9 format. Used on article page for Campaign.

The 'Morning Start-Up' app was piloted in Seoul in March, and has since been expanded to all of the brand's outlets in the country. Dunkin' Donuts, like others in the quick-service food industry, is working to increase breakfast revenue. In this case, Dunkin Brands is particularly focused on getting younger people, who often skip breakfast, to make a morning stop part of their daily routine. 

Once the order is placed, the app gives the user three hours to get to a Dunkin' Donuts location and redeem the coupon—the countdown signified by a falling 'bomb' that explodes if the consumer 'fails' to get to the store in time.

Rather than a QR code or NFC (near-field communications) technology—both of which may be horribly passé in tech-savvy South Korea—the scheme uses ultrasound technology to consummate the coupon transaction in the store. To be exact, the point-of-sale system in the store emits an ultrasound tone that the app 'hears' in order to automatically validate the discount. This means the process works with any smartphone that can run the app and requires no data connection.

CREDITS

Chief Creative Officer : Jeongkeun Yoo / Cheil Worldwide 
Executive Creative Director: Thomas Hongtack Kim / Cheil Worldwide
Art Director: Ben Hyunwoo Kim, Jihoon Seo / Cheil Worldwide
Copywriter: Solmi Park / Cheil Worldwide
Interactive Planner: Hyunjin Kim / Cheil Worldwide
Account Director: Sungwook Kang / Cheil Worldwide
Account Executive: Sujae Lee, DK Kim, Hyeyoung Yeom, Whajung Kim / Cheil Worldwide
-------------------------------
Mobile Production Company: Malang Studio
Producer / (CEO): Yeongho Kim /  Malang Studio
Designer: Rakho Choi /  Malang Studio
------------------------------
Director: Bongkyun Kang / Martinishot
Sound engineer: Daesung Kim / Seoulvision
Engineer: Kyujun Shim / Seoulvision

Source:
Campaign Asia

Related Articles

Just Published

14 hours ago

'Looking for the first domino': Titanium jury ...

In a wide-ranging interview, John explains how APAC work, like New Zealand’s stigma-smashing Grand Prix for Good and Ogilvy Singapore’s work for Vaseline, are setting the stage for global creative change.

22 hours ago

John Wren on his vision for a bigger, better Omnicom

The chief executive tells Campaign why the IPG acquisition makes sense, what the impact will be and what will determine success.

1 day ago

Big ideas, not big algorithms, will win Cannes

At Cannes 2025, Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen and Publicis’ Arthur Sadoun unpacked why AI may power creativity—but humans still pilot it.

1 day ago

Campaign Cannes Global Podcast Episode 2

Our editors from the UK, US, Canada and APAC report from Campaign House at Cannes Lions 2025.