Dunkin’ Donuts to change its name to just Dunkin’

Dunkin' is dropping the donuts—from its name, anyway.

Doughnuts are still on the menu, but the company is renaming itself "Dunkin'" to reflect the chain's increasing emphasis on coffee and other drinks.

The 68-year-old chain has toyed with the idea for a while. In 2006, it released a new motto—"America runs on Dunkin'—that didn't mention doughnuts. Last fall, it tested the "Dunkin'" logo on a new store in Pasadena, California; it has put the name on a few other stores since then.

"By simplifying and modernizing our name, while still paying homage to our heritage, we have an opportunity to create an incredible new energy for Dunkin'," the company's chief marketing officer, Tony Weisman, said in a statement.

Coffee and sandwiches have become increasingly important to the Canton, Massachuetts-based chain, which has more than 12,500 restaurants globally. In the second quarter of this year, the company noted that overall U.S. store traffic was down, but revenue was up thanks to sales of higher-margin iced coffee drinks and breakfast sandwiches.

The name change will officially take place in January, when it will start appearing on napkins, boxes and signs at U.S. stores. The change will eventually be adopted by international stores.

Dunkin' Donuts has been shifting its emphasis away from donuts and toward coffee for years. The chain once boasted about the freshness of its pastries with the well-known "time to make the donuts" advertising campaign, but most franchisees haven't made donuts on-site sine the 1990s. More than 60 percent of the sales at the 12,000 or so franchised locations come from beverages.

The new logo will still have Dunkin' Donuts' familiar rounded font and orange-and-pink color scheme, which the company has used since 1973.

Dunkin' says the name change is one of several things it's doing to stay relevant to younger customers. It's also simplifying its menu and adding dedicated mobile ordering lanes.

But the name change could be a big mistake, says Laura Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing consultant.

Ries says "Dunkin'" eventually won't mean anything to younger customers who haven't grown up with the full name. Specific words are easier for people to remember and conjure emotional connections, she said. Having "Donuts" in the name is also easier for people in overseas markets who may not know what "Dunkin'" means.

Ries said other brands—like KFC and DQ, which used to be Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dairy Queen—have made similar mistakes. They wanted to take the emphasis off fried food and ice cream, she said, but new generations don't know what the letters stand for.

Even if people think doughnuts are unhealthy, they know they can just get coffee while they enjoy the doughnuts' smell, she said.

"There's nothing wrong with still having 'Donuts' in your name," she said. "Long term it was helping them, giving them a brand identity that was the opposite of Starbucks."