Dunkin Donuts taste test misses the point

You may have seen Dunkin' Donuts' new TV campaign that challenges Starbucks to a taste test. Via Brandweek:

Dunkin’ Donuts is claiming coffee superiority in a new ad campaign debuting today. The first TV spot features a woman in a lab coat toting a clipboard who asks various working stiffs (an auto mechanic, power line repairman, TV reporter and taxi driver) which coffee they prefer. Of course, they select Dunkin’.

The narrator states that in a national taste test more hard working Americans preferred the taste of Dunkin’ Donuts over Starbucks, and implores, “Try the coffee that won and find out why America really does drive on Dunkin.”

My take
Dunkin' Donuts does have good coffee, but that's beside the point. Traditional brands differentiate on characteristics like price, performance, and features (for example, taste). Lifestyle brands differentiate on self-expression, on the message that you send to the world by purchasing the product. To be clear, performance (taste) always matters; the coffee has to taste at least OK. But it will never trump self-expression, and that's what Dunkin' Donuts doesn't understand. The CEO of Red Bull says it better than I ever could: "The taste doesn't matter. Red Bull isn't a drink, it's a way of life." In the case of Red Bull, the results speak for themselves.

By creating a campaign that emphasizes taste, Dunkin' Donuts positions itself as tradition brand, not a lifestyle brand. I think this is actually OK, because lifestyle marketing isn't in their DNA, but they need to make a decision one way or the other: are we a traditional brand, or a lifestyle brand? If we're a lifestyle brand, what new skills do we need to build, and what changes should we make to our culture?