Terriers InBiz is a series that highlights Boston University alumni who have been innovative leaders in their field and have played a significant role in businesses, locally or globally.
For Boston University alumna Sherrill Kaplan, it was all about finding an employer that believed in the same tenant she did: innovative marketing. She found her match when she was appointed vice president of digital marketing and innovation of Dunkin’ Brands, rooted in Massachusetts.
“When I came to Dunkin’, I was looking for a consumer brand where I could leverage the experience I’d gained in New York in the marketing field, and working in the field of loyalty marketing in particular,” Kaplan said.
Kaplan’s experience and success in the fields of marketing and finance stemmed from the Bachelor’s degree in special education from BU’s School of Education she earned in 1999 and her MBA from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, earned in 2001.
One of Kaplan’s largest projects at Dunkin’ thus far has been her involvement in the creation of their DD Perks Rewards Program. By utilizing her two fields of expertise, she oversaw the creation of a loyalty program that tracks purchases. Contrary to a classic rewards program that compensates customers based on store visitation, DD Perks responds to the amount a customer spends.
“When I came here, there was a program that we used to have in place where we would actually send out in the mail coupons for dollars off as part of our loyalty program,” Kaplan said. “I was brought in to improve upon that program.”
Kaplan used her background in finance to develop a program in which transactions were clear and expenditure was an aspect of the rewards.
“Structurally, we wanted it to be simple,” Kaplan said. “In the first three months that I was here, we developed the DD Perks program that lives and breathes today.”
Additionally, Kaplan worked toward making the program primarily app-based, a change that works to better suit the needs of its consumer base.
“We’re interested in providing strategies in a way that caters to our customers,” she said. “Using consumer research, we try to consider what would be a simplistic model that they would flock to.”
Kaplan’s focus on consumer research stems from Dunkin’s slogan “America Runs on Dunkin’,” a representation of the company’s wide-reaching consumer aim. While most businesses try to target 18- to 25-year-old women, Kaplan’s challenge was to appeal to the demographic of 18- to 50-year-olds.
“Everyone comes to Dunkin’,” Kaplan said. “It’s a brand for everyone. There are a lot of people that could be interested in gaining points and rewards in order to get a better value … We’re a brand that keeps you running, that fuels your life and your day. Our brand is about coming in, getting the beverages that you need and getting on with your life.”
Dunkin’ has to canvass many different media channels in order to reach their enormous demographic, according to Kaplan. Additionally, given the dependence of marketing on digital technology, Kaplan and the marketing team for Dunkin’ Brands have to keep up with advances in technology to maintain interactive contact.
“We’re trying to move things over from non-digital media to digital media in a way that isn’t shocking,” Kaplan said. “We’re doing it slowly so that we gradually evolve with technology and with the consumers.”
Given the success of the DD Perks program, which launched two and a half years ago, Kaplan said they’re “continuing to evolve in creative ways in order to try and get new folks in.”
One such strategy that Kaplan has overseen is the creation of the On-The-Go Ordering initiative. This program, which began testing in Portland, Maine in November, will allow customers to order online and skip lines.
Kaplan said that she is excited about the new system because it “will allow morning commuters who may not have time to wait in line to get their food and beverage products and get in and out of the store.”
In light of Kaplan’s own success in the marketing industry, she offered advice to those who aspire to careers in the marketing industry.
“Take a lot of chances,” she said. “Try different things. Explore and bounce around different fields. Take risks and try new companies in order to gain as much experience that you can use in order to leverage that in your next position.”
