When global brands enter India, the real challenge isn’t just about localization—it’s about emotional connection. In the case of Dunkin’ Donuts, a globally loved café brand known for its donuts and coffee, the Indian market posed an exciting yet complex opportunity. And behind the scenes of its strategic evolution in India stood Merakii Group, the creative powerhouse redefining marketing narratives.
Led by Bhagyashree Singh, Merakii Group brought in more than just conventional marketing playbooks. They brought cultural fluency—a rare ability to understand what Indian audiences crave emotionally, socially, and gastronomically.
Cracking the Code of Indian Taste and Trends
India’s food and beverage space is unique—rich in diversity, driven by trends, and deeply influenced by youth culture. While donuts were a novel concept a decade ago, retaining excitement in a market flooded with café brands required more than product innovation. It needed brand reinvention.
Merakii stepped in with a clear mission: turn Dunkin’ Donuts into an experience, not just a pitstop. Their strategy involved a multi-layered approach that blended social storytelling, meme marketing, hyper-local digital campaigns, and collaborations with youth influencers—all curated with a nuanced understanding of Tier 1 and Tier 2 city behavior.
From Sweet Bites to Strong Stories
Rather than just focusing on the product, Merakii dialed into Dunkin’s emotional capital. Campaigns were crafted around themes of joy, rebellion, self-expression, and “sweeter moments” with friends and family—leveraging emotion-driven marketing over pure sales talk.
Instagram reels, viral tweet campaigns, and quirky content became the heart of their content strategy, attracting millennial and Gen Z audiences alike. Limited edition drops, regional flavor twists, and topical content turned Dunkin’s feeds into a digital mood board of relatability and trendiness.
A Brand Refresh That Resonated
This wasn’t just marketing—it was brand architecture redesign. From reimagined store aesthetics to more vibrant packaging and relatable copywriting, Merakii helped craft a voice for Dunkin’ Donuts that spoke in the language of the new India.
The brand’s online engagement skyrocketed, and footfall in key urban outlets witnessed a notable increase post-campaign rollouts. Their festival-specific campaigns, infused with local flavor and humor, became templates for how legacy brands can stay relevant in India’s cluttered food space.
The Silent Power of Strategic Agencies
While celebrity endorsements and high-budget ads often grab headlines, it’s agencies like Merakii that are doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes—researching, rethinking, and rebuilding brand conversations from scratch.
Their success with Dunkin’ Donuts is a testament to their strategy-first, creativity-always approach. It also reaffirms how the right brand-agency partnership can turn a global product into a cultural statement.
