When Dunkin’ teamed up with Sabrina Carpenter for “Sabrina’s Brown Sugar Shakin’ Espresso,” they made a bold splash. Announced in December 2024, the limited-edition drink launched alongside the “Shake That Ess’” campaign, bringing levity and personality to the daily coffee ritual.
Sabrina was a natural fit. She is a chart-topping pop star with cultural relevance, a massive Gen Z and Millennial following, and a viral hit called “Espresso” that practically invited collaboration. As Dunkin’s CMO said, “Working with one of America’s most beloved pop stars … adds a spirited, fresh energy that perfectly aligns with Dunkin’s love of bold taste and good-natured fun.”
Why Sabrina Was a Good Pick
Dunkin’ made several smart moves with this partnership:
- Mass reach and cultural momentum: Sabrina’s pop-culture moment created instant buzz and free media.
- A fresh, modern brand vibe: The campaign positioned Dunkin’ as playful and expressive rather than purely functional.
- Audience expansion: If the goal was to reach younger, social-first buyers or elevate brand perception against trendier and premium coffee competitors, this collaboration did just that.
- Creative permission: Limited-edition collaborations create space for viral content, user-generated videos, and themed merchandise, all of which keep the brand top of mind.
If Dunkin’ set out to attract new buyers and add youthful energy to the brand, Sabrina was a strong choice.
Where the Fit Could Be Even Stronger
StatSocial data highlights subtle but important differences between Dunkin’s core audience and Sabrina’s fan base, which seem to reflect the brand’s deliberate effort to reach beyond its loyal customers and attract new ones.
If the campaign’s goal was to create buzz, elevate brand perception, and connect with younger consumers, it clearly succeeded. However, if Dunkin had been focused on reinforcing loyalty and deepening engagement among existing buyers, there are a few additional considerations that could have strengthened that connection:
- Dunkin’s core audience shows strong affinity for commuter and routine-driven behaviors (coffee as fuel, quick service, value) and for regional and suburban contexts. Sabrina’s fans skew more toward pop-culture, aspiration, fashion, beauty, and younger age segments.
- While Sabrina brings trend capital and buzz, if the primary goal was to boost habitual consumption among existing Dunkin customers (rather than purely driving new awareness), a creator whose audience mirrors Dunkin’s “daily coffee drinker” profile might provide higher behavioral alignment.
- Similarly, many of Dunkin’s frequent buyers may be older Millennials, early Gen X or regional East Coast users, whereas Sabrina’s fan base leans younger and more global/coastal, meaning the campaign might slightly under-index among heavy-usage customers.
In short, this campaign achieved exactly what it set out to do in differentiating Dunkin within the premium coffee space and attracting a new generation of coffee drinkers. Looking ahead, combining culturally relevant collaborations like this with creators who embody Dunkin’s everyday customer can help strengthen both awareness and loyalty.
Other Big-Name Influencers Dunkin’ Could Have Considered
Using StatSocial’s audience overlap data, several celebrity-level creators with similar reach emerged as strong fits for Dunkin’s buyer base:
- Meghan Trainor: A major pop star with strong U.S. and Northeast credentials, family-friendly messaging, and broad Millennial appeal.
- Lizzo: Huge reach, inclusive tone, strong emotional connection with everyday audiences; aligns to themes of joy, self-expression and value.
- Charlie Puth: Pop star with mixed gender balance, Northeast roots and multi-platform engagement; could help reach male audiences and commuting professionals.
- Brittany Broski: A top-tier creator/celebrity hybrid with a large following, strong comedic voice, high relatability, and strong overlap with humor-driven audiences.
- Paul Bissonnette (“Biz Nasty”): Hockey personality, sports fan-base, podcasting star that aligns to Dunkin’s top personas and regional markets.
Each of these creators offers Sabrina-level visibility but with audiences that reflect Dunkin’s everyday coffee culture and community feel.
How StatSocial Enables Audience-First Influencer Validation
Marketers use StatSocial daily to validate creators and ensure influencer choices align with the right audience. Inside the platform, or by exporting AI-ready reports into tools like ChatGPT, users can:
- Compare influencer and brand audiences by interests, affinities, and behaviors.
- Quantify overlap and pinpoint misalignments before launching campaigns.
- Identify data-backed influencer recommendations that balance relevance with behavioral fit.
This process, known as creator validation, helps brands partner with influencers whose audiences reflect real customers, not just social trends.
The Bottom Line
Dunkin’s collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter was smart, timely, and full of personality. It brought pop culture flair to an everyday ritual and reaffirmed Dunkin’s place in the conversation. If the aim was to compete with premium coffee chains and spark new interest among Gen Z consumers, the campaign hit the mark.
The next step is turning buzz into proof. With StatSocial’s measurement capabilities, brands can quantify real business impact by mapping influencer exposure to purchase data and demonstrating measurable ROI.