Brandsinger has a very astute insight on the real difference between Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks posted today.

The flaw in Dunkin’s campaign is the premise – that competition with Starbucks is “all about the coffee.” If that were true, you could sell a great cup of joe straight from a garden spigot for LESS money and make a fortune. No, you good-hearted Dunkin’ bozos. It is NOT “all about the coffee.” It’s about Starbucks’ creation of an urban refuge in a menacing modern metropolis.

He’s right. Starbucks isn’t selling “better coffee.” It’s not better. They’re selling a warm, infinitely customizable experience built around getting a cup of coffee in which actually drinking the coffee is only a part.

Until the Starbucks customer is attracted to the idea of spending an hour skimming the paper at a Dunkin Donuts, no amount of quality in the coffee is going to win Starbucks’ customers away from Starbucks.

I suspect that the Dunkin Donuts quality campaign is aimed less at winning new customers away from the high end competitor in the space and more at reinforcing the brand identity with the people who are already loyal Dunkin Donuts customers.