Time to map out the Dunkin's

Need directions? Take a left at the Dunkin'.

As part of the Canton coffee chain's first major foray into the digital world, Dunkin' Donuts is launching a website Monday, MyIcedCoffee.com, that allows travelers to plan road trips and map its stores along the way in all 33 states where it has shops. Dunkin' partnered with online mapping company MapQuest to power the site, which also features trip-planning advice and instant-win games with prizes of $100 gas cards, JetBlue airline tickets, and global-positioning systems.

The online push comes as Dunkin' faces increasing pressure from java rival Starbucks and fast-food chains like McDonald's, which is offering higher-end brews and iced beverages. Dunkin' needs to up the ante when it comes to cementing loyalty and finding new ways to talk to consumers as executives take the brand across the country with its national expansion plans, according to restaurant industry analysts. Dunkin' Donuts, part of Dunkin' Brands Inc. of Canton, was acquired last year by three private-equity firms for $2.4 billion and has embarked on an aggressive growth plan.

Iced coffee is a $1 billion category for Dunkin' and the company sees continued growth for this beverage, which appeals to younger, female consumers. Dunkin' research showed it had to find better, more effective ways to reach this demographic and the Internet, a space it had largely ignored, was the obvious gap.

"It's really important for us to defend our leadership in iced coffee," said Scott Hudler , Dunkin's director of marketing.

So over the past year, Dunkin' has increased spending on interactive media to 5 percent of its media budget, up from less than 1 percent in 2006. In November, Dunkin' hired its first digital agency, Studiocom of Atlanta, which designed the popular CokeStudios.com and MyCokeRewards.com sites for Coca-Cola Co. that each have millions of registered users. These were among the first efforts by a beverage company to create online customer loyalty sites. MyCokeRewards.com is a hub for Coke's customer loyalty program where consumers can enter cap codes to get points and buy rewards with their points

Richard Nilling , executive vice president of Studiocom, said these online initiatives have helped mature brands like Coca-Cola connect with a whole new audience of teens and tweens.

"The media habits are changing rapidly so companies need to communicate with consumers through digital sites," said Nilling, whose company opened a Boston office this year to support Dunkin's online needs. Studiocom is also redesigning Dunkin's website, DunkinDonuts.com.

"We're really trying to forge a bond with Dunkin's new generation of consumers," Nilling added.

The bottom-line bonus of MyIcedCoffee.com: capturing customer e-mails. Creating a destination for customers to sign up for sweepstakes, giveaways, and refer-a-friend programs gives Dunkin' a chance to gather specific consumer information and better target promotions and messages about new products.

"The ultimate reason for these sites is to better understand your customers, be able to market to them directly, and better serve them" said Darren Tristano , executive vice president of Technomic Inc., a restaurant consulting firm in Chicago.

Dunkin' says it wants to make life easier for customers on their summer road trips so they can get directions and discover tips about their destination. Now, they can also find out where the Dunkin' stores are within 3 miles of their route so they can fuel up along the way.

"Everyone wants to know where the Dunkin' is when they're on the road," said Dave Tryder , Dunkin's manager of Interactive and Relationship marketing.

Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.