Marketing a Franchise Brand

Insight Leads to Intuition Leads to Effectiveness

The key to successfully marketing a franchise brand lies in understanding the unique position it occupies in the market. This insight helps create meaningful communications that achieve specific goals. In a world where customers face more choices than ever, it's crucial for a franchise brand to establish a unique and differentiating position in the market and in the consumer's mind. Once this position is established, maintaining a consistent and credible presence reinforces and effectively builds the brand.

Example: Consider McDonald's, which has carved out a distinctive place in the fast-food market with its consistent messaging around quality, speed, and family-friendliness. This clarity helps consumers immediately recognize and trust the brand, whether they are in New York, Tokyo, Toronto or any cities

I want consistency in everything, but...

Independent entrepreneurs often seek franchise opportunities to own a business with a recognizable brand, building on a successful formula. However, many franchisees want to change established marketing formats or materials when advertising their store. This deviation undermines the consistent consumer experience that is central to a franchise's success.

Example: Imagine a Subway franchisee deciding to create a local ad campaign that focuses on gourmet coffee, diverting from Subway's core branding of fresh, customizable sandwiches. This inconsistency can confuse customers and dilute the brand's overall message.

When franchisees stray from the approved visual and verbal language, they start from scratch, eroding the brand equity they bought into. An unapproved ad from a franchisee could end up on national TV for its blunders, damaging the brand's reputation. While one bad ad might not irreparably harm the brand, a series of rogue messages can weaken the brand's value in consumers' minds, causing confusion and disengagement.

Example: A local fast-food franchisee created a humorous but off-brand ad that aired during a popular TV show. The ad was so off-message it became a joke, making it to the "Stupid Headlines" segment of a late-night show, inadvertently damaging the brand's image nationwide.

Focused Yet Flexible

Marketing strategies should be rooted in sound principles and tested with the target audience to predict effectiveness and avoid personal biases. Arbitrary decisions about marketing materials can spell the end for a brand.

Example: A franchisee rejecting a marketing campaign because "people here don't like the color green" or "this product won't sell in my town" can lead to disjointed and ineffective branding.

However, franchisees need the flexibility to react to local competition, seasonal changes, and market-specific demands. The challenge is to integrate these needs into consistent marketing communications that leverage existing brand equity.

Example: A fitness franchise might allow local branches to promote seasonal offers like "New Year, New You" discounts, but the promotional materials should still reflect the franchise's overall branding and messaging.

A well-structured format can accommodate customization while conveying the franchise's unique selling proposition. This allows for various promotions, calls to action, and local events without looking disjointed.

Example: Starbucks provides its franchisees with customizable templates for local promotions, ensuring that the look and feel remain consistent with the global brand image.

Whose Job Is It Anyway?

The corporate marketing department and its agency must anticipate and incorporate various elements into communication concepts to build the brand, stimulate sales, and meet franchisee needs. They should explain the rationale behind marketing materials and how they can be used locally.

Example: Dunkin' Donuts' corporate team regularly updates franchisees on new campaigns, providing insights into the strategies and research that back these efforts, ensuring everyone understands the larger brand-building effort.

Franchisees must engage with the franchisor, understand the brand-building effort, and use approved materials tailored to their local market needs. This strengthens the brand and builds recognition with current and potential customers.

Example: A hotel franchisee might customize corporate-provided templates to highlight local attractions while maintaining the overall brand look and feel, enhancing both the local and global brand image.

Good ideas can come from anywhere. Local store-level innovations can move up the chain and benefit the entire system if they align with business objectives and brand consistency.

Example: A local franchisee of a pizza chain introduced a new dessert pizza that became so popular it was adopted nationally, accompanied by a promotional campaign.

A Win-Win-Win Situation

Managing expectations is crucial as brand building takes persistence and patience. When franchisees, the franchise ad committee, the franchisor’s marketing department, and their agency work together, they create a consistent and reliable brand experience. This cooperation builds brand equity, preference, and sales over time.

Example: When all parties within a global gym franchise align their marketing efforts, customers experience a consistent brand promise of fitness and well-being, whether they're visiting a location in Los Angeles or London. This unity helps the brand grow stronger and more recognizable globally.