Things to Consider When Marketing Your Franchise

It is understand as axiomatic that franchising companies have one aim and that is to increase the profitability of their brands. The only way to do this is to increase the profitability of the individual franchises operating under the banner of their organizations. Though accomplishing this is a deeply intricate, multi-faceted issue, one of the primary means of increasing the brand's value is through extensive marketing.

Brand marketing may take on many forms. National campaigns may be carried out via advertisements on television, radio and in print. This large scale marketing campaigns are aimed at increasing the profitability of the brand by increasing business at the maximum number of franchise locations. However, what is good for the brand isn't always what is good for the individual franchise owner.

Large Scale Marketing and Franchisees

Large scale marketing campaigns, often extending to a national level, are carried out by franchising organizations to target specific demographic groups which are perceived as being, potentially, the most profitable for the brand. In most cases the individual franchisees have little or no say in these massive marketing campaigns. In some instances the franchisor does court and consider franchisee input into marketing, but that is an exception to the general rule.

Franchisees, having little input into the marketing strategies of the parent company, must trust that the franchisor is doing what is best for his or her franchise. The franchising company, on the other hand, is more concerned with what is best for the brand overall. The demographic groups appealed to in ads are those determined, through market research, to be the most profitable group to target overall.

The Conflict

Conflict of interest sometimes arise when national ads toe the line of what some demographic groups may consider acceptable, in order to appeal to another group. A good example of this is the rather risqué advertisement run by CKE for their Carl's Jr. and Hardee's franchises. This ads were designed to appeal to the young male demographic, and were, by and large, extremely effective. However, the ads did not play well in certain regions, such as in the Deep South, where such things are still considered indecent by a large majority.

In this case, the ads did increase the overall profitability of the brand, and increased business for franchisees in certain areas where the ads played well. However, they did not help, and may have actually hurt, some franchisees in areas where the ads were not well received. This represents the conflict inherent in franchisor marketing. What is good for the majority (and for the brand) may not be what is good for the individual franchisee.

Resolution

When such conflicts occur, it falls to the individual franchise owner to take action on behalf of his or her franchise location. The franchisee is unable to challenge the marketing campaign. However, he or she can take action to reaffirm to the community that the individual franchise does respect and uphold community standards of decency.

It is at these times that the established relationship between the franchise and the community becomes crucial. If there isn't already an established relationship then the franchisee may suffer from the negative reception of the ad campaign. If the franchise is already well entrenched in the community via support and involvement (which should already have been part of the franchisee's promotional strategy), then he or she is in a better position to weather the storm of negative opinion of the brand.