LOCAL FIRST! Finding marketing success amid disruption
Written By HELEN BOND
C
onsumer marketing during the pandemic’s disruption has been shaped by how deftly brands and their franchisees have been able to meet customers’ changing needs—when finding them, much less engaging them, can be downright tricky these days. Battle-tested and battle-weary, messaging pros spent most of 2020 learning to shift their messaging with carefully crafted positioning and creative solutions they hoped would resonate on both the local and individual levels. If it’s possible to put a marketing-like positive spin on the pandemic, Covid-19 has shown franchise systems the value of lightning-fast decision-making and execution. For many franchisors, the life of the brand and its franchisees depended on it. The pandemic compressed the usual timetable franchisors had planned to test, evaluate, and roll out new initiatives, from safety protocols to new goods and services to how to deliver them. “We didn’t have that kind of luxury during this time,” says Mary Mills, vice president of marketing for College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving. “We were making changes fast and furious, in a way that still allowed for communication and buy-in yet got us where we needed to be a lot faster.” The Tampa-based moving and junk removal company wasted no time adapting its essential business model in the early days of the pandemic, offering contactless front door and curbside junk removal. To promote the new program and convey customer and employee safety measures in a reassuring way, the brand leaned heavily on public relations and digital messaging.
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FRANCHISEUpdate
ISSUE 1, 2021
The usual on-the-ground awareness tactics franchisees had relied on for years (branded trucks, door hangers, yard signs) were temporarily shelved while the brand tripled down on social media and explored new avenues for awareness, such as the online neighborhood hub Nextdoor. Still, the pandemic put a serious crimp in its traditional marketing practices. “A lot of brands are consultative or relationship-based in nature. You have to build those relationships, and some of that became harder during Covid,” says Mills. “Leaving junk at the curb was a great way to keep business going, but the downside was we couldn’t go in and talk with them, smile and shake their hand, and find out what other things we could do for them. All of a sudden, our consultative and relationship-focused business was more focused on convenience and safety, yet you want to preserve who you originally were. It’s a tight balance.” TECHNOLOGY, LOYALTY, AND RETENTION Technology-fueled messaging strategies and a focus on hyperlocal loyalty and retention campaigns are expected to dominate marketing in 2021, as brands with tight or shrinking budgets seek to optimize the experience and results at each location. The effort to keep loyal customers loyal will drive a 40% lift in the marketing messages consumers receive this year, especially through direct channels like email and mobile messaging, according to Forrester Consulting.