every hour and every effort put Choosing an agency into telling your brand story,” Identifying PR partners is itself all about says Nick Powills, chief brand the relationship. Sabina Gault, president strategist at No Limit Agency. of Konnect PR, says public relations can “The negative is that the media be less about what a firm can do for your will not see that story as third- brand and more about chemistry, as most party credibility, as they expect offer many of the same services. “Do you you to say you are great.” And, like the people who work there and who he cautions, if you only have a are going to handle your account? Then small team, you won’t be able you have to look at what services you really to network and build as many need and whether you can bundle up as relationships as an agency can. many of those in one company,” she says. DIY, partnership, or both? It’s important to focus on creating a It can be challenging to deal with several Handling PR is a tall, time-consuming collaborative relationship with your PR firms for different services such as marorder, and when it comes to their PR ef- agency, says Fisher. “Find a keting, PR, social media, etc. forts, most franchisors today look for some PR partner that cares passionHaving an all-in-one solution kind of outside help. Larger franchisors, ately about your brand and can make things easier. She also says to ask agensay more than 100 units, typically pos- your goals. Your PR partner sess the infrastructure to handle some PR should be low maintenance, cies situational questions such tasks themselves, if not all. For instance, understand what you want to as, “What would you do if…?” basic franchisee communication, internal do, and help get you there. These queries allow an agency memos and notifications, and system sup- Every PR agency has its own to showcase its ability to handle port can be managed internally, while an culture. Find one that fits well a variety of issues and will prooutside PR agency may handle local and with your brand’s culture.” vide a clue to how well their national media pitching, events, and even Magus is a prime exam- Rich Hope culture meshes with yours. store openings. ple of the collaborative apPowills says to think of the Lorne Fisher, CEO of Fish proach between franchise evaluation process as four key buckets: Consulting, believes that for brand and PR agency. She relationship, strategy, service, and results. brands to truly maximize their says Kiddie Academy uses “That is a good barometer for identifyinternal marketing talent, they a combination of in-house ing the right agency for you. Have them need to rely on outside agency and outsourced PR. “Our explain how they are different in each of partners to help handle the PR in-house team knows the those categories.” load. “You have talented people brand and our franchisees. “It’s a mix of referrals, research, and at your brand, but they can’t The agency staff helps scale instinct,” says Vilchis, along with your do everything and can become our outreach. This hybrid brand’s unique needs. For example, if your overwhelmed without some model allows us to scale up brand has a high risk of crisis situations, efforts without adding a lot make sure the PR firm has experience in outside assistance,” he says. Nick Powills Vilchis says this is why of salary and overhead to our crisis communication. If your PR objective brands often choose to use their mar- organization. You can make it work is strictly franchise sales, make sure the keting director to manage an outside PR without PR expertise in-house, but firm has experience in that area, and can share case studies and results agency. “Media relations and PR is a spe- someone in-house has to refrom other franchise systems. cialized service and requires people with ally work in partnership with knowledge, experience, and time to get the agency to drive strategy If you are seeking a creative the job done right. A PR firm knows what and messaging.” team to handle consumer PR Rich Hope, chief markettypes of angles will appeal to the media campaigns, get a feel for the and knows how and when to communi- ing officer at Jersey Mike’s agency’s creativity and ask for cate with journalists,” she says. Subs, says he too thinks the examples of successful innoBecause agencies work with media all best way to handle PR is as a vative consumer campaigns, the time, they have established relation- partnership between in-house or ask them to come up with ships. Agencies also invest in tools such personnel and an outside firm. a sample campaign designed as media databases and media monitoring “In-house, we focus on prepar- Sabina Gault specifically for your brand. platforms that franchise brands typically ing our franchisees to respond In the end, the right chemdo not have. Building relationships with to the press or appear on-air. We use an istry between a brand and an agency, a media requires a vigorous outreach and outside firm to handle most of the content well-crafted message, and implementfollow-up franchisors often don’t have and media contacts,” says Hope, who was ing the right tools to the right audiences time or money to invest in. an outside vendor himself before coming makes all the difference in the success of your PR efforts. ■ “Handling PR in-house, you control on board with Jersey Mike’s. create and distribute content such as infographics, e-books, and white papers,” says Vilchis. “They become subject matter experts in their fields through these types of valuable content, with many also creating a series of podcasts or vlogs. The PR opportunities and tools available to franchisors are virtually endless.” Lorne Fisher
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