FR0314_108
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108
2014-03-07T12:01:58+11:00
How to... | Marketing
HOW GOOD
IS A FRANCHISE
MARKETING?
You will be promoting your business as a franchisee, so how will the marketing team support you? Paola Tanner pinpoints some key considerations
108| FRANCHISING MAR/APR 2014
WWW.FRANCHISE.NET.AU
W
hen you are looking to buy a franchise, most brands will claim that they provide marketing support. That is a very broad statement which represents very different things for different brands. It is up to you to lift the bonnet and find out to what extend that support is going to help your future business. What you ultimately want to find out is if the franchisor will provide you with the support you need both from a branding and a sales-driving perspective. You might have marketing skills and feel a flexible franchise would give you an opportunity to thrive in this area or you might prefer the franchisor to provide both guidance and execution. The first step is to decide what you prefer so you know what to look for. In my 12 years dealing with franchised brands I have found a lot of different ways to provide marketing support, from a well-structured marketing team with national and local expertise, systems and a marketing calendar to the marketing function done by the founders or someone at head office who doubles in another role. This is typical in the early stages of franchising; there is nothing wrong with joining a new system and in fact, you will probably get a lot of attention from keen franchisors. Early franchisees often develop very strong relationships with their franchisors but what you need to be mindful of is how things will change as the chain grows and is no longer able to provide that level of support to all franchisees. This will most likely have an impact in your business later on. If considering a new system, I would be asking a lot of questions about the foundations they are building now to be able to deliver the same support to their franchisees as they grow. It is a good idea to talk to different people within the brand, including existing franchisees to get a perspective from outside of head office. Here are some questions you can ask in order to consider if a franchise marketing function is right for you: 1. What does the franchisor provide in terms of marketing campaigns, how often and what channels are covered by the national fund? 2. Does the marketing team have the right skills mix to drive the brand? Is this a team with strategy and implementation covered? Depending on the size of the chain this might be all in one person, multiple people, separate teams or an outsourced model. 3. Is this supported by an agency or is the work managed in-house? 4. Does the franchisor have the right systems and tools to manage and track campaigns? 5. Are franchisees able to execute campaigns independently? Are franchisees able to execute local store marketing (LSM) in the digital world?