5 Marketing Mistakes Your Franchise Brand Is Making Today | What to Fix Before They Get Expensive

So we talked a lot about them already through our conversation.

And so the first one is that brand funds fail when they are built on the wrong promise.

When you are not transparent about what you're spending your dollars on and when you prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability, that's a huge mistake.

Second is the ops piece.

When you are not actively engaged with your operations team It is a recipe for disaster because marketing programs only work as well as they are adopted in the field.

The other piece that I think really happens in emerging brands, and Dave, I'd be interested to hear if it happened in your brand, but exceptions.

When we make exceptions around this person can carry this product, but it's not on brand standard, or this location can get away with not having a menu, even though it's not on brand standard.

When we start to make those exceptions, as you grow, those exceptions, again, compound your speed to delivery on your marketing.

And so it really can have an erosion effect on it.

Over-dependence on digital, we talked about this.

Yes, we need to invest in website.

Yes, we need to invest in paid media.

But when we are over-invested in it, meaning we are either spending dollars in the brand fund on that over long-term sustainability, Or because our franchisee's biggest check is going to there, we overemphasize it instead of getting them out into the field.

You don't build brand awareness and it fails.

And then I think that was four.

And then I would say the fifth is that we all make it.

Franchisees are drowning in communication and they are wearing 10 hats.

They are running a business and then we're expecting them to open every email or expecting them to join every call.

And we're expecting them to be a hundred percent engaged while they have an employee sitting in their office and crying.

And so we need to get better at creating clear expectations on our communications cadence and what they can expect from the brand so that they can access it on their own time.

And we are actually being supportive instead of talking at our franchisees.

So we talked a lot about them already through our conversation.

And so the first one is that brand funds fail when they are built on the wrong promise.

When you are not transparent about what you're spending your dollars on and when you prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability, that's a huge mistake.

Second is the ops piece.

When you are not actively engaged with your operations team It is a recipe for disaster because marketing programs only work as well as they are adopted in the field.

The other piece that I think really happens in emerging brands, and Dave, I'd be interested to hear if it happened in your brand, but exceptions.

When we make exceptions around this person can carry this product, but it's not on brand standard, or this location can get away with not having a menu, even though it's not on brand standard.

When we start to make those exceptions, as you grow, those exceptions, again, compound your speed to delivery on your marketing.

And so it really can have an erosion effect on it.

Over-dependence on digital, we talked about this.

Yes, we need to invest in website.

Yes, we need to invest in paid media.

But when we are over-invested in it, meaning we are either spending dollars in the brand fund on that over long-term sustainability, Or because our franchisee's biggest check is going to there, we overemphasize it instead of getting them out into the field.

You don't build brand awareness and it fails.

And then I think that was four.

And then I would say the fifth is that we all make it.

Franchisees are drowning in communication and they are wearing 10 hats.

They are running a business and then we're expecting them to open every email or expecting them to join every call.

And we're expecting them to be a hundred percent engaged while they have an employee sitting in their office and crying.

And so we need to get better at creating clear expectations on our communications cadence and what they can expect from the brand so that they can access it on their own time.

And we are actually being supportive instead of talking at our franchisees.