CMO Roundtable
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I’ ve never thought about corporate versus franchisee marketing as an‘ either / or.’ It’ s not a competition; it’ s a partnership, just like everything in franchising.
ASHLEY MITCHELL
Chief Marketing Officer ZorAbility
VP of Marketing East Coast Wings + Grill
Chief Marketing Officer Sammy’ s Sliders
I
’ ve never thought about corporate versus franchisee marketing as an“ either / or.” It’ s not a competition; it’ s a partnership, just like everything in franchising. Both matter, and when you get them working together, that’ s when the real magic happens.
Brand campaigns are the megaphone. They give the brand consistency, scale, and credibility. Big initiatives, including national media buys, digital pushes, and seasonal promotions, set the tone and create that umbrella of awareness. Guests see the brand as something familiar and trusted before they even walk through the doors. Without that baseline recognition, local marketing must work ten times harder.
But grassroots? That’ s where the brand feels real. Franchisees live in their communities. They know which school needs a fundraiser, which team plays on Friday nights, and where people gather on weekends. When they sponsor the Little League, host a spirit night, or show up at the community festival, it creates a personal connection no brand campaign could ever replicate. That’ s how loyalty gets built. It’ s not just transactions, but relationships. People buy from people, not logos.
The key is alignment. The franchise support team must make it easy for franchisees to plug into the big picture without losing their local voice. That means creating flexible tool kits, simple-to-use assets, and clear brand guardrails so that franchisees can execute quickly but still stay on brand. For example, we might launch a system-wide campaign around a new initiative, but we’ ll also hand franchisees readyto-use social ideas, outreach tools, and in-store assets so that they can bring it to life in their markets.
And here’ s the piece a lot of brands miss: listening. Franchisees are closest to the guest. Their insights— what’ s hitting and what’ s missing— are gold. I remind our East Coast Wings + Grill franchisees all the time: We’ ll never know their market as well as they do. The flow of information has to go both ways. The more they share about their community, the better we can support them with tools and strategies that actually work. We marry our team’ s marketing expertise with their local knowledge to create the recipe that fits.
It’ s not about drawing hard lines between“ corporate” and“ franchisee.” Brand campaigns light the spark, and franchisee marketing fans the flame. That balance is what turns a brand into a community staple and drives real growth. •
22 | Franchise Update | Issue 4, 2025