Fromtheeditor ’ sdesk
BY KERRY PIPES
Where Are Your Customers ?
Marketing is at the very core of what a brand is and does . The right combination of marketing tools allows brands to create consumer awareness and identify and recruit qualified prospects . However , today ’ s seemingly endless number of channels , media , and platforms has made brand marketing difficult to orchestrate , execute , and measure . In today ’ s fragmented marketplace , choosing the perfect set of tools and channels poses a greater challenge every year .
That ’ s why we ’ ve devoted this issue to marketing : online or in-store , mobile or bricks-and-mortar , in-house or third party , consumer or franchisee . You ’ ll find timetested tactics , strategies , and insights — along with innovative ideas — from brands that are using them every day in the field , from third-party experts , and from marketing executives at franchise brands who are pushing the envelope every day , with each campaign .
Whether it ’ s getting the most from traditional channels ( print , radio , TV , PR , and trade shows ) or online platforms ( websites , portals , pay-per-click , sponsored content , social media , and mobile ), a growing array of marketing tools is available to brands today . The trick , of course , is to match them with your goals .
Seasoned marketing veterans have learned it ’ s imperative to have a clear definition of their target audience , from their buying habits to their thoughts and motivations . What makes someone check out your brand ? What makes someone choose your brand ? And , perhaps most critical , what makes them come back or tell their friends ? And with the growth of mobile devices , it ’ s not only who they are , but where they are .
I was struck by a comment from Valerie Kinney , vice president of marketing at CertaPro Painters , in our story about social media . “ For us , it ’ s all about where our customers are . We aren ’ t going into channels where our customers don ’ t exist ,” she said . And while she is always willing to innovate or test different channels ,“ It ’ s simply that we only have limited time and resources , so we need to stay focused on where our customers are consuming social media .”
Choosing the right instruments and making them work together is a tall order , but it can — and must — be done to win the battle for mindshare , whether at the consumer level or for franchisee recruitment . Sometimes that means keeping all marketing functions in-house , and sometimes it means working with outside partners . While the larger brands can hire the firepower to do it all themselves , most brands choose a combination of both . Says Wendy Odell Magus , vice president of marketing at Kiddie Academy , “ Our in-house team knows the brand and our franchisees . The agency staff helps scale our outreach . This hybrid model allows us to scale up efforts without adding a lot of salary and overhead to our organization .”
So whether you ’ re doing it yourself , hiring out , or both , you ’ ll find a lot to learn in the following pages . n
Franchise update | Q2
CHAIRMAN Gary Gardner
CEO Therese Thilgen
EXECUTIVE VP OPERATIONS Sue Logan
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Diane Phibbs
VICE PRESIDENT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Barbara Yelmene
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVES Jeff Katis Judy Reichman
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kerry Pipes
MANAGING EDITOR Eddy Goldberg
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Peter Tucker
DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY Benjamin Foley
WEB DEVELOPER Don Rush
WEB PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Esther Foley
TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Juliana Foley
MANAGER , SOCIAL MEDIA Cheryl Ryan
SENIOR SALES , EVENT & OPERATIONS SUPPORT MANAGER Sharon Wilkinson
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER , MEDIA AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Christa Pulling
MARKETING ASSISTANT , SPEAKER LIAISON Katy Geller
FRANCHISEE LIAISON , SUPPORT COORDINATOR Leticia Pascal
CREATIVE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Phi Le
VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER Wesley Deimling
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jim Bender John DiJulius William Edwards Tom Feltenstein Keith Gerson Darrell Johnson Tim Johnson Steve Olson Adam Pierno
CONTRIBUTING WRITER Helen Bond
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4 Franchiseupdate ISSUE II , 2016