Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2017 | Page 29

the single greatest consumer benefit and
leverage that. For example, for Mosquito
Squad, the mantra is, “The only good
mosquito is a dead one.” What else needs
to be said after that? As for the brand phi-
losophy, extreme consistency in all ways,
at all times, in every thinkable channel. This feeling of “all for one and one for
all” becomes extremely convincing when
franchise candidates go through our dis-
covery process, see our assets, and get
personal validation from live calls from
our units across the country, now some
200-plus strong.
Describe your marketing team and
the role each of them plays. Karin
Harrison, brand marketing manager, is
the Big Kahuna for Mosquito Squad.
Karin sets the tone for what objectives
need to be determined (in concert with
Amy Lawhorne, brand leader, and “The
Squad” team: Nelson Stammer, Dylan
Cohan, and Clayton “Buzz” Holznagel),
and then works with the marketing team
and me: Steven Nguyen, senior graphic
design (all brands); Erica Mirra, creative
development and marketing coordinator
dedicated to the Mosquito Squad brand;
Jane Campbell, inbound marketing man-
ager (all brands); and Carolina Rudge, in-
bound marketing coordinator (all brands). What ways/tools do you rely on to
do this? We have a robust set of franchise
recruitment tools including our website,
an information-rich and easy-to-use fran-
chise discovery portal.
Why is it so important for the market-
ing department to have a “personal
touch” when it comes to helping the
brand connect with franchise pros-
pects? My mantra is “have fun, work
hard, and make money.” If you don’t love
what you’re doing, you should be doing
something else. Franchisees invest in a
brand because they typically would not
have the rigorous skill set needed to hit
the ground running and grow a business.
Being mentored by members of the mar-
keting team with a “personal touch” com-
mands extreme respect (especially when
the franchisee is unaware of the topic or
procedure at hand).
How does this help your franchise
sales and development effort? Mos-
quito Squad is the biggest “family” I have
ever seen. Our franchisees love the brand,
love the support team, love the product,
love our mascot Dread Skeeter, and are
totally engaged. On rare occasions when
I need to reach out to them collectively
or individually for special requests (like
contacting Brent Tatum to help with find-
ing locations for our latest set of social
media videos with licensed contractor
and TV host Jason Cameron) you only
have to ask once. When I first contacted
Brent, who had yet to meet me in person,
his reply was, “Anything for The Squad.”
Do today’s prospects expect more
from the franchise marketing de-
partment? What, and how do you
provide it? I have been familiar with
multiple franchise operations over the
years and I have never seen a franchisor
as thorough, committed, and dedicated as
The Squad. And I mean it. We try to re-
spond to franchise queries within minutes,
if possible, in every phase of our operation.
Our being continually named a world-class
franchise attests to the satisfaction level of
our franchisees with their support teams.
How is technology changing the
way franchise marketing is done in
terms of one-on-one contact? By en-
couraging us to produce digital versions of
face-to-face communications, like videos
and highly personalized outbound com-
munications.
How is today’s consumer and market-
ing data helping you fine-tune your
marketing initiatives? Simply put, by
knowing what works and what doesn’t,
based on lead generation responses and
the bottom line.
Describe the evolving role of social
media in your brand’s marketing ef-
forts. Championing the use of social me-
dia as far back as 2008, Mosquito Squad
is committed to maintaining the leading
share of voice in the mosquito control
and mosquito elimination field—being
the founder and original mosquito treat-
ment franchise as far back as 2005. Not
only does our marketing team orchestrate
multiple channels of social media and
digital, we also assist our franchisees with
turnkey programs and individual, custom-
ized attention to their daily social needs.
For some franchisees, we also recommend
the services of digital social companies
for both content penetration and search
engine optimization. We also maintain a
close strategic relationship with Google.
How are you assisting your existing
franchisees with more contact and
transparency? At the risk of sound-
ing simplistic, virtually anything they
need. By the time new Mosquito Squad
franchisees finish training, they have es-
sentially everything they need to hit the
ground running, tu rning to Karin Har-
rison to channel special requests, which
are then fed to the appropriate marketing
team members.
How do you work with other internal
departments and does technology
help? Seamlessly, especially with tech-
nology. Amanda Berdeen, our manager of
IT training, support, and development, is
the finest in her field. She is faithfully sup-
ported by her team, London McKnight
and Andrea Nagle, with additional out-
side support from C5 Communications.
How do you manage costs and bud-
gets for the marketing department?
I don’t, my brand marketing managers do.
They tell me how much I can spend and
I do just that.
Do you see vendors as business part-
ners? Why/why not? Yes. They are
critical to supporting the marketing and
communications needs of our five brands
with our extensive schedule of on-time
deliverables—again, across all channels.
We treat them as we wish to be treated,
as a trusted friend and ally.
How have marketing strategies/
tools changed over the past decade?
How have you adapted? What hasn’t
changed? The magic formula used to
be grassroots, door-to-door selling, local
spot TV, and radio and newspaper. Today,
typically both homeowners are working,
so no one is at home during the day. And
thanks to technology, many people work
to some degree at every waking hour. We
encourage a strong position in digital and
social media: well-targeted direct market-
ing with innovative strategies and high-
impact creative messaging and delivery.
What advice would you offer to as-
piring marketing executives? Hire
people younger and smarter than you are. n
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