Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2013 | Page 28

Grow Market Lead

Erik Qualman,
keynote speaker

Kelly McDonald,
keynote speaker

find ways to prove its ROI (marketers:
think AUV!).
Social media keynote nails it

Social media is one topic that continues to
dominate franchise marketing discussions.
And that’s right up Erik Qualman’s alley.
Qualman, author of best-sellers Socialnomics, Digital Leader, and Crisis, regularly
addresses groups on Gen Y motivation,
digital leadership, digital media, and future trends. He spoke about the power of
social media and used catch phrases like
“word of mouth is now world of mouth”
to make his points; and about how news
travels fast online, so to be successful in
this social era, companies must “react to
their customers quickly by listening, interacting, reacting, and selling.” He presented some great ideas and entertaining
video examples of how companies can
use social media to address mistakes (he
called it being “flawsome”) to “find the
silver lining underneath.” Filled with big
picture thoughts, social media statistics,
and a long list of new online technologies
and companies, attendees headed out to
the first breakout sessions, with one last
thought from Qualman dancing in their
heads: “Disruption will happen, so you
might as well be the disrupter.”

26

Franchiseupdate Iss u e III, 2 0 1 3

Breakout sessions, Round 1

These rotating sessions, featuring different panelists each time, centered around
four basic tracks: CRM; franchisee buy-in,
delivery, and results; marketing execution
strategy; and brand development and rejuvenation. Discussions and topics included
tools and strategies to acquire and retain
customers, empowering franchisees to
enhance their marketing mix, harnessing
and measuring word of mouth, and the
CMO as transformational change agent.
Next up was an unusual general session called “Brand Building from All
Sides,” featuring five Jersey Mike’s executives (president, COO, CIO, CDO, and
CMO), and one of their area developer
franchisees. In a free-ranging discussion, they spoke about breaking down
silos, the power of the brand name, and
the importance of working together on
building the system. “We all try to think
with the end in mind—revenue growth
and unit profitability for the stores,” said
Hoyt Jones, company president. “That’s
the foundation of everything we think
about.” They also discussed how their
home-grown POS system ties everything
together, from measuring food and labor
costs to the brand’s CRM system and
loyalty program.

Day One was capped off by a welcome
reception in the Sponsor Networking
Gallery.
Day Two: demographics rule

Picking up right where the previous day
left off, attendees gathered for breakfast
and more conversation in the Networking Gallery.
Keynote speaker Kelly McDonald, a
marketing and demographics expert, woke
everyone up even more with a dynamic,
energetic talk on… demographics. Acknowledging how often eyes glaze over
at the mere mention of the word, she said,
“If I were you and were developing relevant, targeted marketing plans, I’d want
to know this stuff”—and proceeded to
make that “stuff” interesting and relevant.
She began by asserting that America is
no longer a melting pot, but a “salad bowl,”
where immigrants are not assimilating as
they have in the past, but are working to
be Americans and retain their cultural
identities and customs. This, of course,
presents a challenge for marketers and
brands, especially older, whiter ones. She
noted that across every major market in
the country, the majority of the population is non-white, and that, nationwide,
whites will be a minority by 2041. The