One of the challenges that I seem to be facing like never before is the amount of franchise businesses, vs the lack of local brands. The franchises believe they don't have to advertise locally because they are a Panera, or Sportclips, ect. I have 30 of these on my prospect list, I have met with every local owner or manager; as some owners live outta of state and are hands off. The owners I have met with locally all think that their franchise agreement takes care of their advertising needs due to co-op fund they pay into. I have explained that it only pays for POS materials and various national advertising initiatives. "We just don't have the budget to advertise locally and besides that we are NOT allowed to represent the brand without permission from corporate". So you call the corporate, who tells you they don't advertise on a local level just regionally, so you get the contact info for the district manager or regional marketing person who informs you that you need to call marketing/advertising back at the franchise to find details of upcoming promotions and advertising, who either does not return your email, call or don't know the answer.
Is anyone else facing this frustration, the franchise owner is NOT the decision maker or are they?
Thank you,
Joshua Fleming, CRME
I would love some insight on this question, as it is an issue I am encountering with frustrating frequency. It's as if these folks buy a franchise and then just expect money to start falling from the sky, with no additional investment from them.
Our stations added me as National Accounts to deal with this sort of stuff, exactly. The co-op is frequently a board of owners and pot of money and they ARE SUPPOSED to buy radio and media in the local market with that money. It is meant to be in addition to the national buys. If the Subway regional or Ace Hardware or regional Toyota is NOT spending in your market, that franchisee may have a legitimate case that their co-op is not giving back adequate value.
There is usually an agency involved and they have to get their 15% so the smartest franchisees will pay into the co-op expecting for those dollars to come back in media, AND also buys local promotions like our sweeps trip giveaways or event booths or music feature sponsorships that the agencies won't buy from us.
The local franchisee is a legit local account but if they cry poverty, ask them about their regional management structure and who is in charge of that pool of co-op money. The franchisors know they made a commitment to spend it. It might take you some legwork but keep asking the "decision-maker" questions.
I should clarify "co-op" here is the co-operative buying arrangement the franchisees in a region might put together to buy media and assets shared among the owners.
There is also co-op dollars from manufacturers of course and that may also be in play for certain retailers. But I meant the owners' group to combine forces to buy media.
