Market

David Buckley is a busy marketing executive. He's responsible for development, planning, and execution of the consumer marketing strategies for not just one, but four retail chains under the Sears label. He also oversees marketing efforts for the brand's more than 1,200 locations. Before taking the CMO post with Sears, Buckley spent time as global director of advertising for the Associated Press, where he led the advertising strategy for digital assets, focusing on mobile and tablet technologies.
Note: For Buckley's views on how the CMO role can enhance franchise recruitment, see our online newsletter, Franchise Update Sales Report (May 2013).

Describe your role as CMO. As CMO for Sears Hometown & Outlet Store, Inc., I am responsible for the consumer marketing strategies for four unique formats: Sears Hometown Stores, Sears Home Appliance Showrooms, Sears Appliance & Hardware Stores, and Sears Outlet Stores...

Wendy Odell Magus is in the driver's seat, a position she relishes--and excels at. With more than two decades in marketing, she understands both the consumer and franchise sides of marketing and communication. This background has come in handy for her this year as she steers Franchise Update's 3rd annual Franchise Consumer Marketing Conference as its 2013 chair. The event takes place this June 25-26 at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead in Atlanta.
Magus was selected for her proven understanding of strategic marketing planning and implementation, honed on the job at brands like Sylvan and now Kiddie Academy, where she has been since 2008 and serves as vice president of marketing. Her goal as conference chair is to ensure that the CEOs, presidents, and marketing executives who attend take home "actionable initiatives," as well as create new, meaningful relationships with other marketing professionals and suppliers who will be there...

David Buckley, CMO at Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores, Inc., is a busy marketing executive. He's responsible for the development, planning, and execution of the consumer marketing strategies for not just one, but four retail chains under the Sears label. He also oversees marketing efforts for the brand's more than 1,200 locations. Before taking the CMO post with Sears, Buckley spent time as global director of advertising for the Associated Press, where he led the advertising strategy for digital assets, focusing on mobile and tablet technologies. For more of Buckley's views on the role of today's CMO, see the Q2 issue of Franchise Update magazine, available online by the end of May.


Describe your role as CMO.As CMO for Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores, Inc...

Using innovation and technology to compete

If you and your franchisees are currently making a profit, let me remind you: There are people who are dedicating their lives to taking that profit away from you. (And no, I am not talking about the government.) I am talking about innovators: people who break with conventional industry practices while most players just maintain the status quo. I just had an amazing experience with a company called Uber, which is killing competitors with innovation.
My story starts at an out-of-town event held at an executive's home. When I needed a taxi back to my hotel, my host said, "You should user Uber. They are very fast and reliable. You download their app, sign up with your name and your credit card information, and it uses your smartphone's GPS to know exactly where you are...

"How does the marketing department fit into the 'development culture' of your brand?"

A quick "101" in generational understanding

By Jennifer Kushell

If you are one of the countless franchisors struggling to make the most of your relationships with Millennial employees, here is a quick guide to turning those born after 1980 into some of your biggest fans--and assets.

Rich Hope spent three decades in advertising and is comfortable planning marketing strategies and executing successful campaigns. The former ad man learned how to reach customers and, perhaps more importantly, to create loyal customers. As CMO of Jersey Mike's Subs, Hope has been behind the wheel overseeing all brand management, as well as national and local marketing activities.
Jersey Mike's truly has its own culture, as well as a grassroots base of passionate followers--which provides a great resource for Hope and his team to capitalize on. During the past couple of years, the brand has successfully used tools including social media to promote its message of "giving back to the community."
Hope says Jersey Mike's is not interested in "quick fixes," but rather in creating relationships with people who buy in wholeheartedly to what the brand offers...

"How do you stage a successful new store grand opening, soup to nuts?"

David Buckley
Chief Marketing Officer
Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores
The first step to a successful franchisee grand opening is disciplined advance planning. Our planning begins with a review of our cadence for chain-wide promotional offers to select a date where we will have the most attractive offers in the marketplace. A successful grand opening is built upon a solid promotional offer. Once we have selected a date for our grand opening, we will execute multiple grand openings on the same date to drive operational efficiencies. This allows us to increase the effectiveness of our budgeted investment for the event. With advance planning we are also able to leverage our existing media, versioning the advertising to support grand opening markets...

Terri Snyder's 30 years of experience in foodservice marketing include stints with Pizza Hut, Domino's, and T.G.I. Friday's. During the past 5 years, she has served as CMO of Checkers Drive-In Restaurants (which also includes Rally's). Under her watch, the nearly 800-unit brand has received some of the restaurant industry's most prestigious awards including "Best Drive-Thru in America" from QSR magazine, and the "Hot! Again" award from Nation's Restaurant News. Since the marketing director and team play a vital role in the ongoing health and prosperity of a brand, we asked her to discuss leadership and development from a marketing perspective.

Describe your role as a franchise CMO.Serving as a franchise CMO is a broader, more complex, and, I believe, more gratifying role than that of a traditional CMO...

Customer journey mapping is a hot topic for the leaders of franchise organizations. Why now? For one reason, because customers connect with us and we connect with them in ways that were not imagined 10 years ago: through Groupon, social networking, smartphones, and online reservations and ordering. We must manage these new developments in addition to providing a superior customer experience inside the four walls, which is more important than ever before.

Customer point of view
There are so many customer touchpoints through various channels and at different stages in the customer lifecycle that you almost have to see what's happening to really wrap your mind around all the ways customers perceive your brand today. Thus the rise of customer journey mapping...

Rock the Cut promotion pairs Supercuts stylists with "indie" bands

Cheryl and Joey Robinson operate 35 Supercuts locations in the Los Angeles area. Cheryl represents their company, Sapphire Ventures, on the board of the Supercuts Franchise Association (SFA). Together with Joey, they led the production of a terrific SFA conference to introduce "Rock the Cut," a new marketing campaign that touches Supercuts' customers in multiple ways.
By now, you've probably been exposed to Supercuts TV spots that pair indie bands like Vintage Trouble with Supercuts employees. Candid rehearsal shots and live concert footage are mixed in with images of band members interacting with stylists at Supercuts. "You have a pride in the way you step out into public, especially when you have a good haircut," says Ty Taylor, Vintage Trouble's front man, in one of the 60-second spots...

"What are the keys to better, more open communication between your brand, franchisees, and customers? What tools or strategies do you use?"

Scott Iversen
Director of Marketing
Toppers Pizza Inc.
When it comes to communication, no two brands are the same. While some of their technologies (extranet sites, social media footprint, advertising strategies) might align, communication is not a one-size-fits all box. Communication, though, is critical for success. It is the most crucial beginning to any process, whether brand, franchisee, or customer. Communication is where first impressions are made and, hopefully, last.
When it comes to communicating our brand, we take a very open approach, from our messaging to advertising to PR to social footprints...

How is the trend towards transparency and increased disclosure helping you to increase sales leads, quality, and deals?

Lori Merrall
National Director of Franchise Sales
Massage Envy Spa
Massage Envy Spa has always been transparent when it comes to sharing its franchising opportunity with prospective franchisees. In our FDD Item 19, we include average unit volume and year-over-year growth numbers that provide candidates with the means to clearly evaluate our financial performance. While the FDD is readily available to anyone interested in learning more about Massage Envy Spa, we also ensure that some of these key evaluating factors are present in all of marketing materials.
Massage Envy provides its regional developers, who are actually recruiting franchisees for their territories, with a multitude of marketing tools they can use for recruitment...

John Dillon is a straight shooter in describing what he's been doing as vice president of marketing and product development at Denny's. "I've spent the last five years working to drive the overall marketing strategy for the brand and spearhead compelling marketing campaigns that will help drive sales in our restaurants," he says.
Dillon is no newcomer to franchise marketing. Before joining Denny's, he was vice president of marketing for the NBA's Houston Rockets. He also spent 10 years with Yum Brands, where he held various leadership positions in brand marketing, national product launches, menu development, consumer insights and strategy, product innovation, field marketing, and finance.
We asked him about Denny's approach to franchisee relationships and collaboration, and what role strategies like "full disclosure" and "transparency" have had had on sales, customer satisfaction, and system growth...

When the keynotes, panelists, and attendees at a conference can't stop talking about emerging technology and social media tools, it says a lot about the current state of franchise marketing. So it was at the 2nd annual Franchise Update Franchise Consumer Marketing Conference, held at the elegant, historical Fairmont Hotel atop San Francisco's Nob Hill this past June.
Since its launch in June 2011, the conference has become a darling of chief marketing officers, brand managers, and marketing managers. Increased attendance by franchise marketing executives and sponsors were a testament to the event's rapid growth. With 95 franchisors representing 140 brands, the conference doubled in size from its inaugural year--and so did the number of exhibitors...

Guerilla marketing, grassroots marketing, local store marketing... Whatever you call it, all sales are local, to paraphrase former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill. Increasingly, franchisors are taking the local marketing bull by the horns and establishing collaborative programs with franchisees to increase their same-store sales. We take a look at three brands establishing marketing programs that take the franchisor's years of experience and expertise and translate it into low-cost, grassroots success at the store level.

When the weather in Pennsylvania turned unexpectedly warm this past March, the local Quaker Steak & Lube held an "emergency" bike night in their parking lot--much earlier in the year than usually possible...

Despite the best intentions and bona fide efforts of reasonable clients, not every lawsuit is avoidable. Certainly not in these litigious times. Franchisors must be prepared to defend their companies wisely, tenaciously, and efficiently.
In franchise systems it can go like this. A mistake was made, or might have been made. Well, at least, it's alleged to have been made, and the allegations come from one or more disgruntled franchisees. Despite your objective review of the situation and face-to-face meetings with these franchisees, they simply won't accept your very reasonable conclusion that nothing wrong occurred or, if it did, that no one was damaged. Why are they being unreasonable?
It could be they're acting in good faith and things simply appear very different from their perspective...

From a marketing perspective, what are the keys to improving franchise system response for existing franchisees and customers?


Nikki Sicilian
Director, Marketing and Development
Buffalo Wing Factory & Pub
At Buffalo Wing Factory & Pub, we have continued to focus on the basics of the restaurant industry, especially during these economic times, and on including ways to reach our customers.
Keeping with the basics, we look to develop personal relationships. It's simple, inexpensive, and effective. This is the focal point of our marketing method and philosophy. While Buffalo Wing Factory is in the infancy stage of franchising, our corporate stores have 20-plus years of success, with increasing store comps each year based on our relationship with our customers...

I remember learning a song as a little girl that has stuck with me ever since. The tune was about friendship and is one you've probably heard too. The lyrics are, "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold."
As I watch the franchise world courting shiny new marketing channels such as social media and QR codes, I can't help but hear that song again. Yes, it certainly is important to learn about and incorporate the newest channels into your marketing mix. But as the song hints, this doesn't mean you should abandon your "old" marketing media friends.
Traditional marketing media are old, but the results they can generate are still gold. You just have to keep a fresh approach to using them. Here are three tips to mine the ROI (gold) from your old marketing media...

"What seems to have changed is a couple of yahoos in a pizza joint sticking cheese up their nose can threaten a global brand."

That comment, attributed to a Nightline reporter in 2009, neatly summarizes a growing problem facing franchise brands in 2012: how to manage their brand's reputation--both online and off--in the 24/7 crucible of news, online reviews, and social media.
"He's right, that's exactly what can happen," says Rhonda Sanderson, president of Sanderson & Associates in Chicago. "From the top of the food chain to the bottom of the food chain, what control do you have hiring $9 an hour kids?"
No matter how good your training is, controlling the behavior of all your front-line staff all the time simply is not possible...