Consumer Marketing News, Views, and Reviews: October 26, 2021

Welcome back to our monthly news roundup for franchise consumer marketers! Feeling whipsawed by the pandemic? After Covid’s delta variation threw cold water on summer’s optimism, there is a feeling that the worst is behind us (with increasing vaccinations and barring new variations). Still, as franchising carries on with growth and expansion, marketers must market and winners will adapt! So here’s what’s trending in franchise consumer marketing and related news as of late October 2021.

MARKETING/CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Is Your Marketing Ready To Meet the Demands of Holiday 2021?

Restaurants Spend Big for Upgraded Wintertime Outdoor Dining 

10 Steps To Optimize Your Content Marketing Program for ROI

5 Questions To Answer Before Launching a Premium Loyalty Program

Top 5 Customer Loyalty Tactics for a Reliable Consumer Base (on-demand webinar)

Email Is the Preferred Marketing Channel for Hungry Millennials

Consumer Assumptions Based on Age No Longer Apply

Report: How Brands Are Implementing Influencer Marketing

How Marketers Can Earn Gen Z’s Attention in an Omnichannel World

5 B2B Marketing Takeaways To Inform Your 2022 Marketing Plans (on-demand webinar)

Big Hotel Brands Bet on All-Inclusive Resorts To Counter Covid-19 Slump

What Marketers Need To Know About the IAB’s Latest Ad Fraud Takedown

REOPENING & RECOVERY

What the Pandemic Continues To Teach Us About Customer Wants and Needs

Dollar Stores Hit a Pandemic Downturn

The Co-Working Industry Is About to Experience a $13 Billion Boom

WeWork To Report $1.5B Yearly Loss Weeks Before $9B IPO

Burger King Tests Plant-Based Nuggets in 4 U.S. Cities as of Oct. 11

McDonald’s To Test McPlant Meatless Burger at 8 U.S. Restaurants Starting Nov. 3

HIRING & EMPLOYMENT

4 Reasons Employee Retention Is Critical To Long-Term Success

Study: Increased Pay Alone Won’t Attract Employees

5 Reasons People Quit, and 10 Things You Can Do To Make Them Stay

Leveraging Marketing Tech To Recruit the Best Restaurant Employees

Raising Cane’s Corporate Staff To Work Inside Stores, Recruit Talent Amid Labor Shortage

COMPANY NEWS

Will Facebook Reveal a Metaverse-Inspired Corporate Name Change?

BurgerFi To Acquire Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza & Wings for $161 Million

Papa John’s Signs 100-Unit Deal with Sun Holdings, Brand’s Largest U.S. Deal

Kitchen United Acquires Ghost Kitchen Developer Zuul

Franklin Junction Adds Dickey’s Barbecue Pit to Roster of Host Kitchen Brand Partners

Little Caesars Pursues New England Expansion, Targets 50 Units by 2026

LEGAL

7-Eleven National Coalition Files Petition with FTC To Investigate Franchising To Better Protect Franchisees

TECHNOLOGY

Top 10 Digital Transformation Trends for 2022

Instagram Adds New Data Analytics To Provide More Performance Insight for Marketers

Instagram Tests Longer Videos in Stories, New Stories-to-Reels Links

Snap’s Revenue Miss Highlights Outsized Impact of Apple's Tracking Changes

FRANCHISING CARES

Hungry Howie’s 12th Love, Hope & Pizza Campaign Partners with National Breast Cancer Foundation

Dutch Bros Raises More than $695,000 for Local Youth Organizations

Panera Bread & Susan G. Komen Partner To Support Breast Cancer Cures