The Future of Franchising: 2024 FCXC conference mixes in large measure of AI

By: Kerry Pipes | 117 Reads |

Featured in: Franchise Update Magazine: Issue 3, 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) took center stage at this year’s Franchise Customer Experience Conference (FCXC) in Atlanta. In sessions and during hallway conversations, attendees discussed the rapid development of AI and its potential applications in consumer marketing, including franchisee benchmarking, training, recruitment, and more.

Franchise Update Media and the International Franchise Association invited franchise executives to examine the many facets of the customer experience. Held at the InterContinental Buckhead hotel in June, the annual FCXC gathering covered a wide range of topics, such as operations, technology, branding, and consumer marketing. Top minds in franchise marketing were on hand to share their expertise while also picking up ideas for their own brands.

Three Summits helped to kick off the event. The CEO Summit and CMO/COO Summit were joined by the new CTO Summit. In addition, the conference featured key findings from the Annual Franchise Marketing Report (AFMR), and the winners of the 2024 Franchise Innovation Awards were announced. Attendees also had plenty of time to connect, learn, and potentially strike up new deals.

Keynote speakers, general sessions, breakout sessions, and a sold-out Sponsor Networking Area were made possible thanks to sponsors like AnswerConnect and Baesman Group. Both were Platinum Sponsors for this year’s event.

3 X Summits

Day one kicked off with three concurrent summits. The CEO Summit, “AI Deployment Insights,” offered franchise leaders real-life examples of AI integration into existing business functions. The goal was to provide attendees with practical strategies on how to use AI to improve their customer experience, drive growth, and stay ahead of the curve on AI trends in franchising.

Clarissa Bradstock, conference chair and CEO of Any Lab Test Now, moderated high-powered discussions of how franchise brands are using AI. She offered several examples of how her company is evaluating the pros and cons of several AI-based tools.

The first of two roundtables saw participants discussing their own use cases, such as using AI for email responses, call centers, content and image generation, digital marketing, and training. Participants examined the risks and challenges of implementing AI, including high costs, the rapid pace of change in the technology, staff and franchisee adoption, and protecting intellectual property. “AI is like a 7-year-old,” noted one attendee.

The CMO/COO Summit dealt with ways these two departments could merge operational efficiencies with innovative marketing strategies to create new opportunities for brand growth. The session examined ways to enhance brand consistency system wide, refine local marketing efforts, and leverage technology and data integration to help make better decisions for the brand and franchisees.

The session was moderated by Sunny Ashman, a consultant with Experiential Brands. It featured Kelly Crompvoets, VP, marketing for Any Lab Text Now, Brenda Elpers, SVP, operations for Chick N Max, Russell Hoff, COO, for Massage Heights, and Rob Elliot, EVP, marketing for Hungry Howie’s.

“We don’t want to be siloed,” Elliot said. “We want to be one united team. That’s what we try to do.”

Nearby, the new kid on the block, “CTO Summit: Tech Stack Readiness,” focused on how technology can help streamline operations, improve franchisor-franchisee communication, and enhance franchisee performance. The workshop, led by Greg Cory, CEO of CTO Nation, tackled ways to improve a franchise’s tech stack, digging into topics such as identifying gaps in existing systems, new budget-friendly technology options, and ensuring those technologies align with overall goals.

The session offered expert-led discussions that provided insights on evaluating and integrating existing systems to determine what new, scalable solutions are needed to support franchise operations. Participants explored methods to ensure that technology deployments align with broad organizational goals. Panelists included Goldfish Swim Schools CTO Dennis Leskowski, Floor Coverings International CIO Ryan Aschauer, and Daddy’s Chicken Shack/Port of Subs President and CTO Tony Adams.

Key topics

Every FCXC event is laser-focused on addressing the key issues facing franchise marketing executives today. It’s designed to be educational and interactive. Whether it was a workshop on mapping the customer experience journey, a business solution roundtable, or impromptu hallway conversations, FCXC provided attendees with plenty of information to take back to their home offices.

“We are here to explore the transformative power of the consumer experience and learn how to reimagine traditional marketing,” Franchise Update Media’s CEO Therese Thilgen said in her opening address.

Conference Chair Bradstock then took the stage: “The key thing about this conference is the people you meet here. We all step up our game by getting to know people here.”

Next up was keynote speaker and futurist Mike Walsh, a best-selling author and CEO of Tomorrow, a global innovation consultancy. He talked about what it will mean to live in an AI world for customers and workers.

“AI will make every company a technology company,” he said as he tossed out what he called “mind grenades” of thoughts and observations. “Does AI have us at the dawn of a new industrial revolution?”

He encouraged attendees to find ways to use AI to make themselves better leaders and create value for their companies.

The General Session continued with a short “Fireside Chat on Responsible Franchising,” followed by a General Session panel called “Cross-Functional Approach to CX.” This panel featured Scott Taylor, CEO of Cherry Bounce Hospitality, Liz McCurtain, VP, operations at Papa Johns, Mike Rotondo, CEO of Altitude Trampoline Parks, and Larisa Walega, CGO of Ziebart International Corporation. The discussion covered how brands can seamlessly collaborate with different departments and franchisees. The panelists considered how technology tools, training, and a dedicated corporate team can advance the customer experience at all levels.

Economic report

Next, FRANdata president Darrell Johnson presented his economic report. He said the economic outlook is a mixed bag. Consumers are worried about inflation, and even though wages are rising, interest rates remain high. He noted that household debt is on the rise along with delinquencies.

He said Gen Z is poised to become the dominant spending force in the next decade. Unlike previous generations, they rely more on social media than search engines to discover brands. “This shift in consumer behavior necessitates a reevaluation of marketing strategies,” he said.

On the topic of AI, Johnson said the technology is changing operations in areas such as training, franchisee support, predictive analytics, and customer feedback management. “Marketing is changing in the face of AI,” he said, but advised listeners to “be careful what you’re looking at and interpreting.”

The first full day of the conference concluded with two hours in the Sponsor Networking Area, allowing attendees one-on-one access to vendors, suppliers, networking, and of course, refreshments.

A busy day

Day two of the event began with a general session and case study of Batteries Plus. A panel from the brand highlighted efforts to create solutions for franchisees and their customers. They gave examples of how they developed relationships and supported franchisees trying to land commercial business. The goal, the panelists said, was making sure there was a customer-centric culture backed by consistency. Sam Ballas, CEO, president, and founder of East Coast Wings + Grill, moderated the session that included Batteries Plus executives Joe Malmuth, Derek Detenber, Kranthi Malreddy, Jason Moss, Jon Sica, and franchisee Alyson Watson.

The Innovation Awards winners for Marketing and Operations & Technology Innovator of the Year awards were recognized for excellence in franchising. Finalists from each of the two categories presented their innovative ideas, strategies to execute them, and the successful results of their initiatives. This year, four finalists in each category vied for the top overall awards.

Franchise Update Media’s EVP & Chief Content Officer Diane Phibbs unveiled key takeaways from the 2024 Annual Franchise Marketing Report (AFMR). This proprietary, in-depth survey conducted by Franchise Update Media measured the marketing practices and strategies of dozens of franchise brands. You can find a more comprehensive analysis of the report’s findings on page 56.

One more General Session Panel, “Monetizing the Customer Experience Across Discipline–How to Build a CX Program That Drives Top and Bottom-Line Revenue” was led by Barbara Moran-Goodrich, president and CEO of Moran Family of Brands. The panel included Ryan Farris, COO of AlphaGraphics, Kristen Pechacek, president & CEO of MassageLuXe, and Scott Snyder, CEO of Royal Aloha Franchise Company (Bad Ass Coffee of Hawaii).

The afternoon then featured several breakout sessions, including “Using Data to Create Personalized Marketing Experiences,” “Maintaining Consistent Customer Experiences Across the System,” and “What to Do with a Botched Tech Rollout.” Other afternoon sessions included “Marketing Programs That Maximize Spend, Execution & Results,” “Using AI to Improve Execution and Customer Experience,” and “Utilizing Customer Feedback & Data to Improve Customer Experience.”

New to the FCXC this year was a fully interactive session called “Meet Your Match with Supplier Sponsors.” Conference sponsors got the chance to make two-minute business pitches with franchisors before each brand executive rotated to another sponsor spot. The rapid-fire pitches gave franchise executives opportunities to learn about products and services, identify potential partners, and collect information to share with their brands. The room buzzed for two back-to-back sessions and both sponsors and franchisors responded positively.

The Franchise Innovation Awards Ceremony closed out the day with an open bar and heavy hors d’oeuvres.

The Reviews are in

FCXC attendees seemed pleased with their investment to attend the conference.

Madeleine Zook, CMO of Premium Service Brands, said, “I love coming because you get a lot of great minds in one place talking about what’s working and what’s not working. And we can also talk about what we can build in this industry that’s better. That’s different than a lot of other conferences. This conference has brainstorming, sharing, and benchmarking. We get not just good ideas but actionable plans from this conference.”

Amanda Maquet, VP of marketing of Moran Family of Brands, said, “This conference provides access to a great wealth of knowledge from both speakers and peers. I love hearing what’s working, seeing the transparency and communication that takes place at this conference, and having an open line of communication that gives you great ideas to apply in your franchise system.”

Rob Elliot, EVP of marketing at Hungry Howie’s, added, “I love the hallway conversations. I love talking to my peers and finding out what they are doing to maximize their advertising presence and investment.”

Next year’s FCXC will be June 24–26 at the InterContinental Buckhead in Atlanta. You can find out more about the event on franchising.com.