Your franchise brand can be its most single valuable asset.  It takes years to build a reputation and a name that is identified with your business.  AllBusiness.com has provided some tips on protecting your franchise brand.

What does all this mean for your franchise brand? A strong business brand is particularly important in a franchised network of businesses because it is the singular symbol and the common identity used to identify independently owned franchises to the public as one organization. The products and services offered by franchisees are all represented by the brand; it’s the one name that appears over everyone’s door.

Given its importance in any franchise network, great effort goes into promoting the brand and, of course, protecting it. Wise franchise managers know that their brand is as fragile as any person’s reputation. It can be irretrievably injured by bad decisions and bad behavior, and it can be sullied and devalued as easily as a jilted high school friend can start a gossip campaign.

Franchisors and their franchisees should take these four basic steps to protect their common brand:

1.

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It’s very interesting how opinions have changed over the last few years in marketing about what your free giveaway should be. I don’t mean the format it should take (i.e report, e-book, newsletter etc), but what the topic should be and the type of people it should attract. 

I know I’ve certainly changed my opinion. 

For the last few years in my business, I’ve been giving away 50 free ways to promote your business and you know what, it’s got results. I’ve attracted lots and lots of new contacts to my business and they’ve all been very happy to give me their contact details. 

The theory then goes that once they’ve given you their contact details and therefore expressed interest in what you do, they should go onto buy from you, right? 

Well no actually. Not necessarily.

The chances are actually much higher that they’ll grab your free giveaway with both hands and you’ll never hear from them again. 

Now I’m not saying that offering a free giveaway is the wrong thing to do, but you must be very careful with what information you give away in order to attract the right people to your business. 

If I offer 50 free ways to promote your business, who am I attracting with this information? 

I’m attracting people who DON’T WANT to spend any money on marketing. 

Is that who I want to attract? Well, no not really. 

Who I want to attract are small business owners  who want some help with their marketing AND who are willing to pay for someone to help them with it. 

Could I change my free offering to attract these sorts of people? Absolutely. While I may not as many people signing up, they would  be much more qualified and therefore much more likely to turn into clients. 

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The other night (after a very long week I hasten to add) my husband and I went to Prezzo, the Italian Restaurant Chain. Prezzo is a company that I really admire in terms of marketing, because they really have it spot on. Granted they have a huge marketing team and probably a large budget to boot, but there are some things that they do really well that you can implement in your business for free. So what do they do? 

Firstly, they know that people love a bargain and they want to get people into their restaurants. So what they have done is provided vouchers and have literally put their vouchers onto every voucher website they can find out there. I guarantee you that if you do a search for Prezzo vouchers, you’ll find them easily. 

These vouchers vary from buy a main course for a £1 to two main courses for £12 and a number of other ones, but they’ve tested them to see what works and keep rotating these. This is fantastic because if you’re looking to go out for dinner, don’t want to spend a fortune and like a bargain, you’ll definitely be attracted to Prezzos. 

But – you can’t just get these vouchers. Oh no! You have to enter your details into the voucher system and you get sent a voucher by email or text. Again, this is great marketing – Prezzos not only know exactly who has got a voucher, they know who has used it and they have their contact details. 

So, guess what they do when they have this information – they contact you via email or text to let you know that they’ve just released a new voucher and you may want to go to Prezzos again. After all, they know you’ve already been there once don’t they because they’ve tracked your use of the voucher. So, it stands to reason that you might go again. But that’s not all. 

On top of this, they also use social networking extremely well particularly Facebook.

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Why should you bother doing any marketing during July and August? After all, most people are away on holiday aren’t they? No one is really around so there doesn’t seem to be much point in doing a lot of marketing. You might as well just have some time off and take things a little bit easier. 

Well, I’m here to argue that this common assumption is wrong and thinking in this way could actually be extremely detrimental to your business come the Autumn. 

Here’s why I’m arguing this point. 

Last year in 2010, August was my busiest month of the year. We were really, really busy and there was loads going on. There was actually a week where we couldn’t handle all the workload and my husband had to step in and help us out. 

How is this possible if everyone was on holiday? 

Well let’s look at this realistically. 

Yes, there are some people off on holiday; there are some people who have childcare issues and yes, life is slightly different. 

But not everyone is in this situation. People only go on holiday for one to two weeks and then they’re back at work. People can make arrangements for childcare. Life doesn’t stop just because it’s July and August. 

In addition to this, I am a firm believer in that any marketing you do today will take approximately three months to have an impact on your business. That means that if you choose not to do any marketing during July and August, come September, October and November, no business will be coming in through the door. 

So here are my top tips on how you can make the most of July and August:

1. Remember that very few other business owners will be marketing their businesses during these two months so if you do some marketing, you’ll be ahead of the game.

2.

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Synopsis: It’s said that you can’t find the right answers until you ask the right questions. So with that in mind if you are thinking of hiring a public relations firm or of launching a media relations campaign for yourself, the following is a list of how to points to ask yourself before moving forward. Done correctly a PR campaign can establish your brand and build your business and establish you as an expert in your field. It’s the most powerful marketing tool out there, so give it a shot, but first do your homework and review the checklist.

It’s said that you can’t find the right answers until you ask the right questions. So with that in mind if you are thinking of hiring a PR firm or of launching a media relations campaign for yourself, the following is a list of how to questions to ask yourself before moving forward. Done correctly, a PR campaign can establish your brand and build your business and establish you as an expert in your field. It’s the most powerful marketing tool out there, so give it a shot, but first do your homework. Find out what you need to know how to do in the list below.

As you go through the list, write out your answers and see where you feel most comfortable and where you feel you need some help, or points that you need to give more thought to. Once you’ve reviewed the questions and developed your own list, you can start searching for the right answers.

With that in mind, before you move forward on a PR campaign, you want to know:

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Public relations is the most effective and least expensive way to build your brand, grow your business and establish you as a go-to expert in your field. Whether or not you should launch a media relations campaign should not be the question, because the answer to that is a no-brainer; yes you should. The real question is how are you going to do that? Your best bet is to bring on a firm or media consultant who can chart your marketing course for you and launch your campaign. But whatever avenue you choose, the following points apply.

Don’t think that a PR, media relations or publicity campaign comes down to spamming the media with press releases and pitches. The media is inundated with press releases. They’re not looking for releases; they’re looking for good stories. Simply sending out a release is not going to do the trick.

Press releases do have other uses nowadays. They are no longer pitches that you simply send to the media. With blogs, forums, social media and online press release services you can now use your releases to directly reach your customer. In fact, that is probably the biggest value that a press release posted online has for a small company. Chances are slim that the traditional media will react to an online press release, but it will help with your SEO and it is a direct way for you to reach customers. One note of warning, do not post a press release on a blog site or forum in a press release format. You might want to take some of that information and post in it a conversational way. But posting a standard press release on a blog or social media site will generally backfire on you. Your best bet is to comment on blogs, forums, social media sites or forums, but don’t pitch your product or service. Talk about your field in general. Educate, give some tips but don’t try and sell.

When you do decide to give PR a shot, remember you’re not Google or American Express.

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1. Got Ego?
Not yours… the designer’s.
Most doctors have lousy handwriting. All politicians promise you the world. Many designers are divas. Great designers check their ego at the door. It’s not about them, it’s about you and making you look good. If a designer insists on telling you what they have accomplished instead of asking what YOU are trying to accomplish, then move on.

2. Too Many Designers, Not Enough Time.
Don’t overdo the review process. Find three designers that you feel comfortable with to quote your work. Anything more is just overkill and it will drive you crazy. Make sure they are all quoting apples to apples as well. And don’t have them re-quote 20 times. It’s just not fair to the designers and will leave a bad taste in their mouths (and it won’t taste like apples).

3. Review Designers’ Portfolios.
Does the portfolio jive with your needs and taste? Has the designer worked in your industry? Does he claim to be all things to all people or have a niche? Be wary of designers who insist they can work in any arena. It’s difficult for me to believe someone whose work is 90% comprised of construction industry design materials can effectively create a perfume campaign for Britney Spears’ “Deseo” scent.

4. Expect A Lot of Questions.
When reviewing designers, if they don’t ask a lot of questions, RUN! Fast. A great designer needs to ask a lot of questions in order to thoroughly familiarize himself with your company, your product or service, and especially, you.

5. Be Specific About Your Needs.
Plan your project ahead of time. Look at designs/campaigns you like. Do your homework before looking at designers.

6.

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You may think Nike sells shoes and Apple sells Macs and iPhones, but you’re wrong. They sell their brand. Developing a powerful brand can spell the difference between struggling to make ends meet and achieving real success. Why is developing a successful brand so important? Take a Nike shoe or an iPhone and replace the known brand name with a generic label: you’ve just demonetized both products. Both are as functional as they were before, but neither is as valuable. The brand is what creates the value.

So, what is a brand? According to Wikipedia, a brand is: “the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them) and how it relates to key constituencies: customers, staff, partners, investors etc. Some people distinguish the psychological aspect, brand associations like thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that become linked to the brand, of a brand from the experiential aspect.”

In other words a brand is not a product; it is the emotions, thoughts, and perceptions that a product elicits. It is those reactions that create a brand’s value. If the majority of people agree that something is valuable, then it’s valuable. The value isn’t necessarily intrinsic to the product itself. The value comes from the worth we collectively assign to it.

For example, if you show someone a painting and say it was painted by John Smith, it will be assigned a particular value, if you then say you were wrong and it was actually painted by Rembrandt, the value of the painting will skyrocket. The Rembrandt name, label, brand (what have you) is what drives the value. Similarly, people will pay top dollar for an original fashion designer’s purse. They’ll also pay for a complete counterfeit product, if it carries the right label. The label carries the value.

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It’s pretty amazing what a video on YouTube can do. For example, when a video of John Jacobson’s educational choreography “Planet Rock” was posted on YouTube, and renamed “Double Dream Hands” (DDH), no one could have foreseen the phenomena that would ensue. In a short three-month period, the video garnered over 2.39 million hits on YouTube, and spanned countless remakes, one of them set to a Bollywood song. The video has now spawned an industry – including appearances in the national media, a phone app, a book, and a DVD.

The video has touched a chord with children and adults worldwide and John receives emails from all parts of the globe praising the song and choreography. John recently walked into a classroom in Mali, Africa, whereupon recognizing him, the children spontaneously burst into Double Dream Hands. On January 26, 2011, John was featured on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The episode celebrated Ellen’s birthday and as a present, her staff joined John in performing the Double Dream Hands dance. Upcoming television appearances include a VH1 special on viral videos. The video has now spawned an industry.

A Double Dream Hands iPhone application is now available for purchase at Apple’s iTunes store. Fans can upload a picture of themselves (or a picture of their friends, parents, grandparents, favourite celebrities, etc.) doing the DDH dance, wearing John’s famous yellow polo and sporting blond hair!

The popularity of Double Dream Hands has given John a broader voice and he is proud to present his new book Double Dreams: Living a Life of Glee, Harmony and, Oh Yes… Jazz Hands!, which will be available at the end of May on Amazon.com and in bookstores. The book is a collection of heart-warming stories about kids, music, and dance.

John’s family fitness DVD Double Dream Hands: Songs for Fun and Fitness will be available in May.

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“When the truth is found to be lies, and all the hope within you dies.”

Yes the Don’t you want some Brands to Love?
Don’t you need some Brands to Love?
You gotta find some Brands to Love.

Coen brothers got the classic Jefferson Airplane lyric a little wrong, but let’s (hint) hope that brand marketers don’t make the same mistake.  Trust, based on truth, equals credibility, in interpersonal relationships as well as for people/brand relationships.

Edelman’s recent 8095 (born 1980-’95) study of how Millennials connect with brands clearly demonstrates that brand trust is the sine qua non of marketing in the social media age. According to Edelman’s research, eight of 10 Millennials have taken some form of personal action on behalf of a brand they consider trustworthy.  Involvement ranges from sharing brand experiences with friends and family, on and off-line, to joining online communities and posting reviews. Better watch out though, because Millennials are just as activist when a brand experience fails to meet their expectations.

That New Brand Religion

Happily, these newly empowered Millennials, an even larger generational cohort than their boomer parents, in short, want some brands to love. According to 8095, they are already significantly defining global brand trends through their actions. 

The upshot for marketers, PR practitioners and social media gurus cannot be over-estimated:

Millennials see brand relationships as a form of self-expression. Brand preferences compete with religion and ethnicity as leading personal identifiers.

Information is key to influence – more info coming from multiple channels is welcomed, as 8095ers seek from four to seven sources in their decision making process.

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When you are trying to build your company brand online authenticity is important. We have seen many poor practices promoting businesses in the social sphere which actually have a negative effect on the brand. Social media is not social advertising. Yes, of course you can advertise on sites like Facebook and Linkedin, but as a web user its well identified. This usually happens when businesses are trying to drive web traffic to their corporate site using key word spamming. There are many reasons why you should promote your business on the web but the other edge of the sword is that folks are watching … and they will out you, if you don’t play by the social media rules. The key strategy when using social media to promote your business is to provide information that is relevant to your target audiences. At its core we recommend education based marketing, the principle of which is to teach and provide content. This builds credibility for your brand without being to overt with your goal of selling more stuff.

The success formula is to be visible on the social networks that are relevant, be credible by providing great content and information and be available to interact with your audiences. Once you do this, prospects may contact you to do business. After all, in marketing the key word is top of mind. Social Media keeps you top of mind and if you do a good job, people want to do business with people who are credible.

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 Twitter trends are changing all the time… some we love and some we hate.  I asked my tweeps (twitter followers) for ‘uncool’ twitter actions.  List below of mine + suggestions.

Uncool:
1. Auto-following.  Grow your tweeps organically! Just so much cooler.  Follow people through friends, by keywords & content.  Go for quality, not quantity.  Quantity will happen naturally.  This is a general theme in coolness…  (I know you agree @2ammarketing )

2. Auto-messaging.  There’s nothing more irritating than the “Thanks for the follow! I look forward to your tweets” msg… especially when they are tricky and make you think the message was personalized.. not cool.

3. Wearing your heart on your twitter sleeve.  This goes for Facebook too!  This is the internet.  Be smart.  Don’t diminish the credibility of social networking by crying through your keyboard…. uncool.

4. PDA twitter pics. Thanks @akroupa  for this one.  Get your own reality show instead. Tonsil hockey on twitter=  Not cool.

5. Extreme self promotion.  We all know twitter can help you make money, generate leads.  It’s OK to promote your product/service/personal brand as amazing as it is… but throw in some additional stuff.  Don’t spam your own content. Not cool.

6.  Telling the world you brushed your hair.  Again, it takes away from the credibility of social networking.  Use twitter to learn more and share.  Unless you are an A-lister and people actually care what cereal you had for breakfast, don’t tweet about it.  Uncool..

7. Taking credit for content that’s not yours.  This is why tweeps invented the RT.  Give credit where credit’s due…. otherwise, the post is uncool.  I credit the 13 Dont’s for this.

8.

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Social media is the fastest growing medium to market your product and communicate with your audience.  And when it comes to branding your product it just might be the simplest and cheapest way to create awareness to potential clients.  Marketing is changing and it’s not always about selling something, at the end of the day it’s about creating and working on relationships.  But if you’re new to trendy online media activities, the following is sure to help you get on the right track to take advantage of what is right at your fingertips and a click away to branding success!

Types of social media and what they can do for your company:
Blogs and forums
Used to gain new/returning business by participating in discussion forums and blogs. Become a source of information by sharing knowledge and answering questions.  Demonstrate your value for clients and potential clients.

Facebook
Creating Facebook groups attract interest and develop loyalty.

Online press releases
Make your website easy to find in search engines.

Online video
Posting videos on YouTube and on your company’s website can bring people onto the site and engage existing visitors.

Twitter
Using Twitter regularly to create and reinforce connections and to spread word of mouth about your business.

Common Concerns:
Lacking time to learn and use social media tools
The best strategy is to pick one or two types of social media and focus on doing those well.  Have several employees share the updating duties on the company blog or contract a company outside to help with updating.

Question the ROI?
Do you wonder if you will ever make any real business from using these social media tools?  Remember, it’s about making valuable connections and relationships with other credible business people and clients.

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If you search for information on Case Studies on the Internet you will find quite an array of different types, from academic proofs of concept to legal case studies. For the purposes of Media Relations we will define it this way: “A short (500 word) description of the application of your product or service with an actual client”.

Case studies can be used as you would any company collateral, except that it is infinitely more powerful than your other documents. Whereas other documents are in your “voice”, a good case study is in the customer’s “voice”, which always has more credibility with media and other customers.

In fact many times when you send out a Press Release or conduct a Media Pitch the media will want a case study to learn more about how the client is using your product or service. They will also want to know if the customer is willing to be interviewed, so when you are gathering information on the case study make sure you have the express permission of the customer.

Finally, ensure that your case study solves a general business problem (makes money or saves money, saves time, etc.) and use a consistent format for your case studies. It makes them easier to grasp -and also easier to write.

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Trade shows are a wonderful opportunity to enhance your brand. Every chance you get to be in front of your target audience and/or the media is a great opportunity.

Trade shows help level the playing field for smaller firms – even small companies can usually afford attractive displays. With creative marketing and booth design, small businesses can actually appear as substantial as larger corporations.

Most companies choose trade shows as a marketing vehicle for a number of reasons including generating sales leads, enhancing your image and visibility, reaching a specific audience, establishing a presence in the marketplace, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of your marketing efforts, personally meeting your customers, competitors, and suppliers and prospecting for new customers.

It is a wonderful way to introduce new products and services, demonstrate your product in ways not possible with other marketing channels, recruiting distributors or dealers and educating your target audience. Trade shows also offer an opportunity to share your expert status by taking advantage of speaking opportunities.

If prospects or suppliers feel good about interactions with your staff – they will tell others – creating a buzz about your company. Usually, your sales and/or technical staff will man your booth and meet prospects. Delegate someone to manage the lead tracking system. Your sales and technical team need to focus on the visitors to the booth.

An executive should be in attendance, just in case media opportunities arise. Often, the media visit the booth and want a quick word with a representative of the company. You do not want an untrained employee speaking to the media – it can be a disaster. Booth staff should know what to say if media want information and should offer to contact the person best qualified to answer questions.

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If you have not considered a PR plan as part of your business strategy we have included a few key benefits for your consideration.

Make a commitment that this year will be a growth year. Pick one or two important goals and execute. Spend at least one hour per week working ON your business not IN your business. You will not believe the difference it makes!

The Benefits Of A Good PR Program
A well run Public Relations program has multiple benefits and can have a far greater impact than other marketing methods because it carries a message of implied endorsement by the media. When stakeholders read, see, or hear the editorial or news coverage it creates a credibility factor unmatched by any other promotional strategy.

Here are few benefits to consider:

Higher Valuation
When you gain visibility – you gain credibility – This credibility creates a good will for your brand. This brand value is reflected in a higher valuation in private markets and in the public circles with shareholders for both private and institutional investors.

Access To Capital
As institutions are always searching for investment opportunities, when you “rise above the noise” you will get more interest in your business.

Shareholder Visibility
Many organizations go through peaks and valleys in their business over time and when the publicity machine is working well, you gain the attention of past, current and future shareholders.

Attract New Customers
Wouldn’t it be great to have clients knocking on your door for a change? The visibility you gain to this target audience has a direct correlation to revenue – if more doors are opened by your PR program – more business will be gained.

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Does every company have a brand? Does every company need a brand? What do you think of when you hear the name of a company? Does it conjure up positive feelings or negative ones? What is a brand? What makes a good brand? How do I get a good brand name when I don’t have the resources of a Tim Hortons or Bell? Let us explore a few of these areas to demystify the world of branding.

Firstly, let’s define a brand. Brand is what people think about when they hear your name – it is the perception of your company in the market. Brand is more than a logo, it is more than a tag line, it is more than a well crafted advertising campaign. A brand is what you stand for and it is how you are perceived in the marketplace. You do not really own your brand. You own the logos, the copyright etc… Your brand is what the market thinks of you based on your brand and related activities. It is ultimately how you are perceived.

Does every company need a brand? Every company is a brand whether you are an auto body shop or a Twenty-Million dollar enterprise. You may never have focused on your brand; you may have spent your time on building a solid reliable business with excellent service and great clients. But now you have to grow. What do you do to get to the world outside your immediate customer base? How do you differentiate your offering? Of course you need great strategies and solid tactical approach to executing on those objectives, but how do you facilitate that effort? This is where your brand becomes extremely valuable. Still not convinced? Think about these three questions:

1. Did you ever lose an account where you had the better value proposition? Maybe you were beaten by a better brand?

2. Do your sales executives tell you “no one knows who we are”? Maybe they spend a lot of time on ineffective prospecting.

3. You rarely get leads “because the prospect has heard of you”.

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Late one evening at home the telephone rang. “Mr. De Rycker, this is Robert Lowe. I have dined this evening with Harold Naideau, the European president of AVON Products. Avon banks with our Westminster branch in England. He is looking for a general manager to start an Avon operation in Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg. I have recommended you. He will be in touch with you tomorrow. Please keep me informed.”

This call was manna from heaven. After six years of increasing profit contributions to the Gimbel group, and increasing income rewards, an ominous threat had appeared on the horizon. It was rumored in the market that De Poorter, a Belgian wall-to-wall carpet manufacturer had plans to open a sales office in New York. The Gimbel carpet department had regularly placed substantial orders with De Poorter. It was to be feared, if this rumor was verified, that the Gimbel buyer would henceforth place orders directly in New York. This would render our role in Belgium redundant.

To make matters worse , a rumor was next picked up in Holland. Our main bicycle manufacturer had similar plans to operate a New York sales office. Were we to lose these two manufacturers’ business, our profit contribution to the parent group would be severely hurt. No amount of pro-active marketing could offset such a gash in our flanks. I had been mulling over this problem for some weeks, and could not come up with a suitable solution to counter this menace. A declining profit contribution to the Gimbel group would inevitably result in a static income. Not an acceptable prospect. The unexpected call from Robert Lowe announcing a possible new position opportunity could not have been more fortuitous.

I met Mr. Naideau the following afternoon in the Hotel Amigo foyer. He was the most positively minded and energetic man I have ever met. In the half-full-half-empty-bottle story, for him the half-empty bottle did not even exist.

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Starting your PR Plan
When is the right time to start a PR Plan?

The answer is NOW. It doesn’t matter if you are “Joe’s Bike Shop” or a multi-national conglomerate – almost every business has a story to tell. It is never too early to start a PR Plan.

If you realize that there are things you don’t know about your industry – take the time to learn. Also, once you embark on a PR Plan, make sure you read the newspaper every day. Don’t forget about your industry trade magazines as well.

Many daily newspapers and trade publications have clipping services available that allow you to view the news headlines and stories that only you are interested in. You can sign up on-line for this service at the publication’s web site, as it is important to stay informed. You can also set up search criteria in “Google News”. This is a great way to stay on top of news coverage in your industry as well as what news coverage your competitors are enjoying.

Who do I target with my PR Plan?
First, decide who makes up your target audience. This would include your customers, investors (if you have any) and usually your local community. Now, find out what publications they read and what radio and television stations they prefer. If your target demographic is the stay-at-home mom between the ages of 29-45, you may want to target lifestyle magazines, fashion magazines, parenting magazines, home and lifestyle shows, the Oprah show and parenting sections of the local and national newspaper. The list could be more extensive depending on what you are selling.

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I almost called this article P is for People because I really do believe that people buy people and the more your potential customers get to know you, the more likely they are to buy from you. 

But then, after giving this a bit more thought, I realised that it goes far deeper than this. People buy not just from getting to know you, but also how they feel about your business.  

The brand or the personality behind your business goes a long, long way to reassuring potential customers that you’re the right company to do with and to confirming with existing customers that they’ve made the right decision. 

Consider this scenario – your customers love working with you and think you’re great, but everytime they ring and you’re not there, the call minding company you’ve hired is rude to them? 

What about if they generally enjoy working with you but you’re slow to complete the work or return their calls? 

If your customers like one aspect of your business, but don’t like others, it can only carry you so far for so long. I can give you countless examples from small business owners of companies that they’ve worked with where this situation has happened. 

One company for instance promised a client that they’d call him every Friday afternoon at 2pm for an update. Unfortunately this only happened once! Another company promised a client that they’d have their website finished in 2 weeks. Three months later we’re still waiting! 

It doesn’t look good, does it? 

So what can you do to make sure that the personality or brand of your business is first-rate?  

Well, start by deciding how you want people to view your company. If they were discussing your business in a meeting right now, what would you like them to be saying about you? 

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