Increasingly many great business concepts develop into franchise business frames, and so more and more individual franchisees and group franchise owners are coming to us confused and overwhelmed about how to implement a fair PR campaign.
The first time we were faced with the franchise challenge, we were working for an individual franchisee who gained head office approval to conduct local PR and was allowed to engage in state and national media strategies, as approved.
There was a snag. Other individual franchises were seeing another franchise owner’s name in the media and suddenly they also wanted a piece of the cake. It didn’t matter that the individual alone was footing the full bill for the greater benefit of the brand – a swathe of franchisees just wanted to know why they weren’t getting their name in the paper too.
Consider this, why should one individual owner be responsible, in both time and money, for growing the entire brand? The answer is they shouldn’t.
We do believe that individual franchise owners can and should engage in PR if they are not getting support from their organisation and they have the appropriate approval but they should only do it in their local area, targeting local papers and radio stations. However, a strategic group effort with franchise PR works so much better for all involved.
Now consider this, a franchise group decides to take on a national PR campaign – how the heck do you manage and implement such a huge scope and make sure every individual franchise is getting fair coverage nationally, complemented with local coverage where they need it most to survive?
PR is already a tough enough subject to understand at the best of times, so we introduced the Square One PR Franchise Workshop series.
We run two different types of workshops, one gives each individual franchise owner the knowledge to run the Square One PR DIY campaign at a local level and helps them understand the objectives and benefits of a successful PR campaign.
The second Square One PR Franchise Workshop explains PR to all individual franchise owners so they understand it, why they would use it, how it benefits them individually and as a franchise group, how it will be implemented, what to expect from a PR company and what commitment is required from them. This workshop works best for raising awareness with individual franchise owners who may not fully understand the value of PR to their individual franchise and the group.
For all individual franchise owners to gain actual value from PR, the plan needs to be implemented at a local and national level but it can be overwhelming to handle in house with everyone wanting a piece of the cake NOW!
At Square One, we can help any type of franchise achieve media results by doing what we do best. We start at square one to create a strategic campaign plan (which may include a workshop to involve all the parties), and then we are able to consistently promote the organisation on a national scale as well as co-ordinate local angles to support individual franchises. We’ve got experience and proof that in the world of franchises, everyone can enjoy a piece of the PR cake!
