Franchise Marketing Conflicts
It has been said, on more than one occasion, that what is good for the franchisee is good for the franchisor. This is certainly true in a very general sense. After all, the more profitable the individual franchises become, the more alluring the franchisor becomes in the eyes of new investors. Since each new franchise is a source of royalties and other income for the franchising company, the franchisor has a steep interest in boosting its appeal by boosting the success of its existing franchises.
As we say, though, this mutually beneficial arrangement is only true in the broadest sense. When taken to the level of the individual franchise owner’s relationship with the franchisor, the truth may be somewhat different. While the franchisor may, overall, act in the best interest of the majority of franchisees, the individual franchisee may, at times, find him or herself at odds with the franchising company. This can be most easily seen in the area of marketing.
Marketing Strategy
As stated, the franchisor’s aim in marketing campaigns is to benefit the broadest range of its franchises. This is not a light undertaking, and many franchisors expend a great amount of money and energy into marketing research to determine just what tactics will be most likely to succeed for the greatest number of franchisees. On the franchisees’ end, there is probably little or no involvement into the process of developing marketing strategy. This is simply one of the cost of franchising for the individual owner.
Marketing Conflict
Conflict arises when the marketing techniques hit upon by the franchisor as most likely to benefit the greatest number of franchises actually work against a percentage of its franchise owners. Quite simply, what plays well in one region may not be well received in another. In these instances, the goals of the franchisor come into direct conflict with those of a small group within their organization.
The CKE Example
A rather prominent example of this can be seen in advertising campaign carried out by CKE to promote business in the franchisor’s Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast-food chains. CKE, deeming that the child/parent market was fairly well cornered by competitors such as McDonalds, decided to target the less sought after demographic (in the fast-food industry) of young men. To accomplish this aim, they ran a series of advertisements featuring prominent female celebrities in risqué outfits and scenarios, designed to appeal to the average young male.
While these advertisements played remarkably well in most areas and many of the franchise locations saw the anticipated boom in young male customers, some franchises actually suffered from the ad campaign. In the south and in other typically conservative areas the ads were not received well and many franchisees in those areas found themselves under attack rather than raking in profits. So, though the campaigns could be construed as an overall success for the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s brands, a number of franchise owners saw their business decline because of them. However, such incidents are not the rule, but rather are the exception to it.
