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September 2007 |
Volume 9, Issue 8, Part 2 |
Get The Most Out Of
Your Next Exhibition,
Part 2
Last time we talked
to Joel Goldstein, Director of Marketing for MFV Expositions,
about exhibiting at a franchise show. In this issue, Goldstein
gets down to the nitty gritty of successful exhibiting.
Q: What should the booth layout look like?
A: First, don't block the space with a table. If you use
a table, situate it along the side drape so that the front
of the booth is very welcoming and open. You want people
to be able to come in and have a really nice conversation.
Stand into the aisle a little bit and greet people in a
friendly way.
Q: What kind of display works best?
A: That would be a professional display with high quality
graphics that are very on point as to exactly who you are,
what you're doing, and who you're looking for.
Q: Does it matter who mans the booth?
A: Yes. Remember you are competing with many other exhibitors
for the same prospects. You need people who are very familiar
with identifying whether or not prospects would be a good
fit for the concept and a good fit for the culture of the
company. Anybody on the franchise development side of the
business is an excellent candidate to work your exhibit.
Q: What other advice can you offer exhibitors?
A: Here's my list of tips:
• Remember the 3 Second Rule: you have 3
seconds to make an impression.
• Emphasize what you have to offer.
• Highlight the benefits of ownership and/or the market
opportunity.
• Identify any experience, talents or credentials that a
prospect should have.
• Include the investment range.
• State what territories you have available.
• Design text so that it is visible to aisle traffic. Prospects
will be within a range of 10 -14 feet minimum of your exhibit.
• Add bullet points and be concise.
• Avoid large amounts of small type.
The West Coast Franchise Expo
October 19-21, 2007
Los Angeles, CA
www.wcfexpo.com
210-226-1130- Ext 563
Back
To School, Back To Business
There's no doubt about it-education
is big business. Only a few years ago, supplemental
education programs were for rich kids whose parents wanted
to guarantee placement in the best schools. Today, it's
a $25 billion industry serving kids in all economic sectors
from preschool to college. The reasons for the growth are
as varied as the types of learning programs, but the main
one is the increasing competition to get into college. The
No Child Left Behind Act is another contributor; it requires
schools to provide tutoring services if their programs don't
meet performance standards for two consecutive years.
Franchised learning programs
offer everything from personalized homework help to enrichment
programs. The following are the main categories of concepts.
• Online
tutoring. This is a hot new area that is especially
popular among high school and middle school students. K-12
programs are also common and preschool is an up-and-coming
area as more states mandate preschool for all children.
Currently, online tutoring is a $115 million market and
it's growing fast. It is often sold to schools, rather than
directly to parents. The highest demand for tutoring is
in math and reading, but interest in science tutoring is
on the rise.
• In-home
tutoring. This concept is more flexible than the
standard training center type of tutoring service. It's
also more convenient and affordable, which means the potential
market is much larger. Some franchise concepts focus on
certain subject areas, learning skills, and self-esteem.
Others work closely with teachers, focusing only on material
introduced in class and helping with homework assignments.
Either way, this is very personalized, one-on-one tutoring
designed to meet the student's personality and individual
needs.
• After
school programs. Some of these programs are enrichment
programs while others are strictly academic. All of them
provide a much-needed solution to the problem of latchkey
kids. Many of these programs are conducted on school grounds,
but some enrichment programs require special facilities.
For example, an ordinary classroom will do for an abacus
class or mock courtroom. But the culinary arts must be taught
in a kitchen and certain science and engineering classes
require more lab facilities than some schools have.
• Training
centers. The
first supplemental education programs fell into this category.
They generally offer personalized tutoring to strengthen
skills in core subject areas, teach learning and study skills,
and prep high school students for SAT tests. The oldest
franchised training center, Sylvan, is still the largest
with over 1,100 centers in the U.S. and Canada.
 The
Birth of a Franchise Brand. Where does it Start?
By: Martin Greenbaum
Our story begins in
rural Kansas with a number of assisted living residences
developed by Jack West, CEO of Country Place Living, LLC.
West is a visionary in the assisted living industry with
over 25 years experience developing and operating more than
20 assisted living residences in Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.
He observed that most assisted living residences feel overly
large and institutional, so he set out to create smaller
and more intimate living environments uniquely suited to
aging adults 75 years and older. In February, 2003 the culmination
of his experience led him to develop the Country Place Living
brand.
Earlier this year, Country Place Living's
President and veteran franchise executive, Cynthia Gartman,
hired Greenbaum Marketing Communications to assist the company
in transitioning their concept into a national franchise
brand. Besides assistance with national franchise strategy,
Gartman knew the company needed additional branding help.
There are many factors that are necessary to convert a local
business concept or brand into one that gains national appeal
and recognition. As a franchise marketing and branding firm,
we focus on those attributes of a company that drive the
creative process. Our approach to "birthing a brand" begins
with a detailed "conception" and ends up as a highly defined
set of colors, images, key messages, and creative flair.
When taking on the task of developing a
new brand, there is an internal process we implement to
ensure that we truly understand the business, how it relates
to its customers, and how it relates to the world. We always
begin our process at the top by interviewing the CEO or
President of the company and various senior level executives.
With Country Place Living, we had several initial conference
calls with their CEO and President to gain immediate insight
into the business.
During those discussions, I pay particular
attention to specific word choices clients use to describe
their business. I have come to learn that executives have
carefully refined their "pitch" over time and their words
most often represent the "essence" of their business model.
Our discussions focus mainly on customer characteristics,
demographics, psychographics, buying behaviors, motivations
and triggers. A brand must be in alignment with customer
perceptions, make strong statements directly connected to
the company's value set and gain instant creditability.
Customer research, most often in the form
of a survey or personal interviews, is an important part
of the branding process. Although we have found that research
most often substantiates executive perceptions, we always
seem to learn more about the customer and what motivates
their buying behaviors. But the highest creative dividends
for us are the site visits we've had to Country Place's
Senior Living and Home Plus residences. Never having visited
an assisted living residence, or Kansas for that matter,
I was able to sit on the front porch with residents, share
stories, join staff members for lunch and spend lots of
time driving (brainstorming) with their President. This
was the best possible research.
No branding process is complete without
a thorough understanding of the competition. Our competitive
research begins online, the most timely and cost effective
method, where we perform various online searches and visits
to primary competitor websites. At Greenbaum Marketing Communications,
we document key messages, capabilities and attributes of
our clients' competition. When possible, we make site visits
to competition and "shop" their services.
And finally, before we begin to design we
develop an extensive "creative brief" that serves as our
bible for brand development and is also often utilized by
agency creative management, writers, production staff and
web team. It includes documentation from client interviews,
consumer research, competitive analysis and the experienced
point of view of the creative director.
The birth of a franchise brand, as you can
see, takes time and efforts. We are extremely proud of our
work with the Country Place Living, LLC and the brand identity.
Click below to see our branding efforts in their brochures.
Link to Franchise
Brochure
Link to Residence
Brochure
Martin Greenbaum is the President of Greenbaum
Marketing Communications. Learn about the company and its
services on www.greenbaummarketing.com
or contact Martin at MG@Greenbaummarketing.com.
Technomic's
'08 Food Sale Projections.
 Despite a general economic slowdown, foodservice sales are expected
to grow during 2008, albeit at a slower pace than in recent
years, according to the International Foodservice Manufacturers
Association and Technomic Inc. However, their forecast indicated
that the higher costs of fuel, commodities and labor will
likely put increasing pressure on margins. In the industry's
first peek into next year, the IFMA/ Technomic Forecast
& Outlook predicts that total foodservice sales will grow
at an inflation adjusted or "real" rate of 1.1 percent in
2008 compared with the projected rate of 1.3 percent, to
$631.81 billion, for the current year.
Total sales at restaurants and bars, which
make up the majority of the foodservice industry's coffers,
are forecast to grow at a real rate of 1.4 percent in 2008,
compared with 2007's projected 1.9 percent increase, to
$426.12 billion. The forecast also shows that 2008 is expected
to be the fourth consecutive year of declining real estate
growth for the foodservice industry as a whole, following
the 2.3 percent real estate growth rate clocked for the
trade in 2004. (Nation's Restaurant News, 9/20/07)
Hilton Hotels Shareholders Approve Buyout
 Hilton Hotels Corp. shareholders this month overwhelmingly approved
the company's $20.1 billion sale to The Blackstone Group
LP. According to the company, more than 98 percent of votes
cast at a special shareholder's meeting were in favor of
the buyout. Pending approval by the European commission,
the deal is expected to close by the end of October.
Under terms of the buyout, Blackstone will
pay Hilton shareholders $47.50 per share in cash. Including
assumed debt, the total deal is valued at $26 billion. Beverly
Hills, CA-based Hilton Hotels operates more than 2,800 hotels
around the world. The company generated $8.11 billion in
revenue last year. (Forbes.com, 9/18/07)
 McDonald's Corp. is expanding a test of Angus Third Pounders
to 600 restaurants in the New York City area and 120 units
in Central Ohio. The rollout comes after the premium burgers
received positive customer response in more than 800 franchised
and company-owned units in Southern California. The burgers
will be sold in three varieties: the Angus Deluxe, with
American Cheese, sliced red onions, tomatoes, lettuce, mustard
and mayonnaise; the Angus Mushroom and Swiss; and the Angus
Bacon and Cheese. The suggested retail price is $3.99.
Angus Burgers have become a premium offering
at several quick service sandwich chains as part of a dual
strategy to offer both upscale and value-priced foods to
broaden the customer base. McDonald's, based in Oak Brook,
IL, operates or franchises more than 30,000 restaurants
worldwide. (Nation's Restaurant News, 8/21/07)
Sylvan to Sell Corporate-Owned Tutoring Centers
 Sylvan Learning Inc. announced this month that it is selling
most of its corporate-owned tutoring centers that were beset
with financial problems last year. The Baltimore-based company
hopes to expand its franchise business by persuading others
to open its classrooms nationwide. The company also announced
that it is piloting a program that sends tutors to children's
homes, a departure from its 27-year model of teaching students
at its centers. Additionally, it is expanding its live,
online tutoring program.
Sylvan's new operating strategy is the latest
change to emerge since its parent company, Educate Inc.,
went private under a management-led buyout in June. Business
units split into separate, independently-operated companies,
including Sylvan. With parents demanding more convenience
in a tutoring-center location, Sylvan executives decided
they could add classrooms through franchise agreements as
opposed to the company running its own centers. Sylvan plans
to sell more than 200 corporate-owned tutoring centers,
keeping 10 locations. The remaining centers - the company
has 1,140 tutoring centers across the U.S. and in Canada
- are owned and operated by individuals who pay Sylvan franchising
fees. (Baltimoresun.com, 9/12/07)
 French hotel group Accor said it has launched its budget hotel brand, All Seasons, in France and Europe and aims to expand the chain to 10,000 rooms in Europe by 2010, including 7.000 in France. According to executives, the first All Seasons hotel will be opened in Evry, France, followed by seven others throughout the country before the year-end. The first European hotels will be opened in 2008. Under the development plan, All Seasons aims to operate 130 hotels or 7,000 in France by 2010, and a total of 10,000 rooms overall in Europe.
(Forbes.com, 9/14/07)
Sonic Projects Strong 4th Quarter Earnings
 Sonic Corporation, the operator or franchisor of 3,000 namesake drive-ins,
said this month that strong same-store sales in the August-ended
fourth quarter has made the company confident that it will
hit the higher end of its fourth-quarter earnings target.
The chain's sales were driven by increased marketing expenditures
and a remodeling program under way throughout most of the
system.
Sonic estimated the fourth quarter increase
in systemwide same-store sales to be within its 2-percent
to 4-percent growth target, with results at joint-ventured
units "slightly above" that range. Sonic said it expected
fourth-quarter, per-share profit to be at the higher end
of its previously announced range of between 32 cents and
33 cents. A year earlier, Sonic posted profit of 29 cents
per share. (Nation's Restaurant News, 9/7/07)
 
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