How to Build a Massively Valuable Franchisor, Part 5: What’s Brand Got To Do With It?

In the world of franchising, there are two major branding considerations:

1. Promoting & selling your franchise brand to perspective owners (b2b)
2. Promoting & selling your franchise brand to end users (b2c)

Now, on one hand, you want to grow your brand as a franchise organization so more franchisees are interested in opening up new locations. But at the same time, you also want them to allocate enough marketing dollars to your direct consumer brand efforts, as that raises revenues, which raises royalties, and ultimately produces positive benefits for everyone.

The question is, how much of your dollars should be spent building your b2b brand, versus your b2b brand?

Like all good marketing questions, the answer is, it depends. There are as many approaches to branding as there are franchises to brand. We aren’t going to be prescriptive. You might be an emerging franchisor with three locations, or a more mature organization with three hundred. Branding looks different for each type of company, and every franchisor in between.

Thankfully, our team has collectively worked in every aspect of the franchise ecosystem for decades (lead gen, franchisees, franchisors, franchise development, franchise marketing, building frantech for top brands, being franchisees ourselves, and also brokers/consultants. We understand more than anybody how branding comes into play when building a massively valuable franchisor.

Over the years, we’ve written about this topic extensively, from many angles. We wanted to share a few of those resources for you. That way you can get the insights you need to build your franchise brand in a manner that best suits your business needs and goals:

• Branding Is A Shortcut: Internally, the effects of not having a brand start to accumulate. If a company doesn’t have a brand, everything feels like an uphill battle from an operational standpoint. Metric Collective’s blog can help you think about this facet of branding in a new way.
• Benefits Of A Strong Brand: Several years ago, we wrote about how you can use your brand to earn more customers, command higher processes and reduce churn. It’s an oldie but a goodie, so read this post from our archive to expand the way you think about branding as a critical capability.
• Brand Reputation As A Pillar Of Success: Oakscale, our sister company, wrote an article in their five pillars series about how to understand the nuances of branding and how it impacts (or doesn’t impact) the type of franchise you have. If you’re an emerging franchise in particular with a passionate consumer base, you’ll set yourself up for success.
• Building A Brand: Another one of our sister companies, FranFunnel, was a brand we built out of an innovative tech feature here at FranchiseHelp. Reading our origin story will inspire you to ask the right questions at your company, wherever you might be in the franchising ecosystem.

Ultimately, what’s brand got to do with it?

More than you might realize. We hope these resources give you the insights and perspective you need to become a massively valuable franchisor.

Scott Ginsberg is Head of Content at FranchiseHelp. His favorite brands are Taylor Guitars, Keen Shoes & Kuhl Clothing. None of them sponsor him. Yet.