All franchise brands go through evolve. It’s inevitable. As businesses grow and mature, it’s natural for a brand to improve upon past performance. There is certainly nothing unusual about a franchise company wanting to improve its image.  

As someone who has led corporate rebranding efforts, I can tell you they are as much about changing the company as they are about changing its image. After all, it does more harm than good to set customer expectations and fail to deliver upon them.

Branding is one of the most important aspects of your franchise, large or small, retail, food, service or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in an increasingly competitive market. But what exactly does branding mean and what is your promise? How does it affect individual franchisees on the front lines?

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customers. This applies both to your consumer and prospective franchisee audiences. It tells them what they can expect from your product or service and what differentiates you from competitors in the marketplace.

Are you the innovative startup and disruptive force in your industry? Or the experienced operator who is reliable and pragmatic? Are you the high-cost quality option or the low-cost but valuable alternative? You certainly can’t be both because you can’t be all things to all people. Decide who your target audience is (whether consumers or franchisee prospects) and that’s where your true brand identity will evolve.

Defining Your Brand

Defining your brand is like a journey in self-discovery. It can be difficult and it can be frustrating, but the reward is a set of brand messages that help define how, what, where, when and to whom you will communicate your offering. This is your brand voice that should be applied to all written communication and incorporated into the visual imagery of all materials online and offline.

Keeping your Franchise Promise

Start now. Start with your website, your public relations, your packaging, your marketing vehicles, and all the way down to how you answer the phone. Imagine the promise you want to share with customers in five years and start acting that way now. Think about the customer or franchise prospect experience at search, sale, use and beyond.

Drop us a line at Seed to see how what our branding and franchise experts can do for you.