Building Brand Consistency: Real-Life Examples from Three Top Franchises
Building Brand Consistency: Real-Life Examples from Three Top Franchises
A major pain point for franchisors is brand consistency, i.e., making sure the logo, mission statement, brand identity, and the super-special, magic ingredients that make up the parent company’s image are passed down to each franchise location.
Brand consistency is crucial because it can make or break a company’s bottom line. Keeping franchisees committed to it is key to a company’s success, especially when a company must pivot or make quick adjustments when an unforeseen circumstance occurs. (Pandemic, anyone?)
Much has already been said about the ways to build brand consistency among franchisees, such as providing clear brand guidelines, training, supplying templates and content, and monitoring their progress.
However, what does this look like in the real world? Some of the top-rated companies on Entreprenuer’s 2021 Franchise 500 Ranking can provide insight into how some of the most recognizable and successful franchise brands are conquering the white whale of brand consistency amidst the wild ride of the past 18 months.
#1 in this year’s rankings, Taco Bell is easily one of the most recognizable fast-food brands in the country with a reputation for being trendy, fun, and adventurous. Taco Bell has some of the most satisfied franchisees in the business. The location owners are intimately involved in building Taco Bell’s culture and brand, and this has paid off even through 2020’s pandemic year. The company continued to value the input of its network throughout the pandemic, having weekly brand calls with over a thousand franchise owners and general managers on the line.
The company provides an impressive 400 hours of on-the-job training for new franchise owners, including 8 hours in the classroom. They provide ongoing support for their franchisees across many business functions, including marketing at the national and regional levels, social media, email marketing, website development, and SEO.
Lessons Learned: To promote brand consistency, build a powerful brand and get your franchisees involved in building it.
Arriving on the doorstep at #3 on Entreprenuer’s rankings, The UPS Store is one of the 3 Most Consistent Businesses from the Franchise 500 List, meaning it has been ranking as a top franchise since 1993. For new franchisees, they provide 92 hours of on-the-job training and 77.5 hours of classroom training. They offer extensive marketing support for their locations as well.
The UPS Store completed a brand redesign just in time for the 2020 pandemic, and foresight from company executives provided consistent guidelines and messaging around pandemic protocols, helping owners adopt new safety protocols smoothly even in the midst of the redesign.
Lessons Learned: Set your franchisees up for successful brand consistency in any situation with clear communication and a strategic game plan.
Sliding in at #10 on the list this year, Servpro is recognized as the #1 franchise in the Restoration Services Category by Entrepreneur. While already active in flood and fire clean-up, Servpro’s strong brand image in disaster response opened an opportunity during the pandemic – COVID-19 clean-up. The company quickly developed a COVID-19 cleaning protocol, communicated it to their franchisees, and provided the tools they needed to do the work.
The company provides 80.5 hours of on-the-job training to its franchisees, 130 hours of classroom training, and an additional business development program. They provide national and regional advertising support, marketing planning, and proprietary software and an intranet platform for owners.
Lessons Learned: Build a brand that people trust, and then back it up with the tools your franchisees need to deliver on your brand’s promises.
These brands are just three of the 500 franchises that made Entreprenuer’s 2021 list, so the lessons in brand consistency don’t have to stop here. But it’s worthwhile to note the companies that made the top 10 all have features in common that make them successful, including robust training and support for their franchises and a commitment to their brand identity.
The Inside Scoop
But how do they do it? To clue you in on a secret, the level of training, support, and communication about branding that Taco Bell, The UPS Store, and Servpro provide their franchisees isn’t possible without a common brand management platform that each parent company uses to promote brand consistency. There are a lot of marketing platforms on the market to choose from, but when it comes to franchise marketing, Xpressdocs’ platform is a trusted resource. Xpressdocs is a marketing partner for many well-known franchise brands, and we offer tools for marketing consolidation and brand consistency that are used daily by franchisees all around the country.