Franchise Marketing Software

Simultaneously advertising on prime time TV and on internet sites may be a solid new strategy to touch consumers according to my analysis of The Nielsen Company's recently released 2010 Q1 Three Screen Report  entitled, "What Consumers Watch: Technology Enhances the Video Experience." 

The report provides information and data about households and their video viewing behaviors when using HDTV, timeshifting (DVR or OnDemand) devices, broadband internet, and smartphones.  The findings are interesting for local advertising buyers for franchise marketing efforts, and they suggest a new strategy may be in order.

The report finds that DVR usage and penetration into homes has increased 14% to more than nine and a half hours per month.  Interestingly, while DVR usage increases, the rate of commercial viewing during playback remains steady—good news for advertisers. According to the report, on average, "45% of commercials are viewed during [DVR] playback in Q1 2010 compared with 43% in Q1 2009." 

Also interesting is that 58.7% of people are using TV and the internet simultaneously.  This number astounds me and got the wheels turning.  Perhaps, integrating a local internet marketing campaign along with a prime time TV schedule could be an effective way to target my audience and reach them where they are currently absorbing a majority of their advertisements.  It may seem obvious, but paying attention to the data and placing advertising in multiple mediums where consumers are most receptive, in an integrated fashion, is a critical component to advertising success and is one of the Balihoo media team's strengths.

Whether you work in advertising or are on the other end as a consumer, I encourage you to check out the report.

The other night, I caught an episode of CBS's Undercover Boss, a show in which, if you haven't already heard (hopefully, you have, as your CEO could be lurking--perhaps even watching you now as you read this, posing as an interested temp as he scribbles a mental note, "This guy likes to read blogs when he should be working . . . fired!") features CEOs of Fortune 500 companies—never mind—I just explained the entire premise of the show.

Anyway, this particular episode trailed Chris McCann, the President and little brother of Jim McCann, the CEO of the largest floral and gift company in the world, 1-800-Flowers. [An aside: the best scenes came when Jim treats Chris like they're both 9 years old again, going so far as to almost blow Chris' cover in a stunt to embarrass him in front of people that technically work for him. Classic!].  The episode proceeds as most do. Boss finds some bad. Boss finds more good. Boss hands out promotions/gentle coaching.  However, one particular scene made my "hey-Balihoo-could-own-that-if-given-the-chance" light bulb go off. Yes, I have that light bulb. Jealous?


Shortly after this scene was shot, Chris was almost fired by this lady! No joke!

The scene involves Chris visiting a franchise that recently went from locally-owned to a 1-800-Flowers branded florist shop. When the manager of this particular store was asked why the store was struggling, she stated simply, "people just don't understand we're the same shop, with a different name, especially since we aren't involved in local advertising." DING!  Enter Balihoo.  With Balihoo actively enabling breakthrough local store marketing, that store, and other 1-800-Flowers franchises just like it, would have been quickly outfitted with the tools neccessary to get their store performing optimally.  

So, Mr. McCann (and others just like you) . . . can I get you our local marketing playbook?

Being in the business of local advertising, we at Balihoo are often asked by our small business owner clients about how to utilize local internet marketing. They hear buzz that their customers are overwhelmingly adopting online media. But the internet appears to our business owners as, well, the world wide web - rather daunting, and they don't know where to start.

Our retail store owners in particular spent much of their local marketing efforts in the past few decades hanging coupons on doors and running inserts in the local newspaper. This method simply doesn't cut it in today's fragmented consumer marketplace.

Online advertising is a great way to market on a tight budget and reach a targeted demographic. Google Paid Search (pay-per-click) and SEO efforts should be top on any local business marketer's list. Then consider what your local media outlets offer on their online properties.

Groupon's online display campaign in the NYTimes.com illustrates a great example of local targeting through online news sites. Admittedly, I was reading an article about Snooki, but my shame aside, Groupon's ad on "Boise's Best / Up to 90% Off / Get Today's Special" caught my eye, and I found myself adding to their click through rate. The special today happens to be laser hair removal at a high end spa in Boise. Well targeted at me - a young female professional reading the Fashion & Style section of the NYTimes.com.

Groupon is averaging 500,000 new subscribers a week. After they ran an $11 million promo for Gap, they gained 750,000 subscribers (see Advertising Age's article).

What to learn from Groupon's online marketing:

• Identify your target demographic and only buy top-rated pages against that audience
• Keep your message concise and easy to read (the less words the better)
• Focus the message on the call-to-action
• Leverage the measurability of online advertising - track your results closely and optimize as you see upward/downward trends

Are you a franchise owner looking for guidance with local store marketing? Check out Balihoo's white paper.

 What does it mean to be locally owned and operated?  I found myself asking this question when I stepped into Tully’s Coffee the other week and noticed that exact phrase written on one of their gift cards.  The card itself caught my attention because it had a beautiful picture of Boise on it (a smart local store marketing tactic).  What really got me thinking was their use of ‘locally owned and operated’.  I’ve always thought of Tully’s as a chain coffee shop, whereas ‘locally owned and operated’ makes me think of an individual, independently-run store.  I'm positive the Tully’s on 8th and Broad in downtown Boise isn’t the only Tully’s coffee shop in the world and I know the company's corporate headquarters aren't located here in Boise.  So does my favorite coffee shop (with great tasting lattes) really qualify as local?  The question has been raised by other Balihooers and undoubtedly brings to mind the arguments of our era's epic battle between the 'big box' businesses and the local ma and pop shops.  Though, with the growing trend toward franchise and chain businesses and the continual blurring of the line between local ownership and corporate control, has the meaning of locally owned and operated evolved?

I was recently catching up on some light reading at FastCasual.com, a site devoted to insights for innovative restaurants, when I stumbled upon an article that made so much rationale sense in a world that can sometimes be so irrationale.

The article, Moe's invests in local-store marketing strategy, is in reference to Moe's Southwest Grill's recent corporate initiative to increase local marketing efforts by adding a grassroots element to the franchisee's bag of available tools for franchise marketing.

Below are two favorite quotes from the article, and my thoughts on them:

1. "Local-store marketing has always been a part of what we do and we have always provided a kit to our franchise partners, but not many of our franchisees are comfortable leaving their four walls." - Right on! So many franchises want to focus on local advertising and marketing, but neglect to provide quality tools to the franchisees that truly enable them to act as effective local marketers. Ahem. . .better take a peek at Balihoo's Local Marketing Automation solution.

2. "It allows the franchisee. . .to totally control his or her territory, and they're less reliant on corporate staff or the franchisor to do the marketing for them." - FINALLY! While their effort is primarily focused on grassroots marketing, at least they are working to put tools in place so that local marketing isn't something that is only discussed during executive brainstorming sessions, but rather something that is actively done at a local level to drive demand generation.

Kudos to the team at Moe's. Now my recommendation to them: Call us, because we all know that grassroots marketing is just one component of the numerous marketing activities that should take place at the local level. We can help you with the rest!

Last Saturday, Balihoo had the pleasure of presenting at the Granite Transformations annual franchise convention in New Orleans. Now this was a significant occasion for several reasons beyond franchise marketing - namely it being my first time in the Big Easy. After the celebration of Balihoo's arrival subsided, it was time to get down to business and talk local store marketing with some eager and engaged franchisees.

The marketing team at Granite Transformation has taken an active and aggressive approach to solving issues that countless franchise organizations face. How can a national marketing team better support local franchisees? Is your brand's creative material compelling and effective - does it help sell your product? How can your marketing team manage seemingly limitless local customizations for hundreds of franchisees across the country? How can you ensure your franchisees are using brand approved advertising material in their local advertising efforts, and how can you track and report on the results? How can your franchisees leverage Facebook, Twitter, local PR, SEO, blogs and YouTube? This list goes on and on - and frankly it requires much more than sophisticated ad builder software or someone to manage your local media buying. It requires a team of dedicated marketing experts each specializing in key challenge areas your franchisees face.

Kudos to Carl, the Granite Transformations FAC, and the rest of their marketing team for building a strong network of marketing and advertising experts for their franchisees to leverage. From PR to creative agency, online and social media marketing to franchise marketing software - Granite Transformation has covered their bases and giving their franchisees the tools necessary to thrive in a competitive and challenging market. There are certainly more hurdles to overcome, but the question becomes, whether you're a marketing executive, a franchisee looking for local marketing help, or a prospective franchisee checking out different opportunities - is your organization bold enough to take the steps Granite Transformations has taken to ensure they're franchisees have the most innovative local store marketing tools in the industry? If the answer to that question is 'no' - it may be time to reevaluate your franchise marketing strategies and talk with Balihoo about what we can do for your organization's marketing effort. Because at the end of the day, you're competing with Granite Transformations, whether for home improvement business, the consumer's limited budget and mindshare or your next well-qualified potential franchisees - and they just retooled like the Miami Heat.

From all of us at Balihoo, we're very excited to kick off our relationship with the Granite Transformations team next week. Thank you for your hospitality last weekend and the opportunity to partner - we're looking forward to a successful relationship!

"Supersize it" A phrase that brings about thoughts of gigantean proportions and excess - and that still remains glued to the McDonald's name even though the Supersize option was eliminated over five years ago.

When the news broke in 2004 that McDonald's was axing its larger-than-large size, McDonald's explained that the decision was based upon down sales and "Menu simplification - the fact of the matter is not many Supersize fries are sold" (as stated by Walt Riker, McDonald's spokesman).  The surprise blockbuster hit and Oscar nominated Supersize Me (filmed in February 2003 and aired May of 2004) was supposedly not a factor in the franchise marketing team's decision.

Interesting then, that today more and more franchise marketing and product teams (not McDonald's) are moving (and heavily promoting) larger and larger menu items - Carl's 12-inch Big Carl burger, Sonic's foot-long Quarter Pounder Coney (1 1/2 inches longer than its previous longest hot dog), etc.




Carl's Marketing Development chief, Brad Haley says that for the chain's core customers - young men between the ages of 18 to 24 the idea of a foot-long sandwich works, "Obviously the foot-long sandwich has been very successful at Subway...we decided to do it the Carl's way".

Now, there is obviously a key difference between how these two brands are publicly perceived - Subway has cleverly marketed itself as being the "healthy" QSR-joint - Carl's Jr. on the other hand....not so much. This difference in consumer perception (regardless of specific nutritional facts) will likely have an impact on the QSRs that choose to offer gargantuan sizes. Also of interest (and something that Carl's has obviously identified - they have a very specific target audience that just might jump at this offer - so unless Carl's is featured in the next 'Americans eat-too-darn-much' documentary, their message might just work. 

For the small business owner with local store marketing needs - taking risks with new products and services (and their promotion efforts) can be unnerving (especially considering that the local business owner's marketing budget isn't exactly "Carl's size"). Having a professional media team available that can help you identify and pinpoint your target audience and place your message in front of them - AND a creative team that can ensure that your message is in-concert with your brand and resonates locally can take a huge weight off of your shoulders.

To learn how Balihoo helps national brands and franchise organization's effectively market their message and product launches at the local level, contact us today!

The below is a guest post from Evan Hackel at Ingage Consulting. 


The Best Strategy for Implementing Marketing Strategies

By: Evan Hackel

Evan Hackel is the President and Founder of Ingage Consulting, www.ingageconsulting.com. Throughout his twenty-five year career, he has seen the need not only for improved engagement but for an understanding of why engagement plays such an important role in any organization. Evan’s company works closely with the managers and leaders of franchises, co-ops, and buying groups, to help them improve their business practices. Evan can be reached directly at ehackel@ingageconsulting.com.

When it comes to creating and implementing marketing strategies, many organizations miss an opportunity to engage their franchisees, members, or dealers. Companies tend to just present their ideas and force them down through the ranks until they have reached everyone associated with the brand.  Of course, this is not really the case, but it can seem that way to recipients of the information.  Implementing a marketing strategy this way will only cause franchisees, members, or dealers to resist the new strategy. In general, people like to feel like they are part of the process; therefore, they respond better when made part of the process.  

In an ideal world, franchisees, members or dealers would enthusiastically implement all new marketing programs. In high performing organizations, there is a lot of enthusiasm and support for new ideas; communicating is relatively easy and there is a great deal of support for the efforts. But for many franchises, co-ops, and dealer networks, it is difficult to implement the organization’s message effectively and in the way that management would like. 

One of the best ways to ensure that a marketing plan is received and executed at all levels in the organization is to first, involve franchisees, members, or dealers in advertising groups. These groups, local or regional, will represent what is happening at the consumer level and be networking groups to support each other in marketing efforts.  It's important to use the groups to get input on the development of marketing plans; not just as a way to roll out a program.        

Another way to engage franchisees, dealers, or members in carrying out your marketing strategy is to create a brand council. The brand council should be involved in aspects of your marketing efforts.   Participants of the brand council should also be included in presentations to the franchise, cooperative, or dealer group and should be invited to write articles and postings for the organization’s intranet.   

Engaging your members, dealers, or franchisees in implementing marketing strategies is just the first step. Organizations need to measure and understand the success level of their current marketing plan. Of course, this is a good practice for understanding success and helping with future marketing efforts. It is also important for franchisees, members, and dealers to know that you are paying attention to them. Many of you, I am sure, are tracking sales, which is good, but there are intangible aspects to marketing efforts that sales alone can't measure. Having a report form for your franchisees, members, or dealers to feel out their opinions on the marketing efforts is a good way to get high-quality feedback. Ask questions like: how could we have made this local marketing effort better, would you do this again in the future, and did customers mention the local advertising? Report back to the group what you have learned. This will show you have been listening. 

The reports are a great idea for improving engagement and for learning more about the success of your marketing efforts, but you are likely to only get a small sampling of reports back. This is okay; the fact you are asking for feedback and that everyone knows they have the ability to share their thoughts and ideas is what's important.

How do you engage your franchisees, members or dealers with your local marketing plans? Do you have a brand council and how does that work? How do you get feedback on success?

Thanks for the guest post Evan, good information.  I couldn't agree more, specifically when you're dealing with Local Marketing Automation.  Whether implementing a new local advertising campaign, new channel marketing software or new local marketing software, it's critical to get buy-in from the key players.  This will be one of the key drivers of adoption - in fact, we recently wrote a whitepaper identifying the key issues with adoption around new co-op marketing solutions, you can download it here. 

Working for Balihoo, a company that focuses on local advertising, we look for signs of success all around us in our little town of Boise, Idaho. Let me tell a short story about word of mouth advertising performed by a certain Frenchman.

On a lovely blue sky evening in this fine downtown, after consuming some locally brewed fair at The Falcon, I happened upon a middle-aged man sitting at a table with mouth-wateringly delicious baked something-er-others displayed in front of him. I then noticed the cash box and realized these brilliant edible charmers were for sale. And then he spoke.

The eloquence that left that man's tongue still rings in my ear. "Mademoiselle, would you care for a sweet baked roll? I would love for you to enjoy this. Two dollars if you please." The man has hair to his waist, a neatly trimmed beard and donned a chef's jacket and hat. Was he pulling my leg? An Idaho-born actor with a knack for European accents? Questions aside, I had emotionally committed to the sweet roll before realizing I had only 20 cents on me. That Frenchman offered it up anyway with a huge smile on his face, asking only that I let others know of his product.

As it goes with Balihoo culture, we enjoy sharing such stories. Nico, one of our internet advertising designers, is hosting an art show at a coffee shop downtown tonight. I emailed the company asking that everyone not only attend her show, but visit my long-haired, French-accent bearing pastry chef. This sponned an email chain between people across the company - some admitting sitings of the Frenchman, others claiming he bakes in a top Italian kitchen after hours, others simply wanting his location and hours of operation.

Looking for more local marketing ideas to help your franchise or franchisees? Download Balihoo's white paper on Local Marketing Automation.

Long before there was the internet, cable or broadcast television, even print, there was out-of-home advertising.  Almost elegant in its simplicity, it's tended to be static, 2 dimensional, and downright polite in its lack of intrusiveness.  In recognition of those features, us media planners have rewarded its contribution to advertising by paying comparatively low rates for your highway billboard and bus bench...a fault that the outdoor advertising industry has somehow spun into a virtue.

Ah, but then it occurred to them to plug in the billboards.  Digital Out of Home (whose acronym gets a second 'O,' robbing us of the pleasure of a D'OH) consists of the Times Square "Spectaculars" pictured above and the LED billboards on the side of the highway, but also includes the closed-loop TV screen you see in your local coffee shop, pharmacy, and super market. 

It's also one of those few media that has continued rapid acceleration in the face of the past few years' economics.  Leading U.S. DOOH network, Adcentricity, recently published it's 2010 Outlook white-paper, and sees revenues jumping from $3B U.S. this year to $4.5B by 2013, an enviable growth curve in a sluggish economy.

So why are those of us charged with allocating your advertising media dollars flocking to this emerging media?  Here are a few good reasons: 

• Reach: While it pales in comparison to the nearly half-million billboards that line America's highways (sigh), DOOH now exceeds 150k screens nation-wide, and reaches 2/3rds of the population.
• Location, Location, Location: Only 150k screens? Yes, but many of those are in places where we're better able to distinguish the audience's mindset.  At the gym?  Perhaps you'd like a sports drink?  At the doctors?  You might like some aspirin.
• Interactivity: Remember that part about OOH being static?  So much for that.  DOOH's pictures are not only moving, but interactive.  As dated as it is, this brilliant example from Nike through agency R/GA still gets me excited about the potential of a huge glowing wall.

What's this have to do with you and your local marketing efforts?  I'd like to tell you we'll be recommending a giant interactive billboard in Time Square with every media plan, but let's take this one step at a time.  DOOH is a great local advertising tool, allowing you to select from multiple venues, and, unlike broadcast, allows you to choose a relatively precise geographic footprint for your ads.  Speaking of which, even if you don't have a 90 foot electronic billboard loaded in our ad builder software, we can work with your existing television and OOH creative to find new and more select audiences.

If you'd like to talk about the future of what local DOOH can do for you and you're one of our co-op or franchise marketing partners, check out how Balihoo can help with your local media planning.  If you're still looking for a Local Marketing Automation solution, make sure to check out our demo.

If you've been alive the past two months (which, you have, if you're reading this--also, if you've only been alive two months but you're reading this, congratulations, you're the smartest baby in the world)  I guarantee you've seen at least one ad in Kia's New Sorento campaign--the damn thing spans magazines, television, social media, online, and includes a "The Official Mid-Size Sport Utility Vehicle of the NBA" sponsorship--even as sponsorships continue to become more ridiculous in their specificity like, "ULINE: The Official Contractor-Grade Staple Gun of the WNBA".  Seriously, how many other staple gun manufacturers were clamoring for that distinction?  [Answer: they weren't, I made that up.]

As far as the social media component of the (I'm assuming) successful--and I forgot to add earlier, giant-toy-themed--Sorento campaign is concerned, Kia has a Sorento-specific Facebook Fan Page (of which, as a Sorento owner myself, I am a fan...  alright, who cares if I own the '04 model? I can still like the new one--especially its gas mileage, which infuriated me when it was first posted: 26 mpg. My '04 seriously gets fifteen. Fifteen. Miles. Per. Gallon. 15 MPG!  I didn't realize when I bought it that it came with an invisible 22-foot trailer) as well as a Sorento-specific Tweets via Kia's Twitter feed.  These two mediums are great, but I first discovered the new Kia via TV and later Wired Magazine.  It wasn't until I saw these and then the Facebook page that I became a Fan.

So how effective would their product launch marketing have been if Kia had decided to forgo the traditional mediums--and even *GASP!*, a major car show like the Detroit Auto Show--and rely solely on the Facebook marketing?  You'd think not as much. Who would ever gamble on that kind of strategy, though?  Interestingly enough, our own Ford Motor Company.  As Marketing VOX recently reported, Ford plans to roll out the new Explorer--yeah, you know, like the most famous SUV of all time--on just Facebook alone.


That's correct, one of America's largest and most storied corporations--a pillar in our nation's industry--is fully embracing the power of social media to market one of their flagship products.  Many (presumably, large traditional media-buying agencies) are questioning the decision, especially considering Ford isn't even going to announce the new Explorer at any auto shows. If you ask me, this is exactly why Ford is head-and-shoulders above GM and Chrysler (who?) in the domestic car-manufacturing race:

They're religious about collecting customer feedback, they experiment with alternative mediums (see: Fiesta Movement), they embrace unique designs and, in doing so, they connect with buyers, especially younger ones, on many levels.  And it's those younger buyers that will be the key to their continued success.  Ford should be lauded for this new Facebook strategy. Why? You mean besides the fact that they're a [serious] multi-billion-dollar corporation not afraid to take risks on unproven social media retail marketing tactics? Because it will probably work for them.  And if it works for them (Ford of all companies!), expect others to follow suit.

{Insert clever conclusion here}

For more information on product launch marketing and other marketing methods, please download our Local Franchise Marketing Playbook here.

A year ago this weekend stands out to me for two primary reasons.  One, it was my birthday and I had to come into the office and work and two, perhaps even more important than the latter,  the reason I had to work...we were releasing a redesign of our local marketing software.  A release of this magnitude required a lot of testing to ensure that before we rolled it out to our customers it was smooth as butter.

I guess the reason I bring this up is because it brings on a feeling of nostalgia.  To think of Balihoo a year ago today and compare it to what Balihoo is today we have, to simply put it, come a long way.  We have brought on several new clients and helped many more local franchise owners implement successful marketing campaigns. 

To revolutionize local marketing is what Balihoo is setting out to do and we are definitely making great strides down that road.  To learn more about Balihoo and what services we can bring to you, download our whitepaper.

Here's to another year!

How'd you find my blog?  Did you let your fingers do the walking? 

My guess is that you fell back on that little box in the upper right hand corner of your browser and let Google or the like tell you where to go.  And while we in the Balihoo Media Buying Team don't encourage the 'focus group of one' mentality, you're right this time around.

Sure, the local advertising landscape is considerably more complicated than just Google, with the local shopper going through about 8 different resources to find their best local shop.  Still, Search Engines have eclipsed the traditional print Yellow Pages.

A recent report finds that while the Yellow Page book can still be found in 84% of homes, only 28% report using it as their primary source for local business information, down from 33% in 2007.  Meanwhile, Search--both standard Search Engines and Local Search Sites like Google Maps--is the primary source for local business information for 40% of the population.  The rest of that pie is sliced up almost entirely by other online tools.  Aside from being the first choice for local shoppers, Search Engines are also used more than 1x a week by 71% of users.  Compare that to Yellow Pages rate of just 40%.

There's a lot to the data, and in many cases Yellow Pages can still complement a local media plan.  However, if your marketing strategy consists of renewing your Yellow Pages ad, it's time to reevaluate your options.

If you're ready to take it up a notch and you're one of our beloved co-op or franchise marketing partners, check out how Balihoo can help with your local media planning.  If you're still looking for a Local Marketing Automation solution, make sure to check out our demo.  If you're not sure if you're ready, you might want to try that box in the upper right corner of your browser.

I stumbled across a great deal in Cabo.  Los Cabos Guide is the most comprehensive directory available with detailed listings of hotels, resorts, restaurants and stores it's indispensable. Outdoor activities such as golf, fishing, horseback riding, water sports, ATV riding, SCUBA diving, snorkeling and beaches are regularly covered in editorial features. The program works like this: agencies that advertise in the publication do not pay them with money. Instead they pay by giving the publisher coupons (vouchers if you will) for their service, be it a restaurant, fishing company, whatever.  The publisher uses local advertising and then sells the coupons to people like us at a significant discount, 35-50%.

A couple we met recently bought (for an upcoming trip) $955 worth of restaurant and cruise dollars for $605.  A pretty significant savings! Here is the nice part... if you don't use them you simply return them and get your money back.  They have no expiration date so you can save extras if you want for your next trip.  Also, when you are down in Cabo, if you want more you simply go or call their office in Cabo or call the one in San Diego and they will have the coupons delivered to your hotel.

The coupons work like cash, but have no cash value, i.e. you cannot get cash back when paying your bill so always be sure your bill is the amount of coupons you have.  You cannot use them for tips either.  You simply order by saying, "I would like $100 at the La Golondrina restaurant."  If they have that available then you get it for $65.00.  If for example they only had $50 available then you would get that for $32.50.  Some restaurants and activities are 50% off.  I want to go to this Greek restaurant in San Jose which had a deal for 50% off.  So I will go there and imbibe $100 worth of food and drink for $50.  Not bad.... 

This new franchise marketing company utilizes co-op advertising, local advertising and local internet marketing which turns out to be a good deal for all involved.  They are adding new participants to their list as the popularity grows.  There are restaurants, activities, golf, a few hotels, car rental company, and some shopping stores.

So, the next time you are headed to Cabo, be sure to visit the site http://www.loscabosguide.com/discount.htm.

Modern Family is one of the funniest shows on television (admit it) and with the first season behind us I catch myself reflecting in merriment on the the pure hilarity of the show. It gets me thinking about what makes the show tick, is it the characters, the acting, the writing? The scenarios? What is it exactly?

I'll tell you what it is...it's smart. The premise is simple, it is based on a family, diverse and complicated, which viewers relate to. Each family branch has its own structure and story but is ultimately connected to the whole. Each individual's identity is reliant on the Family. In is not at all unlike what we provide to our customers through our local marketing software. While each franchise has it's own personality and unique set of circumstances, it is also an integral part of the corporate brand.

Balihoo's local marketing software tool allows franchises to localize their advertising efforts and to do it in a way that is aligned with their corporate strategy as well as unique to the individual franchise business.

While client strategies may differ, the core concept remains consistent. Enabling business owners to market effectively and easily. Just like a healthy functioning family provides the security and support to successful living.

Eric Ries , who is one of the driving forces behind the Lean startup movement has a great definition for a startup:

"A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a product or service in conditions of extreme uncertainty."

Note that it has nothing to do with the size of the company, the sector of the economy or the industry the business is involved in.  However, a key term in here: 'uncertainty'.  The implication: you need to be extremely nimble in how you go about creating and delivering your products and services. 

One of the great things about software, compared with, say building construction, is that the costs are relatively low to: build a part of your product, let people try it out and then decide if you want to change it/tear it down later.  Good luck doing that with a building or a bridge!

One of the most common areas that these build-test-learn cycles occur at Balihoo is with the user interface of our Local Marketing Automation software.  Our goal is to make software that is intuitive and pleasing to use so that our customers feel awesome about what it allows them to do.  However, doing this in the space of local advertising and local marketing automation is no easy task.    

Furthermore, usability is also much more of an art than science and like art, its quality is often subjective.  This means that we are continually trying to hone and improve our user experience using as many objective means as possible.  At Balihoo we use a number of different techniques to better understand our customers, refine our user experience (some of these we have profiled here, here and here), and we are constantly looking for new creative options to test these. 

One option we are currently trying out is called FiveSecondTest.  FiveSecondTest allows you to upload design mocks for new screens and have users execute a quick visual test of two primary types:

• Memory test:  where the user looks at the screen for 5 seconds and then types in as many of the things that stood out to them
• Click test: user can view the screen for 5 seconds and is asked to click on the areas of the screen that stand out to them.  Once completed they have the option to type in descriptions for what they think these different things are/do

After playing with both options so far my favorite is the Click test.  This is likely because our goals are primarily about user conversion - creating an experience to help the user take the appropriate action when looking at a screen.  (However, I could see though if your goal was perhaps branding - the memory test might actually be preferable.)

Here is an example of an initial test we ran on a new home page for a franchise marketing client. 
You can see from this test where the users clicked and what comments they left.  The red dots indicate something a user clicked on in the five seconds made available.  Each dot also corresponds to a comment, (which can also be viewed in a consolidated list under the results tab).

This can be amazingly helpful to refine and tweak designs with real feedback all before a developer even has to touch the code.  It becomes a really fast way to execute simple usability tests and A/B tests on new designs we are considering within our marketing software tools.  Its amazing how things as simple as color can create different reactions in users.  Our initial tests are positive, so now we have yet another tool in our belt to help us stay nimble under conditions of uncertainty!

As noted in previous Balihoo posts, many national brand and franchise marketing teams have ramped up the number of discounts, promotions and giveaways they offer in an effort to boost customer traffic. While successful in generating sales, relying on discounts too heavily has the potential to permanently reshape a consumer's perception of your brand - thereby hurting your brand name in the long-term.

To ensure your promotions are helping to grow your franchise in a sustainable way, make sure that your offer isn't just remarkable but resonant. Use a compelling offer to draw attention to a brand differentiator or to deliver your franchise's distinctive value.

To really kick your local store marketing effort to the next level, check out this Local Store Marketing white paper. Or for additional tips on using how to determine if offering freebies and giveaways makes sense for your brand; check out this great Quick Service Magazine article to determine if you are being 'Short Sighted'.

With new laws and state-wide efforts to fight obesity continuing to heat up, franchise marketing teams and local owners are scrambling to determine how, whether and when to publish their nutritional information. Meanwhile, industry insiders are increasingly debating whether the new transparency requirements (or, depending on your location, "suggestions") border on being just too much information for customers at large.

Regardless of which side of the debate you fall, one thing is sure, the manner in which you advertise and market your products (whether that means including nutritional information or not) will appeal to some and fall flat with others. 

The key is to hone in on your target customer. Is he or she more likely to be interested in having access to this information at their finger tips? Do you live in an area that is notably health-conscious? Is your local area currently involved in a city-wide health campaign or challenge (like this Minnesota city)? If so, reworking your local store marketing materials so that they provide nutritional guidance at a glance will likely be received warmly.

Fearful that some of your items' nutritional information won't be met with enthusiasm? First, recognize that a growing number of studies indicate that providing nutritional information hasn't shown to have a huge impact on point-of-sale sales. Second, you should anticipate that some nutritional information may cause some customers to second-guess their orders (which is just fine, and can even be a good thing if you are prepared with other healthier offers).  The key for success: make sure you have your healthier items prominently highlighted in your local store marketing materials.

Depending on your location and target demographic, including this info might actually fuel traffic - just make sure you have extra ingredients for your healthier items on hand!

If you watched Super Bowl XLIV along with 106.5 million other people, you saw (unless constantly distracted by buffalo wings and frosted mugs) several commercials for the premiere of 'Undercover Boss'. You might have also been among the huge number who didn't touch their remotes and watched it - helping it become the most-viewed reality show premiere and the third most watched post-Superbowl show ever! Since then, the show has managed to stay in the limelight by featuring some highly charged episodes with White Castle, Hooters, etc.  

In my opinion though none of the other episodes have been as intriguing as 7-Elevens! When 7-Eleven's CEO, Joe DePinto, was on the reality show, he met a delivery driver named Igor Finkler who came to the United States from Kazakhstan with $50 in his pocket and a desire to work hard.

DePinto became so enamored with Finkler’s work ethic and attitude, that at the end of the show, when he revealed his identity, he also awarded Finkler with his own franchise waiving the $140,000 franchisee fee. Finkler's location opened in early May!

"When I met Igor, I knew immediately he would be perfect for this opportunity," DePinto said, adding that Finkler’s smile and energy are trademarks that 7-Eleven looks for in its franchisees.

What kind of franchisees do you wish you had more of? Would you be willing to waive a $140,000 franchise fee and "give" a location to someone who exemplified the kind of work ethic and skillset you recognize as being ideal? Doing such not only delivered DePinto with a great franchisee but also did wonders for the chain's franchise marketing!

It will be interesting to see how Finkler does with his location. With his story in the news, and a new business to run, his local advertising needs are probably not his top priority right now. Once the buzz settles though, incorporating his incredible story into his local store marketing and local advertising efforts will help him continue to stand out in his local area.

Well done, Mr. Finkler! And well done Mr. DePinto.