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Posted on Sun, 10/16/2011 - 06:37 AM by
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Social media and brand awareness creates unique problems for a franchise system, the well understood division of national and local advertising has to be revisited. One important question is, should every franchisee own it's own website? Michael Seid, a well known franchisor consultant and board member for the International Association of Franchisors (officially known as the International Franchise Association), speaking for his franchisor clients, argues on social media site LinkedIn that franchisees should not have the right to develop their own local content marketing program using a franchisee-owned website. Before a franchisee develops an independent website, they should review their franchise agreement to determine if they are allowed to. Most well developed franchise systems would likely have some prohibition regarding a franchisee developing their own independent site. However, many franchisors do provide the franchisee with a customizable site linked through the franchisor's website. Even if the agreement does not discuss an independent web presence for its franchisees, a franchisee should discuss this with their franchisor to determine if the franchisor has any policy regarding this. (Most of MSA's clients have such a policy and i do not believe any allow the franchisee to set up an independent site, for a host of reasons, although some do provide the franchisee with a customizable web presence.) I disagree with Michael Seid's suggestion that it is in the franchisor's economic interest to contractually ban franchisees from exercising their first amendment rights to free speech. First, many franchisees are active participants in local charities and events and correctly wish to publicize via social media their roles and achievements, which indirectly adds to brand value. Second, a contractual ban on franchisee "ownership" of a website is not likely to be effective given the tremendous opportunities in social media which do not require the ownership of a website to be effective. This is an area in which organic practices have to drive policy to be effective. What those best practices are is unknown at this moment. Franchisors simply don't have the advertising or support dollars to set up the necessary social media tools by themselves, and some form of user generated content is going to be needed to make them effective. Third, the franchisor owns the trademark, the brand is what people are saying about you - which you don't own and need many listening posts to find out what the trends are. That cannot be done with a single command listening post. Finally, franchisors risk missing the value of either content or inbound marketing, the online replacement for yellow pages, if they attempt to ban franchisee's first amendment rights. MORE NEWS FROM BLUEMAUMAUGoing Green Costs Franchisees Much GreenBeing forced to buy imaginary products is just one of the nonsensical results of government policy affecting franchisors and franchisees. Good News, U.S. Hotel Profit RecoveryAccording to the new PKF Trends survey, the U.S. lodging industry produced a 12.7% profit growth in 2011. 80.5% of participating hotels enjoyed an increase in total revenue while 72.3% achieved growth in profits. The recently released 2012 edition of Trends presents data from a sample of nearly 7000 financial statements of United States hotels. For the Trends report, hotel profits are defined as net operating income (NOI) before deductions for capital reserves, rent, interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. Federal Court Invalidates "Quickie" Union Election Rule, For NowOn May 14, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia set aside a controversial final rule of the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") that was designed to make it easier and faster for unions to hold organizing elections. Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. NLRB, Case No. 11-02262 (D.D.C. May 14, 2012). Business groups are hailing the decision, but the celebration may be short lived. Because the ruling was essentially decided on a procedural point, the NLRB may seek to resurrect the rule, which creates a very short window for union elections, and leaves employers with little time to react to an organized union campaign. Field Representatives Coach Franchisees to Victory
A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are. "Live For Now" Stars Dead IconPepsiCo announced aggressive marketing plans, boosting ad spending by 20% and bringing back deceased pop icon Michael Jackson as part of a worldwide campaign. RELATED SMALL BUSINESS NEWSHot Franchise Topic: Getting a LoanIt seems like the entire franchise industry is focused on funding, and with good reason; franchise loans are still a bit challenging to secure. Production Agreements of a Supply Chain; The Other End of the RainbowMany years ago I was pulled away from my usual assignments to do a major product production tolling agreement between two of America’s larger food companies. It was a stroke of luck for me because it provided something new for my interest in multivariate risks management. Since then I have prepared many multivariate high risk agreements, and it is always an enjoyable as well as remunerative adventure. When you think of every brand as a franchise in itself, it fits perfectly into my customary practice of managing franchise relationship disconnect issues. Know the Benefits of Application Protection in Any OrganizationIt is very important to ensure proper method of data availability on time. In that case, replication needs to be adopted in order to manage current backup information and system settings so that it can deliver fast restoration of data after any kind of disaster. As we know that it is not possible to avoid any kind of natural disaster or human error; but it is always mandatory to take proper measures for application protection, so that users do not face any kind of problem related to data loss. And, data replication is found to be the only way to remove or minimize the time lapse experienced in these situations. Pepsi Wants a New GenerationEverything the light touches this year is rapper Nicki Minaj’s kingdom. From the Billboard Top 100 to the Super Bowl half-time show, and her reign is about to expand to a major role in a new ad campaign for Pepsi. A Business Plan Should be a Requirement for Buying a FranchiseVisit any website that offers advice on starting a new business or expanding an existing one and you’ll find articles and advice on the importance of writing a business plan. There are tips ranging from how to write an effective business plan to the reasons why it’s so important. |
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