Case Studies

Develop Collaboration To Move The Brand

Client Circumstances

A major restaurant foodservice company with sales of 1 billion dollars, 2000 franchisees and 3000 units nationally, was required to develop and fund an association of these operators to improve dialog and collaboration. Relationships with the franchisee community were deteriorating and recent initiatives implemented by the corporation / franchisor appeared to only be to the benefit of the corporation. The franchisees needed a body of their peers to be established so their voice could be heard. In conjunction with this initiative, the parent company asked for an independent review from experienced marketing / branding professionals to determine the possibility for significant growth opportunities and a new brand revitalization which they wanted association members to be a part of.

Big River Steps in as interim Executive Director

Big River was engaged to develop a structured association (with Steve serving as interim Executive Director) and provide oversight and direction to improve transparency and communication between the two parties. Bylaws were written and a national vote was taken to establish the association Board of Directors. Marketing strategies were developed to communicate and begin educating the franchises regarding issues and demands to be addressed in the best interest of the franchisees. Once benefits to the operators were communicated, a membership drive was launched to build, capitalize and strengthen the association.
Having previous experience with the repositioning and re-launching of national multi-unit chain concepts, as Interim Executive Director, Steve was invited by the parent corporation to help in the process of analyzing and determining insights and initiatives that would once again make the brand relevant in the eyes of the consumer.
After analysis, Big River assessments provided direction and education back to the association on the following topics;

• What went wrong and when?
• How reaction to competitive activity was incorrect and began to take the brand off course
• Real estate, locations and market roll-out development issues
• What was needed to appeal to old customers, to invite them back?
• Coming from customer segmentation study, who is the “new” primary target? Secondary?
• How to grow future target audience
• How and why to support these new initiatives

After communicating findings and recommended direction to the association, a survey was written and distributed to all 2000 franchisees to obtain their feedback and thoughts on the new recommendations as well as ongoing issues that needed additional attention.

Outcome

Collaboration and dialog greatly improved the working relationship at a time when the health of the brand most needed it. For the first time, the parent corporation held a national convention of which 1000 franchisees attended. As a collective group, the brand is now headed in a mutually beneficial direction, communicating and implementing new strategies to once again grow the business.