In the franchise world, however, marketing consistency takes on a whole new meaning. “…marketing touches everything a business does,” Findley says, “from the design on the bathroom tiles to the rips in the salesperson’s jeans, and anything a customer sees, touches, hears or smells can affect the brand image.”

For large and small franchise operations alike, educating franchisees about the value of the brand is often the first and most important step. Taylor Bond, CEO and president of Children’s Orchard, a US-based children’s clothing resale franchise, explains it this way in Franchising World (“Communicating the Brand,” February 2005): “…we have aggressively focused on communicating the ‘picture of value.’ That means we have done everything humanly possible to help our franchise owners understand that the brand is the market share. We explain that the brand is a mental message, a picture that consumers connect to their store.” Bond says smaller franchisors should point to the success of large global brands to get their franchisees “to understand and embrace the value of the brand.” It’s crucial, he says, to “tie the brand directly to the value of the business.”

In large, sophisticated franchise operations, the franchisor maintains control of the brand through numerous means, including franchisee training programs, comprehensive brand guidelines, and providing franchisees with consistently executed branding and marketing materials.

Providing brand guidelines is not that difficult, but enforcing them across a far-flung franchise system is another story. “While many franchise systems provide their franchisees with guidelines about logo usage, signage and advertising, many fail to fully enforce those guidelines,” says Nikki Sells, vice president of franchising for Express Personnel Services, in Franchising World (“Consistent Brand Identification Increases Market Share,” December 2006). “This is why a customer can go from one unit to the next and have a completely different experience with the brand. Enforcing clear guidelines will not only help franchises stay true to the brand when marketing, it will also improve customers’ experiences.” Sells says it may take site visits, customer surveys and focus groups with field reps to determine adherence to brand standards.

That’s why superior global franchisors such as SUBWAY and McDonald’s make franchisees part of the solution. McDonald’s requires its restaurants to spend a minimum of 4 percent of gross sales annually for promoting and advertising the business. Owner/operators work with local agencies to place advertisements and, in some cases, produce their own creative material, as long as it follows system guidelines. McDonald’s also encourages its operators to offer feedback and ideas that could benefit the entire system; the Big Mac, Egg McMuffin and Filet-o-Fish sandwiches were all developed by owner/operators.

International branding is particularly difficult. Language and cultural issues present unique challenges for franchises. For food franchise systems, local cuisine preferences may require entire menus to vary. McDonald’s, for example, operates in India but does not serve beef there. Instead, the Indian system offers a choice of vegetarian and non-vegetarian menus; the non-vegetarian menu is comprised of chicken and fish. Product names retain the McDonald’s branding concept but are country-specific: McVeggie, McAloo Tikki, Shahi Paneer McCurry Pan and Veg Pizza McPuff.

Challenges not withstanding, globalization is a means of rapid brand expansion. US-based Yum! Brands, owner of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants, has enjoyed widespread acceptance for its franchise brands around the world. The KFC business in France has the highest unit volumes of any KFC in the world. For the last four years, Pizza Hut has been ranked as the #1 most trusted food-service brand in India in a consumer survey in The Economic Times.

Barry Silverstein has been a frequent brandchannel contributor since 2007. He has thirty years of advertising and marketing experience and is currently a freelance writer and marketing consultant. He founded and ran his own direct marketing agency and held executive positions with Epsilon, a leading database marketing firm and Arnold, a major ad agency. Silverstein is the author of three marketing books, including the McGraw-Hill book, The Breakaway Brand, which he co-authored with Arnold CEO Fran Kelly.