In the world of franchising it is imperative to have a cohesive marketing plan throughout all regions and all franchised outlets. Without a comprehensive and cohesive marketing plan, with each franchisee doing their own thing the overall message to the consumer can become so diluted that synergies which are of supreme benefit to franchise systems are lost. It behooves all members of a franchise company to support a main message and participate in all marketing, advertising and promotion.

To prevent these issues from hurting my franchise company, by established in the franchise agreements, as well as a confidential operations manual guidelines, which addressed advertising, marketing and promotional issues. By addressing this issue early on in the franchisees business, I was able to prevent problems later down the road and insure that each franchised outlet was on the same page. Below is the clause that I used in our franchise agreements;

3.16 Advertising and Promotion

3.16.1 Independent Advertising

Franchisee, at its own expense, must conduct local advertising and promotional activities as reasonably required to enhance the public awareness, goodwill and image of the Franchised Business. Franchisee may not use any advertising, sales or promotional materials of any kind or conduct any broadcast advertising or promotion, without first obtaining the written approval of Franchisor, which approval will not be withheld unreasonably. To obtain approval, Franchisee must submit a copy of the proposed advertising to Franchisor for review. If Franchisor does not give Franchisee written notice of disapproval within fifteen (15) business days after receipt of the proposed advertising, then such advertising will be deemed to be approved. Nothwithstanding the foregoing, Franchisor may from time to time, in its reasonable discretion, provide Franchisee with such marketing programs and brochures developed by Franchisor as Franchisor deems appropriate for use in the Marketing Area. Franchisee may use such of Franchisor’s marketing materials in connection with Franchisee’s local advertising in accordance with Franchsior’s advertising standards and without Franchisor’s prior approval unless Franchisor sends written notice to Franchisee that the use of such marketing material is thereafter prohibited. Except as permitted under Section 3.15 above, Franchisor’s approval will not be required and Franchisor will not review any portion of the materials referenced in this Section 3.16, with respect to pricing or the other terms of sale of the Services to be provided by Franchisee.

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Each franchisor should make sure they have a comprehensive strategy for marketing and promotion in that should include all advertising material in the should be read and reviewed on a routine basis. Additionally I would go one step further and suggest that a franchising company should indeed consult an experienced and knowledgeable franchise attorney on this issue to see if it makes sense to include such in their franchise agreements. Consider this in 2006.

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To maintain the consistency and image of a franchising system, even a mobile-based franchise, each franchisee must maintain standards of signage. This issue will be addressed generally in the confidential operations manual set forth by the franchisor. However, I found it necessary in my franchising companies to go one step further, I inserted a clause into our franchise agreements stating such. Below please find a clause I inserted into each and every one of our franchisees franchise agreements;

3.22 Signage

Franchisee must maintain and display standard signs on Franchisee’s car wash truck/unit(s) in accordance with the specifications established by Franchisor and outlined in the Confidential Operations Manual.

All signs on the car wash truck or trailer unit must conform to our sign criteria as to type, color, size, design and location. All signs must be approved in writing by Franchisor prior to installation or display if they do not conform to the Confidential Operations Manual.

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All franchising companies must address the signage issue. In location based franchisees such as retail outlets it is a much more serious issue, but all too often simplistic home based or mobile franchise companies do not address this matter properly. I would recommend that you seek the professional legal counsel of a franchising attorney who is knowledgeable inexperienced so that you might address this issue properly if you run a franchising company. Consider this in 2006.

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I was asked today by a group of students; What do you feel is the best way to build brand name and why? And what significance do you feel are relevant to a strong corporate identity?

Well obviously this is a group of marketing students. And it almost sounded as if I was being tested on an essay question. My answer will differ from those you maybe use to hearing. That is fine, but I am right. They may also be right and it may not be a black and white issue in all markets, sectors or areas. Here is some of what I know in relation to building brand name.

I would like to say a few words on this subject, which I feel of important. For instance the universal sign for a barbershop, the candy cane striped pole, for happiness the Belgium born happy face. But let us look deeper. In the grocery store on the Soda pop isle, look at it from the distance let us say the end of the row. Let us say you want a citrus soda? We all know that drinks that taste like citrus have green color bottles, Yet the appropriate color would be yellow or even orange, if you were to think of it. Some use these combos. Orange is for Orange soda, Yellow with green would be lemon type soda. Green for Mountian Dew and all the copy type generic sodas. Red obviously for cola. But why? Red is the color of blood not soda, and green is not necessarily the color of Mountain dew, that would really be crystal clear. Yet green tint and die coloring is added for effect, why to create brand identity. Has nothing to do with anything else. 7-up is clear yet the bottles were green. Then Mountain Dew came along and simply used this color theme. They used the other brand to build their identity.

Pizza Hut buildings are all the same, so are IHOPS and McDonalds restaurants. Even if they were to close a store you can always tell what use to be a Hubble House, Wendy’s, Der Wienersnietzel, or Blockbuster store. Why? Brand identity. But colors and brand are also important. Think about the bear companies they almost have to have the cans gold or silver or at least some showing. Coors, Miller, Bud, but also Mickey’s (yuk), Red Dog, Sapporo, but why those. Why not, why recreate the customer’s perception. The customer wants everything in their perspective, they want order, but why? It is a chaotic world and some postulate that chaos is the only given in the random order of the universe, and that the only thing constant is change, yet the consumer buys what they are familiar with? This that go against this familiarity concept, must spend money to change customer perception. A risky ordeal and if they succeed? No problem, some one will copy that theme and cash in on the progress made and the marketing dollars spent.

Why do I as a Car Washer submit these facts to a bunch of hungry knowledge seeking students? It is our job at WashGuys (my company) to create brand identity, We have, we are, we will. What do you pay for when you buy a franchise? You pay for brand identity and future growth in customer recognition of that brand. Sometimes with a small franchisor, (using the franchising industry due to the many examples and my familiarity on the subject), that can be risky and it is one topic that is often discussed in academia, yet few really understand it as well as franchisor.

It is a current trend of corporate identity people to create an image that brings with it thoughts of the conditions needed to affect a customers desire to buy. So a logo created need to instill reliability and honesty and strength in a Phone company or a bank. In a tech company; state of the art, innovation and vision. In a sports shoe company; winning, comfort, effortless versatility and power. There maybe other reasons but let us look at the logos for AT&T, Nike, Addias, Silicon Graphics, Apple Computer, etc. Think of all the symbols you know like Coca Cola, Levis, California Cheese, Starbucks, Kinkos, Frito Lays, etc. What do these brand names need to retain customer base and extend market mix. If they are too limiting they lose and if they are too diverse they do not hit their intended audience. Band names; some many of them remember and they for the most part achieve their objectives.

Frito Lays logo tends to promote longevity in the market place, your grandparents ethics, reliability. Coca Cola Classic says it all, An American Tradition, precisely what the company wants it to say. This is one reason the New Coke failed, people drink coke because it is a tradition and it is a coke sometimes even if it is a Pepsi or RC Cola. Often our customers call the people who wash their cars “The Car Wash Guys”, yet it likely may be Jose’s Mobile Wash in Albuquerque, Schmit’s Detailing in Couer D Alene ID, Winslow’s Washing Service in Boston, Chang’s Car Wash in South City San Francisco area, Fidel’s Fine Finishes in Miami, Jacques Car Care in Quebec, Bernies Beverly Hills Detailing, or even Paquito’s Truck Wash in El Paso. Hey stop laughing, they do not have brand name we do. We win again. The more cars and trucks they wash and detail the more famous we get, because we own the most recognitzed name and the name which has become figures of speech. Gotta love brand name recognition. Lord knows I do and you know what? That is right you can say whatever you want, but we are winning that brand war. Even the FTC attempted to increase our brand name by having us interviewed by Forbes, Business Week, WSJ, USA Today, Business Journals all over the country, when competitors could not beat us in the market place and complained to the government. Every time your brand is written about, spoken about, promoted, publicized, advertised, you win. We certainly know what we are doing. Yet the rest of the industry lacks any brand identity at all, as a matter of fact the attempts are even poorly engineered from a academic standpoint. Simonize Car Wash, uses an old brand name not popular with most of its clientele, Mace changed its name and was unable to capitalize significantly on its efforts. WOW-Wash-on-wheels did not do it. Spaklewash? No, Ziebart? Not really, what is Ziebart? A Zebra on the wall in a painting? Imagine the cost of promoting nothingness into a brand name?

Imagine being a franchisee of a system and being forced to use a name that is nothing. I think that Yahoo, had a better chance. Yahoo is a yell of euphoria. Like in the beginning, Yahoo, I am cruising the Internet. So how did the Car Wash Guys come to be? Well this is interesting. One day washing cars in Westlake Ca, I went to an office as I had gone into every week for a year. The lady at the front desk said. The car wash guys are here. Our name was at the time Aero-Auto Wash. Signifying that we washed cars and aircraft. That was our two specialty niches back then, yet we washed other things, we were known for these. What she was meaning to say to the rest of the 500-employee office on the intercom that day was that the guys who wash cars, me and three workers were there again at the prescribed time. Each week same announcement. Eventually people would say Hey it is the car wash guy. And Hey I said “why fight it?” It was a few months later that I had heard the same announcement several times at other offices some small, some large, some over the Public Address System and some just yelled it over the counter to the small staff of my potential or weekly wash customers. Even more interesting was that eventually the checks made out to my company said things like Wash Guy, The Car Wash Guys, Wash man. So that is when I decided that before someone looked at the name the check was made out to at the bank, I better get that DBA. I did, but before that I had to hide those checks that were not made out to Aero Auto Wash in the middle of the stack so the teller would not see them. Eventually the checks started to say all different things.

One said the Car Wash Gays, which we were not. Car Wash, all kinds of stuff. So we said hey the most common thing people say is; “The Car Wash Guys are here.” So we started to put that saying on the trucks and then we officially changed the name to the customer’s perception of who we were. We are the Car Wash Guys or Car Wash Gals and we own both Federal Trademarks. They are undisputed and we do enforce our brand rights. Sometime later another company was formed called the Good Guys, electronic retailer. Then people occasionally made the mistake and made the check out to the Good Guys. Wow, I knew we had won the brand name war in that area. The Good Guys, sub consciously that is what people thought of our clean-cut crews and uniformed service. We had made it. They thought of our fundraising efforts as Good, our team as Good Guys and we washed cars. That is miraculous. We know take what we have learned to any market and immediately establish brand identity. And we are growing in size and numbers. We always win the brand war. Perhaps it is because no one else has as many units in as many states as us or that the cost to create that recognition is the reason. Perhaps no one in this industry knows what we know about the customer or that they do not care.

Maybe they are just lazy, stupid, incompetent or bullheaded to think that a name like Bubbles, Sunshine, Dicks Car Wash, Car Spa, Dr. Car Wash is where it is at. The car washes, which just say “car wash” may actually have an advantage in that they have no identity at all. Yet that is easily arguable, if you looked at our rise to power in various regions in the 1990s.

Our company has been called by our critics and competition the McDonalds of The Car Wash Industry, The Wal-Mart of Car Washing, low price leader, usually in a derogatory since, yet it is by far a compliment to the Brand name we are building, it will increase its value to us and decrease their market share. The customer is calling us the good guys, the convenient choice, a better mousetrap, a time saver, a good deal, a cool business, a lifesaver. WOW, sometimes it gets heavy, when a customer tells you, Oh thank you, how can I ever repay you, you are a gods sent. Sometimes you want to say Hey Chill Out Lady, All I Did Was Wash Your Car, but that is inappropriate, so you just smile and graciously accept the large tips. Ever wonder why Starbucks puts out a tip jar? With every car you build brand name and goodwill, one car at a time, yet that critical mass theory is also real, in that once you become a household topic, the exponential exposure is intense. Who can we thank?

We can thank careful planning, strategy, customer service, community goodwill, belief in what we do and ever motion we make. It is not luck building brand name. Far from what many believe. Ben and jerry drove around the country in a damn beat up motor home delivering free ice cream to every group they could find. Luck. Yah right, tell them that. Hopefully as you go about your business this week you will begin to understand some of these observations in the Real World and perhaps you already have? Are you on a Dell, HP, IBM, Apple Computer right now? Are you wearing New Balance, Addidas or Nike Shoes? Think about it?

Why is that so hard to see from the perspective of a college student who wears name brand clothes, wears a name brand watch, eats at name brand establishments and drinks a lot of name brand beer, when they can afford it? It appears that until you live brand name from the business side you cannot fully understand it. Likewise I feel and have personally witnessed former Professors who run large companies fail to capitalize on their brands. People like Service Master’s President, straight out of what I consider a top business school and a company doing billions a year in sales, but in my humble opinion should be doing 150-200 Billion per FY. I cannot tell you how many companies make obvious mistakes with their brand name, based on advise from experts, advertising agencies and academia, which in my opinion is always looking back, and has not a clue how to change the market direction midstream and take advantage of brand name value in opportunities right before their eyes. We will not allow ourselves at The Car Wash Guys to miss opportunities within our reach when they meet the criteria needed to win against the competition in the market sector or deliver the desired results to the consumer.

I suggest you watch such trends in your company and offer suggestions or use this knowledge to make strategic decisions which will propel you company from good to great or help consumers believe you are a company that was built to last.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Well not everyone is aware that McDonalds also owns several other bands such as Boston Markets; 650 stores in 23 states, Chipotle Mexican Grill; 230 stores in 10 states, Donato’s Pizza 200 stores in 10 states, Pret a Manager 140 stores in 4 countries, Fazoli’s 400 units in 32 states and two countries. Of this the company derives 2 Billion in annual sales, this is not even counting McDonalds. Many people are unaware of this because McDonald’s has not connected the dots. However other franchise companies which franchise and have multiple brands have.

The question shall always be to you co-market to the same customers or serve separate niches. It depends, McDonalds seems to be targeting different customers althoguh if you consider in the US people eat major meals 2-3 times per day and there are 7 days a week, we are talking about 14-21 opportunities to feed them, now obviously other than single males, most of our population will eat the majority of meals at home. However how many of those meals will be eaten out side the home and of those visits to QSRs how many can McDonalds pick up.

Apparently after considering the additional 2 billion a year in sales, quite a few and remember McDonals is in 141 countries thus far so perhaps the cannibalization discussed in the franchising industry is a US thing for McDonalds and is not affecting it’s other brands here yet or all of it’s overseas markets for it’s stead fast Micky Ds Brand. Think about it Pizza, Chicken, Tacos, Italian and Pretzels? Oh yah that Hamburger thing will never work? Sure, that is what they told Ray Kroc in the beginning, guess they were wrong.

Are you sure it is just about the Real Estate? Or did you just quote someone in a Speech one day?

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After more than a decade since the last attempt to update the 1970’s Franchise Rule The Federal Trade Commission is at it again. May I ask why we are looking at reviewing these rules for franchising, where no problems exist? Why we are looking to tighten up ambiguities, which over time have occurred in this sector, when we should be dismantling the over regulations choking the industry? Why we are trying make rules upon rules, where no rules are needed since no problem really exits? Why can’t we use the red magic marker approach and start drawing lines thru massive amount meaningless dribble required in these disclosure documents?

Let me explain this philosophical thought for a moment. Recently Mr. Allen Greenspan before the Senate was asked about rules in the securities industries, stock exchanges, broker dealers to curb potential future fraud. He then correctly indicated that once you make a rule, the temptation to make additional rules to close gaps is just too great. Now then are we not sure we are headed down a slippery slope with regards to the litigious nature of the franchising industry, in that the trend in the industry currently is for franchisors to exit the market place.

One Industry Insider, franchising consultant in Houston is recommending this to his major clientele –Stop Franchising. Adding more laws and disclosures will only cause fewer competitors in the market, fewer choices, higher prices all in the name of protecting the now damaged consumer? This means we may deny many their American Dream of owning their own business and those citizens who have their hearts set on it will be severely limited in the number of choices and ways to go into business. Who does this really help; a few more jobs at the Federal Trade Commission? Room for a few more franchising lawyers to bill at a little higher rate? If we reduce the rules, some franchise attorneys will have to move to California to sue for workmen’s compensation, to the northern Midwest to sue for mold or to Cape Cod and specialize in the new emergence of the ever-changing same sex family law there? The attorneys have made millions of dollars in the franchising realm since the 1970’s and in the last decade they have doubled their fees between 1995 and 2005, enough is enough? Think about it.

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The Federal Trade Commission has an obligation to the general public, their stated consumer education mission and to the over regulated franchising industry and the small business operators running Biz Ops to separate the two business models by way of legal definition. Any failure to completely separate them will trigger additional problems down the road and cause the current on-going process of rule review to continue, without any formalization for decades.

This of course is good for attorneys who make money on these ambiguities for lawsuits and great for Federal Trade Commission tenure and job security. A few also realize it could allow for additional travel budgets of governmental employees during these rule making processes on the taxpayers money. It would also trigger more time-out, “let’s think about this one”-coffee breaks on various floors of the Federal Trade Commission’s fully furnished 1970 desk style ambiance. However it is not good for consumers or industry and creates unleveled playing field on one hand and complex barriers to entry for start-up entrepreneurs with regional dominance and efficiencies, which lend them selves well to the franchise business model on the other. This is because Biz Op MLM salespeople are purporting that they as similar to franchised business, by using terms like ‘Private Franchising’ in their presentation.

These MLM business sell in coffee shops and public presentations, which would send chills down the spine of any compliant franchising executive or real franchisor. So then, what is a real franchisor? What is private franchising? What is a Business Opportunity? What is an MLM business? What is a hybrid or cross-breed of any of these combinations? How on Earth in laymen terms can the Federal Trade Commission explain this to us, so that we might explain the differences to consumers when asked. Where on the Federal Trade Commission website is there a place which describes all of them and the possible variations? Due to the introduction of the term “Private Franchising” in the interim between 1999 comments and 2004 evaluations of possible definition revisions by Federal Trade Commission it appears that the definition landscape in the real world is hyperspacing the definitional upgrades to the franchise rule in the wonderful world of bureaucracy. We should not kid ourselves into thinking that the latest FTC report or any subsequent changes now, will change anything in the actual market place as to the number of; non-existent fraud events in franchising. The number of fraud cases in franchising is basically nil as per Federal Trade Commission’s own statements to congress. Yet the MLM crowd is manipulated truth by miss using the word franchising and that misrepresentation is damaging consumers. Think about it.

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The number of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission on Franchising do not indicate ramped fraud in the franchising sector. The FTC before Congress gave a report showing that the number of complaints was fewer than one tenth of one percent, lower than any other industry. Nearly all the franchising cases the Federal Trade Commission filed, were gray, crying wolf area of law and most settled as soon as possible; considering the slow nature of our courts in America.

Some of the cases the Federal Trade Commission had brought since 1970, which fell within their franchising rule jurisdiction were doctored up claims against smaller franchising companies, involving false declarations, secret Federal Trade Commission court filings and Federal Trade Commission runaway case worker investigations to prove themselves right once the target was sighted. I know this because our company was filed against in such a way. These tactics and thought process of course is part of the flawed human behavior to prove ones self right. The FTC’s behavior in case filings is not too different from a student Thesis at University Level, Politicians justifying actions, policemen lying in paperwork and religious cults. We will not comment on the serious nature of the Federal Trade Commission, starting a case and working hard to prove guilt of the target to justify their existence or next years budget.

It is safe to say however that in franchising, significant checks and balances already exist along with the rights of private action which abound with the sharks of the legal system looking at small fortunes and pots of gold created by franchisors in the market place. The ambulance chasers are in fact ready to pounce on any possible violation or perceived violation in the franchise rule. If not these fake EMTs will attempt to create a gray area to slither thru an open window, cracked screen or drive the ambulance right through the front door like a crazed Islamic radical suicide bomber coming from a Cleric’s meeting to snatch the cash, take the safe or just to collect the 72 Virgin C-notes in fees for filing the suit. The Federal Trade Commission also often abuses their power with regards to the franchise rule as they need to bring so many cases every so many years to prove they are doing something.

Think about it; should we really worry about International Terrorists or should we concentrate on the cancer within and the bureaucracy which threatens to destroy all we are and all we have built?

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Franchisors often have issues when they own a brand which has service vehicles; where franchisees wish to operate in non-franchise assigned territories. We had this as a re-occurring issue in our franchise system. We came up with this policy, which is also in our Confidential Operations Manuals. Here is a sample policy for our franchisees:

“Unlicensed Areas”

“If you are called into an unlicensed territory for service, you may service that particular client. You will obviously pick up additional clients in those areas from referrals, leads and people who see the truck. It’s ok to service these customers. However, you must:

Not have over one-third of your clientele out of your exclusive territory

Give up these clients if we sell that adjacent territory to a new franchisee

You must let us know which other area you are working in

We don’t recommend washing cars outside your exclusive territory because it will cost you many hours in travel time over the course of a week. Fifteen minutes here, twenty minutes there. It adds up, trust us. We have assigned you an exclusive area, which will more than suffice. After all:

You know the area

You live in the territory

You have a perfect mix of business

We spent money marketing that area

If you are occasionally called to a non-assigned or unlicensed territory and you find another franchisee is also working that area, it’s ok to split the area amongst yourselves with the understanding that which ever buildings/customers they were doing prior to your coming in that area you should honor. You and the other franchisee might both have to give up those customers if we sell or assign that territory and retreat back to your exclusive territory. Be advised that this can happen and it has before. If these customers you have been servicing are very important to you, you may want to purchase that additional area. We of, course, would love for you to have this as part of your exclusive territory because you are one of our best franchisees. Contact your regional director to start the negotiation process. And, by the way, don’t bring your attorney to the negotiations. This is a very informal procedure.

We are all on the same team. If you can handle the additional customer demand and our staff likes you, I’m sure we can negotiate a fair deal for all concerned.”

If you are a franchisor of a home based or service franchise system you must address this situation or you might wind up in court defending what is generally understood by all parties anyway. Think about this and get your policy ready and let it be known.

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On question I have been asked over and over again from prospective franchisees of our companies has been one in which I am very adamant about it; do we require prior experience? No, like many franchise companies we actually frown upon it and think it is such a detriment that we usually disqualify the franchise candidate if they do have prior experience. And we always ask the prospective franchise buyer what sort of experience they have in our industry. When people find out we specifically do not want to sell franchises to those in our industry we are often ask; “Why Not,” as it would appear that a franchisee with prior experience has a leg up on the world and would have a better chance of instant success in our business models.

Generally it is like Ray Kroc found, I would rather take someone with no experience than one with experience. What he was saying in "Grinding It Out," his autobiography, which I recommend was someone with restaurant experience comes with preconceived notions, and since he was re-inventing the restaurant business, that would only hinder his progress. I agree. So I do not want people in my industry as franchisees, only to join the Founders Round Table (my master mind group). Mostly people I met by chance at places like Starbucks: Venti Mocha Power frappachino please…no whip." Need to go where people’s neurons are transmitting fastest otherwise I get board and have to leave. Our business is customer driven; we cannot stop it if we had too. They want service and they want it now, and they demand that it be us, we are in the cleaning business and our franchise system has grown from customers desires to have things cleaned. The problem is how do you wash every house, roof, awning, mini-blind, window, deck, dock, boat, plane, tractor, truck, car, and then change the oil, wax them, and coat them? You have to divide it into smaller pieces because it is too ominous of a task. KISS-keep it simple. Specialize and over deliver, thus strengthening the brand.’ THE GUYS." S

o what we did is what we had to do. If our franchisees are in a neighborhood washing houses but are suppose to be washing cars at the golf course, then how can we give good service? We can’t. So we find the best people in the world at each type of washing and have them join our team, we train the team from those best and knock out the 20-year learning curve. Presto! We have a franchise that is actually worth more than just a name. With the synergy of each additional brand in the area and the sharing of customer databases it is easy to have power of presence. When someone thinks washing they think us. This way our franchisees get more calls and can service more customers and create more word of mouth and grow faster. In theory it looks easy. But it is a giant undertaking. Each new franchise we start and the more customers we service the better we get to service them more efficiently by learning from our network. The more valuable our franchise is to the newest team member and the faster the ROI, so the more trucks they can buy to service the more customers who call in. Our customers ask us for additional services. We should co-brand with ourselves, why? As not to lose secrets. Andy Grove is correct only the paranoid survive. Now if I could only double my speed and half the time to half the labor to do twice the work. The goal is simple we want to clean up the world.

I think any franchisor who goes for brand extension needs to be very careful about how they go about it. There are many ways to excel in the market thru co-branding and franchising or licensing and equally as many theories of how to do it. In the end you need to pick a formula that is working and just go with it. Think on this.

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As many people know Industry Trade Journals in America have gone through a tough time in recent years due to slowing of advertising dollars. In franchising there is no difference. They use to give away subscriptions to Successful Franchising on franchise web sites; unfortunately that magazine was unable to weather the storm. They stop publishing in October of 2001. Now we see a re-emergence of Franchise Times, who has hired a new salesman, who is going to all the franchisors and telling them to advertise.

Most franchisors have theories of where it is best to advertise. Most DO NOT advertise in such trade journals. A few do, mostly for brand name recognition, although in my opinion it is a total waste of money. Franchisors who really care about their franchisees would spend the advertising dollars to get new franchisees in places that would help both getting new franchisees and helping their own franchisees get new customers; a much better way to advertise. I feel sorry for people like the sales man who called me trying to peddle these display ads and combat what must be an unending amount of rejection. I feel even more sorry for franchisees of any system whose franchisors blow money on any advertising, which does not help their franchisees. These costs are obviously passed on to new franchise buyers, who probably came to the franchisor’s site through a web site or from a referral from an existing franchisee where they bought a sandwich, did dry cleaning, got their hair cut or got taxes completed. We have found that this sort of advertising in places like Franchise Times has never worked for our company, we believe it is a waste of money, even worse than attending trade shows.

As advertising dollars continue to dry up and even with all the media consolidation, there seems to be a very aggressive approach to sales tactics of these salesmen/women and a touch of unnerving arrogance among the editors, publishers and self-important writers. I guess that arrogance goes with the job, however I think it is time for all Industry Journals and media for that matter to come back to Earth, realize their relative value in our society. Everything has an intrinsic value and an actual value and we need Industry Journals to find equilibrium, because as it stands in my opinion, it is not even close. Why would any franchisor waste money on such advertising? Perhaps they themselves want to see their pictures in the ads, perhaps if the advertise they can get the editors to go ahead and do a story on the company? Maybe we have just too many egos in franchising? What say you?

Would you want to buy a franchise from a franchisor who blows money on such advertising, that could be better spent helping the team succeed together? I know I wouldn’t. Maybe you should buy a magazine and then make sure to delete the franchisors that advertise in it as wasteful and not inline with financial responsibility, simply do not buy any franchise of anyone advertising in that way?

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/