Growing Dirty Dough from 1 to 100 shops taught me that national ads only go so far. We have franchisees match the national fund with their own local spend, like sponsoring a little league team or working with a city food blogger. In the six months since we pushed this, foot traffic and loyalty sign-ups are up. It just works when you're part of the neighborhood, not just another brand. Next year, I'm testing even more local partnerships.
I do work with restaurant owners as well as franchisees, when they require financing of property purchases or expansions. As I see it in such transactions, the successful operators generally manage to reconcile corporate brand norms with the super-local communal participation. They are familiar with their immediate trade area than a corporate office could ever be. My financially successful franchisees are the ones who invest in the grassroots: sponsoring local sports teams, attending chamber events, and developing a veritable rapport with other local businesses. One of the clients has three locations in the Southern part of CA and is a believer in local event-based geofenced mobile advertisement, which will always be more effective than those focused on the region overall.