Getting The Message Heard on a Shoe-string Budget

MARKETING: Smart Media Use Can Help Small Franchises and Vendors Reach Previously Unthinkable Markets

LOS ANGELES (Blue MauMau) - Structuring a smart ad campaign can help the small franchise chain or vendor reach previously unthinkable markets.

Take the marketing efforts of FranSurvey, a franchise vendor who specializes in orchestrating franchisee satisfaction surveys. FranSurvey selected four relevant franchises to help spread the costs through cooperative marketing. The firm then purchased four weeks of television advertisement in the Los Angeles metro area leading up to the West Coast Franchise Expo (see video of commercial above). Local or regional ads can be in the low thousands, affordable to many small franchise vendors.

All four of the franchise companies are displaying at the show and the ad offers a free 11 page survey report for anyone that logs on to FranSurvey site.

The firm then followed up by trying to create online buzz through viral marketing to reach a national and worldwide audience.

Says Jeff Johnson, president of FranSurvey, "I don't think this [marketing approach among franchise support vendors] has ever been done before."

It is an example of marketing synergy, of a little budget that through cooperation and creativity has been stretched a long way.

Marketing strategist Fred Leo of AdGiants, a marketing content management company built by advertising veterans, thinks the synergies of co-op advertising to support an event, especially across multiple media, reveals a more sophisticated marketing mindset for franchises and franchise vendors.

Says Mr. Leo, "Any time you can amass resources and apply them to advertising that serves each contributor, you've built some level of creative success into the strategy. It's smart to keep your eyes open for such opportunities. If you identify common goals up front, a cooperative effort can deliver exponential impact."