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Managing the Franchiser
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Peter Birkeland Interviewed on NPR's Marketplace
Gang,
One of our stalwart members, Mr. Peter Birkeland, has been interviewed by NPR's Marketplace on franchising. It will be aired in a couple of weeks. We'll keep you posted on date and time so you can tune in.
From the rest of the community, congratulations Peter. As always, we look forward to hearing your insights into franchising on NPR.
Mr. Blue MauMau
Mums The Word on Take-Out In The Nude
I was going to blog on this but decided the risque story was probably more appropriate for the forums.
Ms. Johnson, a Virginia lady on methamphetamine ordered at the local Burger King and Hardee's drive-thru. Only problem was that she was not wearing any clothes from the waste down. She said she was famished after having sex.
Newsleader.com comically concludes, "No word on what Johnson ordered or what she wanted on it."
But for me, here's the interesting and more serious part. Apparently, there is guidance on such issues from the franchisor's Operations Manual, because...
Franchisors are increasingly telling franchisees and store managers to SAY NOTHING in public. So what do you think? Is this gag order wise - to shut up the local franchisee and to have only the franchisor comment?
Hamburger "in the buff"
Maybe Ms. Johnson will be an inspiration for a new menu item with low calories (minus buns) that the locals could talk about and that would become known as "a Johnson"? But, some enterprising attorney would probably sue --huh! Frankman, have you heard that the over-used F --Word that has become a verb, a noun, an adjective, and an adverb throughout the world was a British term that the Bobbies used to indicate arrest "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge?", or was someone pulling my leg? Thanks for the comic relief!Speaking for the brand.
Bob, you pose a very thought provoking question with "Franchisors are increasingly telling franchisees and store managers to SAY NOTHING in public. So what do you think? Is this gag order wise - to shut up the local franchisee and to have only the franchisor comment?"
In my opinion it is almost always a good idea, especially in a situation similar to the way the question was set-up around Ms. Johnson. It's the type of story which could easily garner regional and national media coverage. The media when asking about such an event such as this, would most likely be asking and reporting on the brand, and not from the perspective of the holding company owned by the franchisee which is controlling the local franchise. Therefore, I believe that it is best to allow the owner the brand -- to speak on behalf of the brand.
Take this to another level, I was once involved with a brand whereby an employee of a franchisee stopped at the local pub for a few drinks after work, in service vehicle owned by the franchisee. Upon leaving the pub, the employee was then involved in a serious auto accident in which a child was seriously injured. Of course the media was all over it, and the franchisee created a PR nightmare in fielding questions on the fly, vs allowing the franchisor to provide a pre-prepared statement. Of course it was the rolling bill board with the franchisors marks which was shown on the evening news, not the name of the company which owned the local franchise.
I think in fairness the rule should be very simple, if and when a franchisee is speaking to the media, it should be clearly stated that the franchisee is speaking on behalf of his or her company and not on behalf of the brand. Even then it can still be terribly confusing for the media to report and for John Q. Public to understand the distinction between the two entities.
Believe & Succeed,
Dale
FranSynergy, Inc.
Synergizing Franchising!
Swear Word Myth
MYTH!Don't want to get too off-track from our rather serious franchising discussions and I do not want to offend any readers. BUT, I just looked up the F word and according to the online dictionary (beware obscenity), it's an old word from Scotland that may have been transferred to the British Isles from the Swedish word F--ka. It's not hard to imagine Viking ruffians and pillagers using such foul language on the innocent British.
P.S. I hope I didn't just kill the conversation here.
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