What Is Franchise Marketing vs. Corporate Marketing?
Franchise marketing splits responsibilities between corporate (brand, national campaigns) and franchisees (local execution), creating unique coordination challenges.
Franchise Marketing vs. Corporate Marketing Explained
Franchise marketing operates differently from corporate marketing because two parties share responsibility. The franchisor handles brand strategy, national advertising, creative assets, and marketing systems. Franchisees handle local execution, community engagement, and often contribute to a marketing fund.
The franchise marketing fund (typically 1-3% of gross revenue) pools resources for national advertising, creative production, and marketing technology. Some franchises mandate local spending minimums on top of the fund contribution.
The biggest challenge is marketing compliance. Franchisees want to run their own promotions and ads. The franchisor needs brand consistency. Without clear guidelines and approval workflows, the brand message fragments across locations.
Modern franchise marketing platforms (SOCi, Uberall, Yext) solve this by providing approved content libraries, co-branded templates, and centralized approval workflows. Franchisees get flexibility within guardrails. Corporate maintains control without bottlenecking every local initiative.
Why Franchise Marketing vs. Corporate Marketing Matters
Franchise systems that get marketing right outperform those that do not by 2-3x in same-store sales growth. The coordination challenge is real but solvable. Companies scaling through franchising need this model figured out before granting additional territories.
Common Mistakes
- 1
Giving franchisees complete marketing freedom, which fragments the brand
- 2
Over-controlling local marketing, which prevents franchisees from connecting with their community
- 3
Not providing franchisees with ready-to-use marketing assets, forcing them to create their own (often poorly)
Related Terms
Multi-Location Marketing
Marketing strategies designed specifically for businesses with multiple physical locations, balancing brand consistency with local market relevance.
Multi-Location Operations
Managing business operations across multiple physical locations while maintaining consistency, efficiency, and quality at every site.
Same-Store Sales Growth
Revenue growth at existing locations compared to the same period last year, isolating organic growth from growth driven by opening new locations.
Owner-Operator Scaling Playbook
A systematic approach for transitioning a business from founder-dependent to scalable, typically moving from $1M to $10M+ revenue.
How Attainment Helps
Related Services
Industries We Serve
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a franchise marketing fund?
A pool of money collected from all franchisees (typically 1-3% of gross revenue) that the franchisor uses for national advertising, brand marketing, creative production, and marketing technology. Some systems also require franchisees to spend an additional 1-2% on local marketing.
How much should a franchisee spend on local marketing?
Total marketing spend (fund contribution + local spend) should be 3-6% of gross revenue. Most franchise agreements specify minimums. Effective franchisees spend above minimums because local marketing directly drives their own revenue.
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