Thoughts On Branding and Compliance

By Chris Couri, CEO and Co-Founder of We Do Lines

"If this business were split up, I would give you the land and bricks and mortar, and I would take the brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than you." - John Stuart, Chairman of Quaker (ca. 1900)

In the last quarter of the 20th Century there has been a dramatic shift in
ascertaining shareholder value. For most of the century, tangible assets
were regarded as the main source of business value. Brands, technology,
customer relationships, and employees were always at the heart of a
company's success, but rarely explicitly valued.

With the rise of such consumer brands as McDonalds', Coke, Proctor and
Gamble, and a host of other late 20th century brand powerhouses today, it is
possible to argue that the majority of a business' value is based on
intangibles like 'brand equity', Management's attention to these assets has
grown exponentially and efforts to protect these assets have become a top
priority because their perceived values have so vastly increased with the
technology to penetrate the brand into a marketplace, whether it be globally
or locally.

A franchises brand is a very valuable asset. Franchisors know that a
customer will walk into a store or use the services of a franchise based on
the reputation of the brand name.

Remember that although franchise establishments are independently owned and
operated, they still maintain the high standards of the franchisor and the
uniformity that contributes to brand recognition and reliability. That is
why a McDonalds in Portland is a McDonalds in Pasadena.

Brand management is important in other business, but in franchising it is
paramount.

It is therefore important, especially in the early going that we all
understand that if there's one bit of cautionary wisdom to share with you it
is "If the brand fails, we all fail." It is true that being a small
franchisor poses all sorts of challenges in establishing a brand,
particularly when it comes to working within a limited budget. However,
affordability is secondary compared to the primary task of each franchisee
to understand the importance and the value of the brand itself. If we fail
at that level-it doesn't matter how larger your budget or how creative your
marketing campaign-we may as well have thrown the time and money away.

Why? Because no matter how effective our branding effort, it's not worth the
paper it's printed on if the franchise owners aren't fully committed to
living and breathing the brand at the local level.