10 Franchise Marketers You Should Know: Wendy Odell Magus

As more and more families pursue two incomes it seems like there are as many daycare centers as there are Starbucks. It’s Wendy Odell Magus’ job to make sure Kiddie Academy stands out from the crowd. Magus serves as Vice President of Marketing at Kiddie Academy, a growing leader in the educational child care industry. With numerous past positions at children-focused companies, the Certified Franchise Executive brings a wealth of experience to the position few others could. 1851 got her take on franchise marketing in an email interview.

1851: How did you get into marketing?

Magus: My degree is in Business Administration. I knew I wanted to work in marketing, so I pursued several different internships while I was in college in order to get some experience and start to focus on what type of work I liked best. My internships included working in marketing for a large hospital, writing for a regional magazine and interning at an international public relations agency. While my responsibilities were pretty focused at my first job, with each successive position I was able to take on broader and broader responsibilities until I’d added all of the disciplines in marketing to my resume.

How important do you feel the consumer relationship is to franchise development?

The reputation of a brand is an essential component of franchise development. Happy customers help sell the brand and the franchise opportunity to prospects. Through the eyes of your customers, prospective franchisees glimpse the operations and customer interactions that they will have as operators of franchise.

How important is social media for your brand?

Social media is an important engagement tool for our brand; our target audience are über users of Facebook. We need to be where they are, engaging with them through the channels that they prefer. Social media is vital, and it should be integrated into a well-rounded, multi-channel strategy.

Do you have any tips for franchisees when it comes to local store marketing?

Know your community; be involved with the other businesses in your trade area. Establish your local profile as the owner/operator of your business. When your business is as personal as ours—that’s taking care of someone’s child—people want to know who you are. Grassroots marketing, empowering your customers and team members to make referrals, consistently putting your brand out into your community using a multi-channel strategy, these are all essential local marketing elements.

Do you feel advertising has shifted? Do you recommend a shift in budget towards digital?

Marketing has definitely shifted toward digital strategies, but there is still an important role for most, if not all, of the traditional strategies as well. It’s really about finding the right mix/ratio for your budget and audience.