Brands Winning at Franchise Marketing: Primrose School Franchising Co.

Getting your business in front of the right people with the right message at the right time is not always an easy feat. In fact, there are incredible amounts of ideation and strategy behind every well thought out marketing plan. When it comes to franchise concepts, there is an added layer to the marketing strategy beyond getting your business in front of the right client. Franchisors also need to focus on how to get the business in front of the right owner. To take a deeper, behind the scenes look at strong franchise marketing strategy, 1851 Franchise connected with Primrose School Franchising Co. Vice President of Brand Management Paul Thaxton.

Primrose School Franchising was established in 1982, when the first school was opened in Marietta, Georgia. What began as a blended approach to early learning has since developed into a trusted, premier, early learning experience for children across America. Now, with more than 36 years having passed since the founding and 379 schools in 29 states, Primrose is a leading private preschool that provides early education and care for families and is also one to watch when it comes to franchise marketing. Similar to how the school was developed with parents in mind, so is the overall franchise marketing strategy.

“One of the interesting developments that we have noticed in building out our franchise marketing strategy at Primrose is that the profile of our prospective franchisee often times matches that of the parents at our schools,” said Thaxton. “We have seen a lot of parents that spend time in our facilities with their children and inquire about opening a location in their own communities. We have never tried to aggressively market to parents while they are in our facility, but have found that if they have had a positive experience at the school, they are more inclined to ask about the possibility of an ownership opportunity.”

Where Primrose can rely on a strong franchise system and operations to bring in prospective franchisees where the brand has a presence, the marketing strategy changes in markets where they do not already exist. In these untapped markets, traditional marketing comes into play.

“In areas where we don’t have a presence, digital marketing is really where we put most of our focus,” said Thaxton. “We have seen some incredible results due to how specific you are able to get with who you are getting the story in front of. We know who our ideal candidates are, which often depends on the type of market, and use digital marketing as a way to educate them on the opportunity.”

Since its founding, Primrose has also shifted focus in its franchise marketing strategy beyond the initial suburban locations.

“When the brand was first founded in Atlanta, it was looking for franchise owners only in suburban marketplaces,” said Thaxton. “Over the past three decades, we have opened our brand to real estate beyond suburban markets to include urban and corporate spaces. This shift in real estate has allowed us to market the brand in different ways, depending on which market and persona we are trying to grow with.”

Whether in suburban, city or rural markets, there is a growing need for child care throughout the country. In a study released by the University of Michigan, 62 percent of parents agreed it’s hard to find childcare options with the characteristics they want. With this growing need, the Primrose team has put a large focus on marketing in both new and existing markets to get in front of those parents that want more options to choose from for their kids.

“Child care is not just about caring, nurturing and providing a safe environment for your kids anymore,” said Thaxton. “There is so much more that we are trying to do with children in these crucial development periods. Whether that’s critical thinking, social-emotional development or how children are assessed, we are offering more complex programs to get parents the exact child care they are looking for. In doing so, we are giving franchisees more to offer at their own locations. As new franchisees come into our system, it’s important that we continue to innovate and give them the latest in their facilities and programs as they choose to invest in our brand.”