The 8 | June 15, 2018

1. Frantastic: As the franchising industry continues to catch up and get ahead of the latest technology trends, there’s some Frantastic news — the wheel doesn’t need to be reinvented. There are lessons that franchises can take away from non-franchise brands, from leveraging social media to humanize businesses to embracing omni-channel marketing. Head to 1851 to see what other takeaways franchise brands can leverage from non-franchised concepts when it comes to technology.

2. Franlebrity: Our Franlebrity this week is Kona Ice CEO Tony Lamb. 1851 spoke with Lamb for 1851’s Franchise Development Website Guide, and he offered insight as to what’s changing on Kona Ice’s franchise development website since winning one of 1851’s Franchise Development Website Awards in 2017. He says that the brand updates its website every year or two to “bring up to date all the new designs and latest improvements in our system.”

3. Frash Money: In order for franchise brands to make the most Frash Money, they need to be taking advantage of the data that they have at their disposal. At every level of a franchise operation, data can be turned into actionable insight that has the potential to make a difference. By tracking and analyzing data, brands have the opportunity to better understand buying habits and what leads to profitability.

4. Frant of the Week: In his latest Frant, No Limit Agency* CEO Nick Powills is weighing in on one of the greatest debates in franchise development — do stolen salespeople from your competitor give you an edge? Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer given the fact that sales is a complex process. While veteran salespeople can be valuable when the sales process is sound, chaos can be created if operations aren’t aligned.

5. Franch Forward: Strong loyalty apps have the ability to help brands Franch Forward. Peet’s Coffee is a great example of this — after recognizing that its loyalty app needed an upgrade, the brand set out to update and enhance its app to make a more seamless experience for customers. Once it rolled out the new and improved app, Peet’s Coffee saw a 350 percent increase in users over six months. That’s a lesson that brands operating in the franchise industry can take back to their teams.

6. Fran Funny: A vegan and an SEO professional walk into a bar. Who talks about organic first?

7. Franspiration: “The (franchise development) website definitely helped because of its design, but it also showcased the green side of Freshii, its philanthropy and also news coverage.” - Freshii franchisee Tina Nurmi Franceschina on how the brand’s franchise development website helped during the due diligence process.

8. Franemies vs. Frands: For some, Instagram may be a Frand, and for others, it may be a Franemy. But whichever way you lean, it’s time to update your strategy when it comes to hashtags. Instagram is continuing to update its algorithm, which means brands need to stay up to date in order to best leverage the tool. Some important tips to keep in mind are adding hashtags to Instagram stories and using branded hashtags.