Top 25 Franchise Marketing Leaders: Jennifer LoBianco — Chief Marketing Officer, Best Life Brands

Name: Jennifer LoBianco
Role: Chief Marketing Officer
Brand: Best Life Brands
Brand Website: https://bestlifebrands.com

Jennifer LoBianco’s journey into franchising began at Century 21 Real Estate after an early career start in production at Time Inc. That foundational role introduced her to the power of national marketing paired with local execution, an experience that shaped the franchisee-centric approach she still carries today. Working directly with franchisees early in her career, she learned the importance of listening, understanding local challenges and ensuring marketing resonates with owners before anyone else.

Now, as CMO of Best Life Brands, LoBianco leads marketing across multiple service-driven franchise systems. 

Q&A With Jennifer LoBianco, Chief Marketing Officer, Best Life Brands

1851 Franchise: How did you find your way to franchising and franchise marketing?

Jennifer LoBianco: One of my very first jobs was in production at Time Inc. in NYC. While I didn’t see production as a career path for me personally, the exposure to different departments was a valuable learning experience. After observing the general marketing efforts there, I realized that was the field I wanted to pursue.

I then applied for and secured a marketing role at a large franchisor, Century 21 Real Estate, which began my journey in franchise marketing.

That foundational experience shaped my entire approach through today at Best Life Brands, giving me a franchisee-first mentality. Working closely with franchisees early in my career taught me the importance of listening and understanding their local-level challenges. I prioritize creating marketing that resonates with franchisees before engaging other audiences.

1851: What makes franchise marketing uniquely challenging (and rewarding) compared to corporate-only marketing?

LoBianco: The main difference is considering multiple audiences — typically three or four — simultaneously. Every day involves strategizing for direct-to-consumer marketing, referral partner marketing and franchisee marketing.

This is both challenging and exciting, as we are constantly figuring out how one program impacts all audiences or how to adjust a strategy to fit everyone’s needs. We also create specific programs for specific audiences, which results in many moving parts at all times.

I enjoy the complexity and the constant challenge. I can’t imagine a linear approach to marketing.

1851: What is the single most powerful lever a marketing team can pull to directly impact franchisees’ profitability at the unit level?

LoBianco: As my first CMO boss said, “control the controllables.” For franchisees, this means focusing on what they can directly manage, particularly their service level, which dictates brand reputation.

A customer’s true brand perception is formed after the service they receive — whether through word-of-mouth, reviews or surveys.

Optimizing Google Business Profile, online reviews and customer surveys are a major part of this. We currently manage some of these tasks on behalf of our franchisees. We recognized that unmanaged reviews and stale content can harm their business, so rather than just providing tools, we actively manage these areas for them.

Positive reviews are paramount for local search traffic, and we are committed to helping franchisees optimize this area.

1851: What is an untapped marketing opportunity you see for franchise brands?

LoBianco: There is significant untapped potential for franchise brands and franchisees to use web and social content to truly differentiate themselves. Since national corporate-level efforts can only do so much to promote a local business, franchisees need to determine what localized content they can create — with our support — that will genuinely resonate and differentiate.

Some franchisees leverage social influencers, while others create simple but impactful content highlighting their clients or services. If the majority of franchisees actively adopted these tools, the entire franchise brand would benefit significantly.

1851: What is one marketing fad or buzzword that you believe will actually deliver real results in the coming year?

LoBianco: The answer is undoubtedly AI-related, but it will go well beyond basic content creation. Using ChatGPT for writing, idea generation or polishing graphics is now table stakes.

I believe one real opportunity lies in using AI to enhance franchise business development — specifically in finding the right candidates and accelerating their onboarding process. This will tie into the advanced use of AI with CRMs and marketing automation tools.

I look forward to the creation of new metrics that quantify the value of AI-generated leads, AI-driven awareness or AI-conversion rates, which will help us interpret data analytics and establish future indicators of success.

Want to learn more about how 1851 helps franchisors grow their franchises with confidence? Visit www.1851growthclub.com and see what we can do for you.