What Better Call Saul can teach us about franchising success

Spin-offs get a bum rap.

Anytime you hear about characters from a popular show getting their own prime time program, chances are your first instinct is to roll your eyes. And you’d be forgiven for being skeptical.

After all, for every “Friends,” there’s a “Joey.” And we won’t even get into “Joanie Loves Chachi.”

But when done right, spin-offs can elevate the art of television. Just look at “Better Call Saul.”

Breaking Good
AMC’s new golden child is a spin-off of the epically popular (and rightfully so) “Breaking Bad.” Only instead of telling the tale of a mild-mannered suburbanite turned criminal kingpin, “Better Call Saul” is an origin story for one of the former show’s fan-favorite characters.

Plenty of people were holding their breath in anticipation of the show’s premiere. No one wanted to see the legacy of their favorite program tarnished.

However, the critics have spoken, and the viewing public is breathing a sigh of relief.

According to popular review aggregating site Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a nearly unprecedented score of 100 percent. However, professional TV watchers aren’t the only ones excited about “Saul.” Various news outlets have reported the premiere garnered 6.9 million viewers, a new record for a cable premiere.

It’s still very early in the show’s run, but its initial success can tell us a lot about how to create a successful franchise. At the end of the day, what is a franchise besides a spin-off of its own?

Stay true to the original
Franchisees have a huge leg up over other small business owners thanks to the trail blazed by their parent companies. When people visit a Checkers* for a burger, they have a certain level of quality in mind, one of the reasons they seek it out in the first place. While each franchise is its own separate entity, it’s important to carry the torch for the reputation established by the original.

“Better Call Saul” knows this well. From cinematography and soundtrack to dialogue and character-building, the show launched out of the gate with the same level of excellence “Breaking Bad” viewers had come to expect.

Don’t use consumer goodwill as a crutch
With that being said, the show didn’t rest on its laurels. Any TV program even tangentially related to “Breaking Bad” could have coasted by on viewer nostalgia and goodwill reserves. However, “Better Call Saul” went out of its way to stand on its own merits.

Any franchisee who believes he or she can simply go through the motions and succeed thanks to a well-known name is in for a rude awakening. Consumer recognition can only take you so far, which is why it’s essential for franchisees to go above and beyond to ensure positive consumer sentiment is well-founded.

Innovate where appropriate
All companies have their own unique guidelines for franchisees to follow, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any room for innovation. After all, a person who runs a Pita Pit in Southern California may see very different customer demands from someone who operates a Pita Pit in the Midwest.

While it’s important to stay true to the spirit of the original, every franchise is its own individual enterprise. That means it’s up to those in charge to make sure they’re serving their specific community and establishing new modus operandi when appropriate.

“Better Call Saul” certainly stayed true to the dark (and darkly comic) spirit of “Breaking Bad,” but it also wasted no time in creating its own unique identity. Franchise or TV show, that’s a recipe for success.