360DigitalInfluence

Creating successful promotional giveaways for your franchise client

Happy National Doughnut Day! To celebrate, Krispy Kreme will be giving each customer a free doughnut, no purchase necessary.*

Dunkin Donuts is offering customers a free doughnut with the purchase of any beverage—limit one per customer.*

*At participating locations only.

There has been a flurry of giveaway promotions put on by franchised brands recently.We’ve all heard about national chain efforts, such as Denny’s Grand Slam Giveaway, the Quiznos Million Sub Giveaway, UnFry Day, KFC’s grilled chicken giveaway, and National Doughnut Day promotions put on by both Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts. But, smaller chains also have gotten into the act, giving away among other things, free pretzels, free ice cream and free tacos. Some campaigns have been more successful than others; though, the definition of success seems to depend on who is asking and who is answering.

For example, the highly publicized backlash following the KFC grilled chicken giveaway included angry customers and a company apology and “rain check” issued via broadcast and online ads. Still, KFC considered the event a success. “The critical thing for us was to get people to eat the chicken, whatever it took,” KFC President Roger Eaton said in an interview with The Associated Press.

And despite the potential for criticism that surrounds these giveaways, magnified by the use of social media, you can rest assured there are PR and marketing teams of franchised concepts dreaming up the next big giveaway. Why?

Because the media love it. And, sometimes, buzz trumps backlash. The promise of free stuff has captured the attention of the media from bloggers to national broadcasters, regardless of whether the execution of the program is good, bad or ugly. This may be partially due to the fact that in these recessionary times frugal is more-or-less the “new cool” and media are catering to an audience looking for deals. Or, maybe it’s because giveaways are always a win for media. It’s used to rally consumers to participate, but it’s also on hand to publicize the drama and controversy between business and consumer when things go awry.

Back to April’s KFC giveaway. The media happily communicated the promise of free food prior to the giveaway — the promise seemed so grand that even Oprah herself backed the promotion. However, come hand-out time KFC locations in New York and Chicago faced mobs of frustrated customers on the verge of riot. Some franchisees opted to not participate at all; others closed their doors when the demand became overwhelming…and the media loved it.

In a recent Ad Age article that summed up the KFC giveaway nightmare, the author wrote this about the promotion; “Consumers complained about rude service, and media complained about a PR team that seemed asleep at the wheel.”

As a PR specialist who works with several franchised brands, and who recently completed a successful national giveaway for one of those brands, I never ever want to be called out for being “asleep at the wheel,” nor do I want to be in a position facing a franchisor who is dealing with a mob of angry franchisees who are dealing with a riot of angry customers. So here are some recommendations and considerations for planning and executing a “successful” giveaway program for franchised brands.

1. Know Your Client’s Objectives and Be Strategic

It goes without saying that the “giveaway strategy” should feed the overarching brand and communication objectives. Take time to spell out this reasoning as it will not only clarify the program for you and your client, the franchisor, but it will also help your client justify the program to the franchisees.

A giveaway promotion may be appropriate if:

• New product trial is your client’s objective.

• You’re working with a relatively unknown brand and your client’s objective is to increase brand awareness.

• The chain recently instituted new branding or store redesigns and your client wants to attract a surge of customers to experience the updates.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. The point is, be clear about how the promotion reinforces the brand, builds bonds with consumers and is integrated with other marketing tactics. Ask yourself, “will a giveaway contribute to the growth of your client’s business?”

2. Communicate, Communicate and Communicate Again with Franchisees

If the “giveaway strategy” supports your client’s brand and communication objectives then the next step is to present the program idea to the toughest critics of all, (and the ones who arguably have the greatest stake in the promotion’s success or failure)–the franchisees.

Even the most carefully planned giveaway will fall flat on its face without the buy-in of the franchisees. After all, they, their managers and their employees will be the public face of the franchise, interfacing with customers. And, importantly, it is the franchisees who will absorb the cost of the free product.

One-hundred percent franchisee buy-in should be the goal. Most franchisors would tell you that this is an almost impossible aim. And it’s because of this challenge within the business of franchising that giveaway communications are marked with the ubiquitous asterisk, a symbol that notes—thats right—*At participating locations only.

Franchisors feel safe behind these words because it protects them legally and separates them somewhat from the potential negative buzz that surrounds non-participating locations.

However, those of us working with franchised brands must take a reality check in light of public perception. The majority of customers don’t know nor do they care about how a franchised business works. In their mind there is no difference between franchisor and franchisee. If a brand makes a promise on a national scale the customer will expect delivery of that promise whether there is an asterisk or not.

• Solid strategic giveaway programs require a lot of preparation. While your job is to secure and direct communications, which may only require several months of lead time, your client should be dedicated to fostering franchisee buy-in—a process that may require many months of preparation.

• If initial buy-in from the franchisee network is less than 30% you and your client need to reevaluate whether or not this is the right promotion or the right time. Also, is it worth the time and effort to continue soliciting the additional 70% of franchisees? Strong-arming franchisees is not an option.

• To sell the program, think like the franchisee; anticipate and address their short-term concerns.

• Ask the franchisees to think like a customer and make them an integral part of the planning process, if possible. Give them ownership; they are the “owners,” after all.

3. Create a Positive Brand Experience through Execution and Customer Service

Once committed to the promotion there is no backing down — not without backlash anyway. As PR counsel, your primary task is done. You’ve secured great media, you’ve presented a clear communication of the offer, and it’s now up to the franchisees to give the best brand experience they can. Here’s some advice for the client on program execution and customer service.

• Be very specific about the product you are giving away — manager’s choice is not an option.

• Be very clear about the time window of the giveaway and keep it consistent across all locations.

• Make sure the store is squeaky clean–from the bathroom to the employees at the register.

• Overestimate the amount of product you will need.

• Have rain checks available to compensate for long lines and unexpected circumstances that might halt the giveaway.

• Decorate the store with fresh and entertaining POP. Showcase the brand while you have a captive audience.

• When the giveaway ends make sure that everyone in line at that time is compensated in some way, shape or form. Giveaways are first come first serve, but that doesn’t mean customers who made the effort should be left in the rain.

• Be sure franchisees who are not participating know how to handle customer requests. They should be able to direct customers to a “participating location” or provide a rain check or coupon, for example.

• Prominently display a customer service number to communicate that you have a team ready to field comments–both compliments and complaints.

4. “Listen” to the Buzz After the Promotion

Giveaways are a great opportunity to learn about how customers truly perceive your client’s brand. Work with the client to set up listening posts and post-promotion customer service lines to field, gather and respond to customers’ comments or complaints. Advise your client to let the customers know management is listening and they care.

• If your client is not already doing so, dedicate a customer service team to monitor customer comments on facebook, twitter, yelp!, etc., and predetermine guidelines and policies for engaging customers within the social media environment.

• Equip your customer service team with gift cards or rain checks to compensate any frustrated customers.

• Establish a method for gathering, organizing and reporting customer feedback in order to learn the depth and breadth of customers’ brand perceptions.

• Publicize your success among franchisees. Allow participating franchisees to sell the success by sharing their experiences and concrete examples of the value to their locations.

• Leverage key learnings to develop your next award-wining PR program.

Mature brands such as KFC can, over time and often with additional investment, recover from failed promotions. But, repercussions can be disastrous for smaller or fledgling brands that depend on positive word of mouth. As PR professionals, it’s incumbent upon us to help our clients build promotions that best suit their brand, which always should include being able to deliver on their promises.

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