Tag Archives: progressive communications

Yelp! That’s right. And the idea of Paid Reviews

The world is adapting. No longer are you required to have a giant badge that reads “PRESS”. Now, bloggers are revolutionizing the rights of “journalists”. The media is no longer limited to glitzy reporters on TV, radio and in print. Online Journalists are the wave of the future. And smart franchisors are capturing this opportunity.

The question is: As a franchise, do you understand this?

And the follow-up: As a PR firm, do you understand this?

Both important questions. Both deserving of important answers. Both important to overall brand development.

With bloggers taking control of the media, what does this mean for franchisors? Well, in the simplest of terms, it means that anyone, anywhere can write about your brand. I have stated this before, but now you must focus on perfection. You, as zors, are being challenged to place the best product, service, and concept in front of the public. If you half (bleep) it, then you better watch out. Someone is going to blog about it. And someone else is going to boycott your brand. Word-of-mouth now travels virtually.

I have talked about Yelp before, as well. Yelp is a community of reviews. These reviewers aren’t anyone special – in the journalism world, that is. They are the general public putting stamps of approval and disapproval of your brand? Can you have control on these sites – absolutely (but, that benefit I will save for my clients). Can you have Internet control of content? Sure. In our ever changing world, you can even pay bloggers to write positive material about your brand. Is that right, though? That’s a moral question for you.

Just as the franchise portals allow you to place information on your wonderful concept on a third party site for a fee, you can now do the same thing by paying a blogger or reviewer to write about your brand. This creates more searchable content and keeps you, the franchisor in control. However, if I am a franchisee, or a potential franchisee and I read one of these reviews about how wonderful your brand is, how I am going to make money (earnings claim), and how I need to buy in now. And I do. And it sinks. I am going to be PISSED!

So, is controlled content fair to franchisees? If it is real, then yes. But, again, this brings up morality questions. What information can you present that is real, to your best belief, and is beneficial to your potential franchisees? Are you doing it? Lots of questions. Lots of answers.

Brand Identity Plans Should Prompt Reporter Mindset

Take a good look at your brand. Are you impressed with your logo? Your menu? Your image? Your personality? Most start-up chains would say not 100 percent. But no need to fret. Sure, rebranding campaigns are expensive, time consuming, exhausting, but most definitely necessary in building your brand far over the 100-unit mark. If you don’t have the funds to brand a great concept – find it. No excuses.

And now is the most important to gain an edge on the competition. Marketing, PR, branding initiatives should be ramped up during a struggling economy. Sometimes that means breaking the bank slightly, but when our recession flips to happy spending, consumers will appreciate the brands that didn’t have huge price increases, still offered the consumer magic in the product, and never sacrificed the importance of consumer connections.

With that said, when you are evaluating your brand – conducting a brand audit – you should think like a reporter to maximize your changes and evolutions to the public. You should think like the media. While the media won’t be the sole reason for the make or break of your brand, it sure is nice if they appreciate and report on your brand’s evolution.

How can you think like a reporter, you say? What publications do you read? Do you read the newspaper with your morning Joe? Do you read business magazines on your frequent flights? You should. But if you don’t, not a problem – because your PR firm should be doing this for you. They should be embracing every bit of the media – gaining clear understanding so that they can provide you with expert insight to your revamping.

Are you launching a new menu? Is that newsworthy? Sure, if you are expanding it into innovation.

Are you creating a new branding campaign that includes a local TV ad spot that features a new mascot for your brand? Is that newsworthy? Sure, if you have a green hook, a community hook, any hook.

The idea is to think in headlines. If they media could find interest in your concept, so will the public. Don’t underestimate what is and what isn’t a story. Ask your PR firm to evaluate (no fluff) you branding ideas as you go through the process. They, along with the media, can be very helpful to identifying the sexiness.