How to Take Control of Your Franchise’s Brand Identity

Part of a successful franchise marketing program is maintaining a consistent brand identity—that is, to make sure the graphics on your signs, fleet vehicle wraps, printed materials, and uniforms look the same everywhere they are displayed. When the public sees variances between different media or different locations, it sends an unprofessional message about your company, and if your graphic consistency looks weak, consumers often assume that your products and services are also weak.

Maintaining a consistent franchise brand identity can be challenging for a variety of reasons:

• Differences in media – There are normal variations among the pigments used to print on vehicle wraps, signage, printing, and apparel. But if one experienced vendor can supply all your various, branded media, these differences can be managed, keeping color variations to an absolute minimum.
• Differences in media – There are normal variations among the pigments used to print on vehicle wraps, signage, printing, and apparel. But if one experienced vendor can supply all your various, branded media, these differences can be managed, keeping color variations to an absolute minimum.
• You can’t be everywhere at once – If individual franchise owners source some of their own graphic materials for local use, without the benefit of an experienced eye to make sure those materials match corporate branding standards, your brand identity may be compromised.
• Lack of a brand standards manual – All companies, especially those with multiple locations, should have a brand manual that defines acceptable standards for colors, logo uses, tagline placement, and other key details that affect graphic consistency.
• Lack of brand identity training or enforcement – Compliance with the company’s brand standards manual should a part of every franchisee’s training. When a franchisee fails to adhere to the manual’s guidelines, there should be remedial action and remedial training. Because brand consistency is so important, some companies penalize franchises that fail to comply with corporate standards.
• >Lack of corporate brand management oversight – Again, you can’t be everywhere at once, so you need to put systems in place that assure compliance with your company’s graphic standards.
• Multiple vendors – When the same design is printed by different vendors, small differences in equipment setup and pigment can cause unacceptable differences in color and print quality.

Let’s unpack those one at a time…

Differences in media

Different types of branded media are produced with different equipment, using different color media. The colors used in printed materials and vinyl vehicle wraps are created by combining four base colors, cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). But when a logo is embroidered on a uniform, the colors are chosen from available thread hues, and when designs are silkscreened onto garments, the colors must duplicated using available ink colors.

Because of this, some, small amount of color variance is unavoidable, but when all of your materials are professionally produced by a single vendor that deliberately works match up these media, the differences are usually invisible to the general public.

You can’t be everywhere at once

As a franchisor, you can’t manage every daily decision made at every franchise location—that’s sort of the idea behind franchising. The entrepreneurs who buy your franchises are usually independent thinkers accustomed to making decisions on their own. That’s all well and good, but decisions about your brand identity should always be channeled through your corporate office because, although your franchisees are no doubt intelligent people, they are not trained in graphic design and printing technology.

Lack of a brand standards manual

A brand standards manual, a.k.a. brand manual, graphic standards manual, company style guide, brand style guide, etc., is like a Bible for controlling how your brand is graphically represented. If you don’t have one yet, consult with a graphic designer or marketing firm to put one together.

Lack of brand identity training or enforcement

After you create a brand manual, it’s crucial that you train every franchisee in its use. They don’t have to understand the technical details of color and media, but they should gain an understanding of the critical importance of adhering to the manual, and they should have a basic idea of allowable logo configurations and color combinations.

Any failure to comply with your graphic standards should be immediately remedied, and the franchisee responsible should be told, in no uncertain terms, what they’ve done wrong and not to repeat the mistake.

Lack of corporate brand management oversight

Part of any franchise marketing director’s job is maintaining brand consistency. Your marketing department should devise systems that allow you to monitor the graphics being used by franchisees, and they should have the power to enforce the rules.

Multiple vendors

Although it is possible for your marketing department to police the graphic standards compliance of multiple vendors, it’s a big undertaking and one that takes their time away from more profitable tasks. The most expedient course of action is to identify a vendor that can supply all your materials—and who is willing to take responsibility for the consistency of those materials.

Here’s an example of good brand consistency. Even though this is just a mock-up it shows how good design and brand identity can flow well from item to item if done correctly.

Procuring all branded materials from one vendor

This is not an easy arrangement to find, as there are very few companies that manufacture all the types of graphic products used by franchises. Wrap vendors produce vinyl vehicle graphics, for example, but it’s uncommon for them to also produce signs, apparel, and printed materials. Promotional product companies produce signs, apparel, and printed materials, but they don’t usually produce vinyl wraps. And neither type of company typically provides art direction and graphic management services to assure that the various media are color matched.

US Logo is a rare exception to these established models. We began as a branded apparel company in 1988, but over the years we’ve expanded our offering to include vehicle wraps, printed materials, signage, and even online marketing services. Our art department is well-versed in managing graphic standards for the companies we serve, so we can provide oversight on brand consistency across all types of media.

But for franchises, the most useful tool we’ve instituted is a Central Procurement Web Portal that routes all franchisee graphics purchases through a user-friendly, online interface.

Central Procurement Web Portal for franchisors

The final piece of the puzzle for franchisors is to gain complete control over the graphics their franchisees buy, and this is where US Logo’s Central Procurement Web Portal fits in. A unique offering in the industry, this system allows the corporate office to approve every branded design used by all locations without having to manage the day-to-day dispensation of branded products to franchisees. Our customer service representatives and art directors work closely together to assure logo and color consistency.

Each franchise has its own login to the system, which gives them access only to the products approved for their location. This can be important for regulated industries like private security firms, whose vehicle graphics are subject to different rules in different jurisdictions.

As an added bonus, the franchisor can make money from each franchise purchase, making the system a no-brainer from a financial standpoint.

Do what you do best

Partnering with a vendor that can manage and dispense branded materials is one of the best outsourcing decisions a franchise can make. It allows you to concentrate on growing your business rather than struggling to maintain its graphic identity. Call Crystal, Joel, or TJ at (316) 264-1321 to learn more about US Logo’s franchise services.