Horse Before the Cart: Building a Franchise Marketing Program While in a Period of Exponential Growth

Together with Shana Krisan (Goldfish Swim School) and X, a presentation at the International Franchise Association's 2020 annual convention in February 2020 on Taylor's experience building The Lash Lounge brand, national and local marketing programs beginning as a marketing team of one, as the franchise went from 23 to 100 units in a year and a half.

1. CART HORSE BEFORE THE CART: BUILDING A FRANCHISE MARKETING PROGRAM WHILE IN A PERIOD OF EXPONENTIAL GROWTH Taylor Hulyksmith Director of Marketing The Lash Lounge [email protected]

2. The Lash Lounge is a premier eyelash extension franchise, where we treat guests to a luxury salon experience that simplifies their morning and leaves them confident that, whatever the day brings them, they’ll look and feel their best. BASED: Ann Arbor, MI SALONS: 105

3. LET ME TAKE YOU BACK TO MAY 2018… SALONS: 23 Sometimes, this sort of time travel = 😬... BUT TIME IS PERSPECTIVE. +357% (SALONS X 4.5)

4. HURDLE #1: LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE We lacked the people, systems, partners and processes to market successfully, both on a national and local level.

5. CONFIDENCE SHAKEN. (ON BOTH SIDES OF THE SPECTRUM) FIGHTING FIRES VS. SPOTTING SMOKE Where there is a lack of vision and resources, there is chaos . Where there is chaos, there is distrust .

6. RESEARCH, AUDIT, LISTEN, ASSESS, STRATEGIZE. IT’S A BALANCING ACT, AND IT’S ALL ABOUT CHANGING THE NARRATIVE. Franchisees have A LOT of ideas. Some good, some uninformed, some unnecessary.

7. BANDAGE + HEAL. PRIORITIZE, PRODUCE, GIVE. BE KIND TO YOURSELF—DON’T TRY TO DO IT ALL AT ONCE. INSTEAD, IDENTIFY THE: Must-fix Must-haves vs. nice-to-haves Low-hanging fruits/easy wins Then, prioritize .

8. (OVER)COMMUNICATE. SET EXPECTATIONS, BUILD TRUST.

9. HIRE SMART. RIGHT PEOPLE, RIGHT PARTNERS, RIGHT TIME. RESOURCES MATTER. It was immediately clear that the job was bigger than one person. And, with a small budget, sometimes a full-service brand agency can’t be a reality. Prep yourself for long-term support and success.

10. SIMPLIFY, CLARIFY. CREATING ORDER, BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. SOME OF THE FIXES: Centralized data New training curriculum New franchisee learning center Onboarding guide, process and checklist Marketing expectations set Budget Partners Activities Goals Local advertising territories defined

11. HURDLE #2: A BRAND OUT OF TOUCH We had a large disconnect between culture, brand purpose and identity.

12. BUILD THE BRAND PLATFORM ONE VISION, ONE VOICE. Never underestimate the power of a group of passionate people, speaking the same language.

13. TRANSLATE THE BRAND TO THE WEB: CULTIVATING YOUR DIGITAL DOORFRONT PRESENCE PROFILE

14. MARKETING PRINCIPLES. GUIDES, GUIDES, GUIDES!

15. MARKETING CREATIVE. DIGITAL, SOCIAL, PRINT

16. MARKETING PARTNERS. MEDIA, PRINT, PROMO, WEB

17. MARKETING CAMPAIGNS.

18. believe! NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF: A great brand An inspiring purpose Wonderful people