| | February 20208MAINTAINING YOUR BRAND WHILE FRANCHISING ITBy Meetali Kutty, AGM- Sales & Marketing Head, Azure Hospitality AZURE hospitality is an initiative aimed at creating business within the food & beverage and accommodation sectors, founded in March of 2009. Each business has a distinct mix of cutting edge, intrinsic quality, international appeal and is value for money driven. AZURE hospitality look at them not as business as a collection of individuals characters, each with its own personality that sets it apart amongst competition.ospitality, as an industry in India, has experienced a tremendous boom in the last decade. With multiple foreign brands coming into the market, and a plethora of home-grown entities coming into being, customers are spoilt for choice when it comes to what they want to do when they go out. However, with the proliferation of this eating out culture, expectations and the drive to increase business has led to expansion and franchise plans aplenty. But with great franchising comes great responsibility, and brands must deal with the pressure of performing successfully in hitherto unexplored locales, as well as maintaining their brand standards when they may not necessarily be in the driver's seat. So how does one preserve their marketing standards in today's day and age?Firstly, it is important when creating a brand to define what it stands for. Who are you catering to? You cannot cater to everyone so narrowing down and focusing on who your audience is key. Are families your target? Millennials? Defining who you cater to plays a massive role in the tonality you use while communicating with them, with the creatives you make to attract them, and with what your brand stands for as a whole. The great thing about some of the most impactful brands has been that they know what they stand for, be it a McDonald's, Starbucks or, closer to home, a Mamagoto.Secondly, establishing brand symbols like logos, templates, and formats for communication is also key. If your brand plays with just three colors (like red, white and green)- be consistent. Ensure you have all your brand decks in place and your keywords illuminated so that whoever you franchise to can use these as a bible. That being said, localized communication is supremely crucial. Whenever your franchise to someone in a new city or location ensures you do your due diligence of researching the market, the crowd profile and the trending topics of that locality. Do people in this new city prefer to listen to the radio or read newspapers? Do they follow local tastemakers or are there no such reservations? All of this will help you and your franchise partner in curating the perfect launch plan, as well as ensuring sustainable coverage post-launch.IN MY OPINIONHMeetali Kutty, AGM- Sales & Marketing Head
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