We’ve been waiting for one franchise to create an innovative app that would satisfy consumer’s demand for fun, smart, interactive apps that would simultaneously drive them closer to the product itself. It looks like Domino’s has achieved that.
Some franchises have launched interesting apps, but I think Domino’s new Pizza Hero iPad app takes the cake. The app doubles as a game and a way to order Domino’s. As Mashable report, the app lets you “simulate the experience of kneading dough, spreading sauce, sprinkling cheese, placing toppings and cutting slices all while a timer ticks away. The object is to make the pizza as quickly as possible and to closely mimic the experience of real Domino’s workers.”
You can then click on the ‘Make An Order’ tab and send the best you designed to your local Domino’s. While not every pizza you design is makeable, the vast majority of sensible designs can be distributed to your house in less than a half hour.
All in all, it’s great development that makes consumers engage with Domino’s products, while personalizing their pizza. It’s an incredible development and we’re looking to further developments on the app front.
We all have heard and read about the enormous marketing capacity of Facebook. Some readers may even have found franchisees or new clients through Facebook. But many in the industry are still struggling to come up with a coherent strategy for mastering the page.
Facebook poses a particular challenge for franchises. Should your franchise speak from the same hymn sheet or should franchisees be in control of their own social media voice? It seems like an innocent enough question, but it actually gets to the heart of the question of ‘independence’ at the heart of franchising.
The Wall-Street Journal has published a story that states the franchises are beginning to push a single, cohesive franchise voice on Facebook.
There’s clearly a huge appetite for Facebook among franchises: “According to a survey from the International Franchise Association, 27% of 549 franchisers polled said they use Facebook multiple times a day, followed by 22% who use it daily and 20% who use it weekly,” the WSJ reports. They also report that Naked Pizza “gives area developers and owners social-media instructions during their training, and watches their online efforts”.
As far as franchisors are concerned, a lack of coherent Facebook strategy opens for any kind of voice on the social media page, and after PR disasters like the one struck Domino’s in 2009, that’s a risk they can’t sanction.
“If you have no policy, [franchisees] will do whatever they think they should do,” said Mr. Carpenter, founder of Wild Birds Unlimited Inc told the paper. “It may be wonderful, but it may be not.”
How does your franchise use Facebook? It can be an outstanding way to interact with customers on a local level. As with everything in franchising, a national vision and local mentality must go hand in hand when launching a Facebook page.
Facebook has now become a direct line of communication between food franchises and the public at large. It’s a bold new frontier for customer relations. On the upside, using Facebook wisely can create true consumer loyalty On the downside, Facebook debacles can leads to all kind of negative publicity.
Mashable, one of the most important websites for those tracking social media, has issued a 13-step guide to Facebook best practice. We couldn’t recommend it enough if you’re a bit shaky about managing your franchise’s internet profile. Here are their 13 tips. They explain themselves:
1. Be Transparent
2. You Must Respond
3. Educate Your Fans
4. Show Off Your Goods
5. Don’t Just Sell — Be Interesting
6. Share Your Press
7. Flaunt Your Social and Digital Savvy
8. Be Consistent Online and Offline
9. Don’t Give Away Too Much
10. Be Charming
11. Respect and Appreciate Your Team
12. Facebook Is Not Twitter
13. Target Consumers With Facebook Ads
Now, it’s not just enough just to read these bullet-points. Read the Mashable story as well. Each section features an example of a food business demonstrating their Facebook savvy. There’s some really relevant advice here for every food franchise. If Facebook is the virtual face of your franchise, make sure that people are seeing you in the best light.
We’re publishing our latest report on the pizza franchise industry in the very near future. There’s an interesting chapter that explains the link between franchise success for pizza businesses and an innovative social media strategy. As the report states, no pizza franchise has mastered the art of social media like Domino’s Pizza.
At the Association of National Advertisers’ conference in New York recently, Dennis Maloney, an executive in Domino’s advertising wing, recently discussed how the pizza franchise used social media to completely reinvent itself. We’ve blogged about Domino’s masterful use of social media in the past, but it must be said just how radical of a reinvention it has been.
This went far beyond their actual pizza, which they changed as well. Domino’s felt it needed to greatly alter the way it was perceived by the public at large. They maximized the internet’s over-riding demand for transparency. They stopped photoshopping the look of their pizza. They started crowdsourcing their ingredients. And now, according to CEO J. Patrick Doyle, “For the entire year every national campaign has had a digital complement that extends it online.”
For a franchise looking for its next boost, we recommend a long, thorough look at Domino’s hugely successful social media strategy.
Facebook is the final frontier for small businesses seeking new audiences. The website features 500 million users worldwide and features all kinds of opportunities to target customers. Maximizing its potential is a difficult thing, though.
We were intrigued to recently read a USA Today interview with the director of Facebook Local, Emily White. White discussed many of the aspects involved in local advertising with Facebook, as well as how a small business or franchise should curate their presence on the social networking website.
White made two points in particular that I thought were really helpful for drafting a Facebook strategy for your business.
It’s all about authentic content. The great thing about Facebook is you can try something and see how it works with your customers. Ask them, and see the response.
And on how many times a business should update its Facebook page:
The general rule is, you’re in pretty good shape if you’re posting three times a week. That gets you to a pretty sweet spot. Any more would be just too much.
There’s no single template on how a franchise should present themselves on Facebook, but White does offer some steadfast guidelines in this interview. No small business can afford to ignore Facebook in this day and age. If you’re looking for a ‘beginner’s introduction’ to Facebook, this is a great place to start.
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