MINNEAPOLIS – July 9, 2007 – According to the Franchise Relationship Institute, effective marketing support tops the list of franchisee concerns. Franchises need tools to address challenges as diverse as supplying franchisees with marketing materials, controlling brand identity at various locations, and letting franchisees customize and localize materials as needed.
Four51 provides a Web-based platform for franchisors to manage marketing materials, franchisees’ use of those materials and their print vendors. Four51’s Web-based procurement tool is the franchisor’s complete, no-cost solution to track marketing activity and empower franchisees to drive sales.
“Franchises need effective marketing tools and programs that can easily be implemented and managed,” said Bill Osteraas, director of sales at Four51. “Online procurement and distribution technology lets franchisors centralize control of their marketing campaigns and track who’s using what, while still giving franchisees the local independence they need to be effective.”
Osteraas has worked with many franchises on the Four51 network to help tackle many of these branding and marketing challenges, and he will host a webinar Wednesday, July 11, on this subject. More information on the webinar is available at http://tinyurl.com/yuejxa.
Four51’s Web-to-print platform and global network of print suppliers and distributors help franchisors support distributed franchisee locations without the headache of micromanaging every detail. The online catalog set up by the franchisor lets each franchisee have Web access to company documents for customization and fulfillment. This speeds up the distribution process and eliminates the struggles of handling individual franchisees’ requests for changes to marketing collateral.
“Franchises constantly complain about time and money wasted by having dated materials working their way through a clumsy distribution process,” Osteraas said. “With the Web-based tool, franchises have one system to manage multiple suppliers. The automation slashes costs and creates efficiencies, letting franchisees focus on bringing new sales through the door.”