When you think about choosing the right franchise opportunity, you need to consider the existing competitors for the franchise companies you’re considering. Sometimes you’ll need to go beyond the obvious. Let’s look at just one example.
Marble Slab Creamery is not just another ice cream parlor. They have a special way of mixing up ice cream with customized additions, called “mixins,” on a marble slab. Essentially, each customer at Marble Slab gets to create his or her own custom ice cream flavor.
Marble Slab’s most obvious competitors may be other chains that let customers mix in additions, but that’s only at first glance. Some customers may think, “I’m in the mood for lemon sorbet with dark chocolate bits mixed in,” but think of all the other motivations Marble Slab’s customers might have:
- They want ice cream, so they might go to any ice cream parlor, or to the grocery store.
- They want something cold, so they might choose frozen yogurt or Italian ice.
- They want a snack, so cookies or popcorn might do just as well.
- They want to take a break, so a park or coffee house would be just as good.
- They want a place to take their kids, so they could choose the library or playground.
- They want to treat themselves, so they could go shopping instead.
All those possibilities — and the many more we haven’t listed — could be your competitors.
Marble Slab works to divert those general feelings of wanting a treat or feeling like ice cream into more focused devotion to Marble Slibe through omni-channel marketing. Omni-channel means being present in a customer’s life not just in a brick-and-mortar setting but also in all the other places a company can interact with a customer. The idea behind omni-channel marketing is that the more present your brand is in the life of a customer, the more likely they are to buy your products, visit your store, and become a loyal customer.
To encourage that devotion, Marble Slab has built a strong following on Twitter and Facebook, actively engaging with customers, asking questions, reposting Instagram photos of customer’s ice creams, and replying to mentions of their brand online. Certain individual franchisees participate in social media but the franchisor takes an active part by driving the brand’s online presence and interacting with customers. Their website allows customers to sign up for an email newsletter to stay in touch, encourages them to share about Marble Slab with contest, and even makes it possible to order ice cream online.
This feeling that Marble Slab is not just another possibility, but a part of the customer’s life or even a friend will spill over into the customer’s relationship with the franchise, too.
When you’re looking at a franchise, think about all the different ways competition can occur. While Marble Slab has a competitor that has a very similar approach to ice cream — some would say identical — the real competition may be elsewhere in the community, or already in the customer’s freezer. Getting a customer out of the house to spend money on a more expensive ice cream experience relies on creating a relationship with the customer. With that feeling that Marble Slab is special, customers are more likely to think, “I want some Marble Slab.” Is the franchise you’re considering a commodity, interchangeable with many other experiences, or have they been able to position themselves as something special in the lives of their customers?
