Maintaining brand consistency when
expanding abroad
Steve Tulk
Autosmart International
www.franchise.org
Agenda
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Autosmart International
franchising overseas
the same, only different...
the essential role of the support team
in summary...
www.franchise.org
About Autosmart
• UK-based manufacturer of
vehicle cleaning products
• mobile, B2B franchise
• franchising since 1978
• network turnover of £30m
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• 30% of turnover comes
from outside the UK
• over 200 ‘showrooms’ on
the road
• master franchise operations in Australia, France,
Scandinavia, Netherlands and Belgium
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Franchising overseas
• For the mature home-market franchise,
international expansion is the next logical step
• Taking your brand international can be exciting,
rewarding, challenging, frustrating and, if done
well, can be very profitable
• One of the biggest challenges is maintaining
brand consistency across all markets...
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Franchising overseas
• Remember, your organisation has lots of brandspecific experience that your overseas Masters
and Franchisees don’t have
• Don’t expect them to sign up to your brand
values without questions
• If they do, you should start to worry...
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The same, only different...
• Europe is peculiar - lots of countries with very
individual identities, value sets and cultures.
• What is important for one, may not be so
important for another - be prepared to be
surprised by the questions you get asked!
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The same, only different...
• our French franchisees insisted that all products
must have French names.
however...
• our French-speaking Belgian franchisees then
insisted that all products have English names.
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The same, only different...
• Dutch master franchisee insisted that white is not
seen as a clean colour in the Netherlands
• Sweden wanting blue and yellow vehicles
• France insisting that red, white and blue is a very
‘British’ colour scheme...
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How do you maintain brand consistency
in a remote market?
• Every employee who supports your overseas
operation is a brand ambassador
• This is especially so for your front line staff, e.g.:
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recruiters
trainers
sales support team
technical support team
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The essential role of the support team
• Your support team must embody your brand
values at all times
• For remote employees, this can be really difficult
to implement
• Overcome this by always training remote staff in
BOTH the home market (e.g. UK) and in their
target market (e.g. Germany)
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The essential role of the support team
• Training staff in both markets allows you to be
confident that your team :
• sees the brand in its original context
• knows what you are wanting to replicate overseas
• understands why ‘the company way’ is the key to
success
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The essential role of the support team
• Not only do support staff need training in brand
values, they also need the confidence to
implement brand values
• train front line staff in ‘soft skills’, not just product
knowledge
• give them the confidence to enforce your brand values
• make sure they know that you are behind them
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The essential role of the support team
• With only one staff member in a country, that
person MUST maintain positive relationships with
his/her franchisees
• sometimes they will have to deliver difficult messages
• train them to handle difficult situations and to end tough
meetings with everyone’s dignity intact
• if delivering a difficult message means that the
relationship could break down - send someone else
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In summary
• You know why your brand is a success at home
• don’t expect that your masters/franchisees will
immediately have the same level of understanding
• Employ only the best front-line staff
• make sure that they have the confidence and backing to
be great brand ambassadors (and enforcers) for you
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In summary
• Be prepared for local adaptation
• small adaptations to your business are a part of being
international
• Don’t be afraid to re-recruit
• the right master/franchisee will ultimately accept your
brand values and become the local embodiment of them
• If you have the wrong master/franchisee, don’t be afraid
to change them…
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In summary
• Remember
• International expansion is scary - you’ll invest more
than you expect to, and growth will be slower than you
expect it to be
• it can be incredibly rewarding - both financially and
personally
• never forget your sense of humour…
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