5 Ways to Bring Value to Local Co-op Franchise Advertising

Local co-op advertising dollars were designed to drive advertising efficiency for franchise organizations. Using local knowledge, a national brand could integrate into the fabric of a community through its network of franchisees. Today, many co-ops have left this original premise in the dust.  These important local dollars now serve to boost programs at the national level.  It’s time that co-ops recapture these dollars and build efficient local ad programs. Here are 5 ways co-ops can increase the impact of their local spend through local knowledge:

1 Leverage Local

It’s rare that a co-op's media buying agency is in their local market, which limits their ability to penetrate the local fabric of a community.  They focus on the lowest cost per point and rarely look at the softer side of the buy.  Local operators know the market better than anyone else. They see  customers walk through their doors every day. A high functioning co-op uses the local knowledge to get more impact from their buy.  If WAAA is sponsoring the Crowdlapalooza, a co-op should find a way to participate and get their brand in front of this target rich opportunity.  Co-ops that work with an agency partner will have a leg up on the community activities and will be able to combine their media buys with added value strategically.  Working with the right agency partner, co-op media buys deliver more value and extend the impact for the brand.

2 Partnerships Are A Plus

Most markets are full of venues, events, and activities that need marketing help. Unfortunately, these venues  have limited marketing resources, and that’s where the co-op can step in. By utilizing co-op media to partner and promote  exhibits, museums, amusement parks, or one-time events a co-op can fulfill the local marketing objective of weaving the brand into the fabric of the community.  These partnerships can take several forms. It’s important to have an experienced agency partner to create a program that carries the brand and gives the customer a deal that’s almost too good to be true

3 Location, Location, Location

If a co-op's ad budget covers the entire market, it’s a good bet that the co-op has plenty of locations.  Good co-ops use their locations to extend their brand within the community. They build goodwill by providing co/branded marketing presence to venues and events all over the city. As a promotional partner, brands can be a distribution point without the hassle of point-of-purchase integration and still drive additional customer traffic. This not only prevents POS nightmares but also maintains good franchise protocol.

4 Wag the dog

Co-op advertising dollars are the tail end of the advertising food chain.  First comes national dollars, then regional, then co-op dollars.  Until one market shows results and makes the needle move. Co-ops that have market success are often asked to to become key influencers for the national brand. This can lead to test marketing new ideas in these successful markets.   This success leads to more opportunity to lead the brand from the franchisee point of view.

5 Respect the brand

Unique and innovative local marketing programs should not run counter to brand guidelines. System-wide brand guidelines present a cohesive message to consumers. Local co-op efforts should complement national efforts to have an impact on sales. Prepackaged ad products by corporate are good to have, but not the best in some circumstances.  Co-ops should strive to explore localized creative execution that respects and conforms to the overall the brand guidelines.

VWA Marketing and Advertising has over 30 years of working with franchise brands and co-op groups.  Let us know if you would like to hear about our co-op marketing results.

How CPG Manufacturers Can Support Retail in the Days of Covid

These strange times have forced shoppers to reconsider their shopping habits for the past month.  Over sixty five percent of the U.S. Shoppers have changed their grocery habits in the past four weeks.  Almost half of grocery shoppers have made additional “stock up” grocery trips in the past two weeks. The categories that have prospered from this behavior are canned foods, shelf stable foods, paper products, household cleaners and disinfectants and bottled water. While grocery has experienced fewer trips with larger purchases the stores that have been throttled back are mass merchandisers, club stores, and drugstore chains. 

The rush for the aisles has not been easy on the consumer either.  Nine out of ten shoppers say they have experienced out of stock at their grocery store.  While the trip to the grocery store can seem like something out of the ordinary, the online grocery shopping has started to take hold after years of stops, starts, and frustrations. Twenty eight percent of U.S grocery shoppers made their first online grocery order in the last four weeks.  Thirty six percent of shoppers ordered grocery items online for store pick-up and thirty eight percent ordered grocery items online for home delivery.  

With all these changes, CPG manufacturers need to step back and reconsider their marketing efforts.  Here are some of the low hanging fruits that all manufacturers should be doing today:

• Look at brand messaging and make sure it is supporting consumers with reassurance and empathy

• Review and confirm that planned messaging that could be seen as inconsistent with the times has been taken off the calendar and is not running as planned

• Take extraordinary measures to work with retail partners to alleviate snags in your supply chain

• Look at trade dollars allocated to the retailers and move them to later periods in the year.

• Provide creative messaging to consumers who are sheltering at home and need confirmation in their daily lives

• Work on your e-commerce strategy with retailers.  Confirm that product listings and messaging on retailer sites is exactly what you want the consumer to see.

Brands cannot afford to hold their breath.  Consumer shopping habits are changing and brands need to act now.  Some of these changes will stick and some will dwindle away. It is imperative that brands meet the consumer’s mindset where they are today for a successful brand strategy in the future.

VWA is an Atlanta marketing and advertising agency with over thirty years of experience working with CPG brands.  Let us know if you are interested in our services.