Consistency builds trust.

‘We better find space for a logo too…’ It’s something I might not have heard said out loud, but it’s certainly the sentiment of a number of conversations we’ve had over the years. The branding was often seen as the very last consideration.

Things are generally a lot better now than they used to be.

But even now for multi-location businesses, brand consistency is often maintained with a big stick, rather than because teams, whether at HQ or locally have had the time, & training to understand it’s true value.

It almost always comes secondary to the sales message..

Why is that? I guess it’s because at local level, your network & its people are traditional focused on sales promotion, hitting targets, and not on brand building. It is endemic across many sectors (but particularly in the franchise model).

If they need to increase local sales, they do some local marketing. “That should get the sales rolling in? Simple!”

And yet local marketing is much more about interaction, and engagement with customers and communities rather than something you just turn on like a tap when you want sales and expect to see instant results.

You see every touchpoint with a customer is an opportunity. You need to build a relationship with the customer through all your marketing, so that when they are ready to buy (and buy again) they feel they know, trust and understand you.

So you are at the front of their mind.

As well as being experts in brand consistency, We Are Acuity are well used to managing that whole local customer journey and all these vital touch points.

We have a four-stage marketing model covering Awareness, Reputation, In-Market and Loyalty that’s been honed over the last 25 years.

We are also used to delivering training and workshops educating brands and their local partners on why this consistency is so important.

We find this approach works much better than constantly hitting them with a big stick, when often they are just trying to run their businesses and don’t know exactly what they have done wrong.

The carrot is always a better approach.

As a multi-location brand it's vital that your local partners cover every single one of these touch points. And are consistent across that whole journey, building trust and understanding. It’s also vital they understand why it’s so important to do so.

This is something we talked about in detail in our most recent 'Talking Local' marketing podcast with Debbie Avens, Director and Founder of Avens Marketing & The Funeral Marketing Club, who has over 13 years of working in the sector for local funeral homes and national funeral brands and Helen Bradshaw, highly accomplished Portfolio Marketing Director.

If you are working in Funerals in a Sales, Marketing, Brand or Procurement capacity, and are struggling with driving your business, you’ll want to hear what we have to say. Not only will you discover how common your challenges are, but you’ll also gain some great ideas on how to tackle them. We'd love to hear what you think.

Here's the links to listen. Let us know what you think?

Spotify
Click Here.

Apple Music
Click Here.

Your local retail partners, whether branches, retailers, dealers, franchisees, or affiliates they need your support and you need their's, get in touch with We Are Acuity today for a FREE marketing audit by clicking HERE.

Or if you'd like to read more about Local Marketing have a look at our blog page "Local Thinking': https://www.weareacuity.com/local-thinking-our-blog

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