1. Differentiating in a crowded market
Wisconsin-based Toppers Pizza, an 80-unit chain, positions itself as the local pizza place when it enters new markets, especially when its going against major players in the segment such as Domino’s and Pizza Hut.
Showing real employees and calling out their store locations in print and digital advertising, as well as on packaging, signals that “These are the local people who are taking care of you and serving you,” Iverson says.
Franchisees help select and vet workers who would be featured, choosing longtime employees who are “great people with great values,” he says. Selected employees sign waivers, allowing the company to use their names and likenesses across all channels. (Toppers keeps employees up to date on where their images will appear, so the workers can share the ads across their social media.)
And, while they haven’t had to use it yet, the chain has a crisis PR procedure for the leadership and executive teams in place to handle a featured employee doing something to tarnish the brand’s reputation, he says.