Someone once told me that there is a fine line between being fantastically creative by contributing the best idea of the day and acting like a complete idiot! Needless to say this is very true, however it is vital to create a culture where the potential danger of acting like an idiot really doesn’t matter. This way you will ensure you capture the real gem ideas.

A Penny for your thoughts!
While most franchisors have a board of directors which lead strategy and company direction, behind them is a valuable resource; its team. Whether this team is made up of employed head office staff, franchisees, consultants or a combination of all, there is so much benefit in establishing communication channels to capture all of their business ideas.

How Marketing Plays a Vital Role
Marketing tasks and tools can be used to ensure that the systems exist for you to review future ideas. These ideas could be for promotions, a new product or service element or an improvement to the franchise itself.

Marketing activities help to focus franchisees on specific brand related tasks. This is not just essential during the first few months but established franchisees should become involved with head office lead promotions and campaigns which help to refresh them to the language and culture at the root of the business.

The Hidden Benefits
By including all stakeholders within the parameters of the company web, you are actually exposing them to the brand in different ways. This exposure can also be viewed as ‘brand training’ and helps to ensure that your brand and business is represented in the best possible way.

Tools You Can Use
· Regular team building activities
· Corporate away days
· Online forums
· Introducing a company ritual
· Reward system
· Recognition through newsletters, reviews or titles

When’s The Best Time to Start…
With Christmas parties fast approaching, there isn’t a better time to mix some business and pleasure and throw a party for your franchisees which also includes some company updates.

Vicki Cunningham editor of Franchisor News recently invited Sarah Dyer, Marketing Specialist from Coconut Creatives Ltd to write a regular marketing feature within the Franchisor News magazine.

“I’m thrilled to be writing for the magazine,” says Sarah. “There are so many elements to marketing and franchised businesses can generate so much benefit from employing just a few of the tools that I will be explaining through the features.”

The magazine is full of franchisor examples and news from the industry. Vicki has ensured that the tone is light and the text large so that it is an easy yet informative read.

Watch out for the next quarterly addition which goes to print later this month and is available from the beginning of December.  For more information about the magazine go to www.franchisornews.co.uk

Recently launched natural toiletry company BABY Beautiful has established exclusive distribution with www.greenerliving.co.uk so that they can offer their products to a wider audience thanks to their marketing house, Coconut Creatives Ltd.

After last months launch at the BBC’s Well Being Fair, BABY Beautiful attracted a great deal of interest and support from members of the BBC. After the launch Sarah Dyer from Coconut Creatives set up a meeting with online green product giant, Greener Living to discuss stocking the products in their Portsmouth based shops and online through their popular website.

Ms Sangar, BABY Beautiful’s c0-founder is looking forward to getting the products on the Greener Living website at the end of this week. “It’s been almost 2 years since we decided to form BABY Beautiful and it is wonderful that the products are finally ready to be launched onto the market,” explains Ms Sangar who has been working on the product lines from her London base since early 2006.

Ms Sangar employed the assistance of Coconut Creatives to help them take the products to market and establish good affiliations with key organisations. “Coconut Creatives has certainly done their job. We are delighted to have established exclusive distribution and with a great and creative marketing strategy in place for 2008 we have high hopes for our natural products,” explains Ms Sangar.

The products which include a hair and body shampoo named Hair and Body Blossom, a thick moisturising cream and an oil are available in a variety of natural scents including orange and tangerine, lavender, rose Geranium and absolutely nothing. The different scents are made from natural essential oils which complement different people’s personality types!

“We’ve found that individuals are either a lavender person or an orange person,” says Sarah from Coconut Creatives. “It is funny to watch which scents people are drawn to. I especially like the orange and tangerine while Ms Sangar is definitely a rose geranium person!”

The products went live on Friday 19th October in time for the build up to the Christmas holidays.

Marketing specialists, Coconut Creatives Ltd. expand this month with the introduction of PR guru Sally Butters to their growing team. Sally comes over from Bournemouth University where she is currently a Marketing Manager and manages the Higher Education marketing strategy of their six partner colleges and The School of Conservation Sciences.

“I’m excited to be working with the Coconut team and get back to my PR roots. I am particularly eager to work with their clients who have so much newsworthy potential,” says Sally.

Coconut Creatives offers a total marketing solution for independently owned businesses and businesses specifically within the franchise sector. Services range from copy writing and branding to event management and online, as well as their core offering helping with strategic business planning and getting stuck in with the tactical marketing activities. And of course now an additional PR specialist!

Sarah Dyer, founder of Coconut Creatives, is pleased to welcome Sally commenting,

“We already have clients earmarked for her when she joins us later this month and we are excited about the additional skills that she brings from her background in media relations”. 

Sarah and her Coconut Creatives co-director, Christopher Cook are both active members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and with Sally as a member of the Chartered Institute of PR, this has added to the Coconut mix.

With the growth of the business comes a new exciting website www.coconutcreatives.co.uk building on the previous design which was so popular.

A Mendip butcher turned franchisor, who helped a Somerset school win the best dinner 2007 award, will take pride of place in this month’s Mendip Food and Drink Festival (October 19 to 28).

Among the delights offered by Jon Thorner’s is the free range pork which helped Baltonsborough School near Glastonbury scoop the Somerset accolade.

Later this month he will be showing off why he’s among the best at producing and selling local food on a national scale, and why more than 60 schools across Somerset have chosen him as their food supplier.

As a main sponsor of one of the largest regional food festivals in the country the Mendip Food and Drink Festival. Jon Thorner and his wife Caroline, run two successful template franchise farmshops with a further 4 franchised butchery counters within established farm shops in Somerset and Dorset, say promoting local and regional food is vital to supporting our farming community.

Mr Thorner, who has previously been awarded Somerset Business of the Year, said: “The Mendip Food and Drink Festival offers a wonderful opportunity to celebrate regional and local food. It creates a focus on the good things about our region and brings suppliers, retailers and customers together to offer a deeper understanding of what goes on behind the scenes of so many wonderful local businesses.

The recent foot and mouth outbreaks in Surrey have reinforced his message that supporting local producers helps reduce the need to transport animals and therefore reduces the chances of spreading the disease.

He said: “We’re really glad that the Surrey foot and mouth outbreak has been contained and well managed. In promoting local and regional food, we further reduce the travelling of animals and produce which reduces the risk of diseases like foot and mouth spreading right across the country.

“Seventeen of our producers live within just 10 miles of our shops, most of our meat reaches our farm shops after travelling very few miles, ensuring full provenance and quality of the meat and other produce that we offer our customers.”

Jon Thorner’s has an established relationship with marketing specialists Coconut Creatives who manage their on and offline communications, seasonal events and annual marketing strategy to maximise on exposure opportunities such as the Glastonbury Festival which Jon Thorner’s has supplied with produce for almost 10 years.