Franchise Update Magazine Issue II, 2014 | Page 20

Grow Market Lead

ANATOMY OF A BRAND
BY MICHAEL ABT

Any Meal,
Any Time

Keeping core values intact during a brand refresh

C

hange in a franchise system and trust that the change will ultimately
is inevitable. All franchise improve their bottom line. My experibrands across all segments— ence is that if the franchisor is willing
food, home services, health to invest in company restaurants or inand wellness, B2B, and others—even- vest along with the franchise partners
tually come to a point in their growth to help validate that the change efforts
where the choice is clear: either change will result in an acceptable ROI, you
and continue to grow, or remain stale then begin to build trust. With franchise
and gradually fade away as more pro- partners, the saying, “Put your money
gressive competitors pass you by.
where your mouth is,” goes a long way!
Having been in the restaurant indusThat’s why when I joined Huddle
try since age 14, I’ve seen my fair share House as CEO in 2012, building trust
of “change gone good” and “change before executing change was a key step.
gone bad” situations. Some of the most Our 400-unit, full-service family restauexpensive events are when change isn’t rant chain that serves “Any Meal, Any
handled correctly. I’ve learned that Time” was, and still is, loved by thouwhether it’s small tweaks to a menu or sands of loyal customers for our delientire system-wide rebranding programs, cious comfort food and value pricing.
in a primarily franchised system the de- Founded in 1964, we had experienced
ciding factor of the success or failure 44 years of positive growth—until the
of change and of enlisting the support recession in 2008. Unit count growth
of the franchise partners
has been, and always will
be, trust.
Of course you need validation, data, proven ROI,
a clear vision, and a commitment from the team to
help promote the change,
but it all starts with trust.
Trust is paramount. If you
are asking franchise partners to invest in change
of any kind, they have to
embrace the idea. But for
them to embrace the idea,
they must trust the source Michael Abt

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Franchiseupdate ISS U E II, 2 0 1 4

slowed, and the C-level executives soon
began to exit. When I came on board,
the reality was that longstanding franchise partners were not inspired by a
common vision for the brand and had
little trust in the management team.
The rebranding vision

I was brought on to rebuild and reignite unit sales and franchise growth.
To do that, I knew a brand refresh was
necessary. I had a vision for this concept to evolve so that Huddle House
could continue serving existing brand
loyalists while gaining new customers
for the next 50 years to come. My plan
involved the following elements:
• Accelerate system remodels.
We developed a remodel that drove
significant comp transactions and sales.
The franchise partners were excited
and proud of the new image,
which included a signature
tower entrance, plush seating,
contemporary furniture, and
vibrant lighting. To ramp up
participation, we developed an
aggressive incentive program
for our franchise partners,
and they jumped on board.
We offered a $2.5 million
fund for the first 100 franchisees who would commit to
a restaurant remodel by July
31, 2014. These franchisees
receive financial support to
help offset the costs of the