Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2011 | Page 18

“We put on a great event that raised awareness
for our brand and helped the Atlanta market
become one of the fastest-growing
in the entire country.”
he says. “Life was pretty good. And every winter, a group of
10 of us guys would go to Lake Tahoe to gamble and ski. I
enjoyed my vacations, but found it difficult to relax because I
was always getting phone calls, putting out fires.”
On those trips, Thomas says, “I was fairly envious of one
of my friends. I’d be on top of a ski slope getting phone calls
and putting out fires while Grant would be relaxed, enjoy-

2011 MVP AWARD WINNER

You were recognized for demonstrating outstanding performance and innovation in growing your organization and brands.
Tell us what you did. In 2009 many Great Clips franchisees were dissatisfied
with our #38 NASCAR sponsorship. We knew the car was getting brand exposure,
but we weren’t seeing measurable results at the store level. Plus, we felt that attendance at the races, especially in the Atlanta market, was fading, and nowhere
near its potential. I came up with this out-of-the-box idea to “leverage” our NASCAR investment by creating a three-way partnership between the track (Atlanta
Motor Speedway), Great Clips, and the franchisees (the co-op). After pitching
the idea, I was shocked to learn that all parties were willing to give it a try. This
is what we did: 1) got Great Clips to pay for the naming rights to the Great Clips
300; in return they would get national exposure on TV, radio, print, and the Internet; 2) got Atlanta Motor Speedway to offer some exclusive Great Clips-designed
ticket promotions; and 3) got the franchisees (the Atlanta co-op plus about 100
Great Clips stores in surrounding states) to agree to invest part of their ad budgets
into cross-promoting the race.
Our goal was not only to increase attendance, but also to build brand awareness and to give our customers and our employees something memorable,
something that would help differentiate Great Clips from our competitors. Each
week we’d get on a conference call with the franchisor, our co-op’s marketing
committee, and our ad agency and talk about how to market the race. We came
up with a great ticket promotion, radio ads, TV ads, social media, billboards, and
other novel marketing ideas. And we got all the franchisees, their stores, and
their employees to work together to push our messaging one customer at a time,
something a hair salon is in a unique position to do. And instead of talking about
the high-profile drivers, we talked about the event itself. We educated the customer that going to a NASCAR race was more than just watching a car go around
in a circle 200 times. Attending the race was an entire day of affordable fun for
the whole family: kids get in free, free parking, coolers of beer allowed, etc.
By getting everyone involved, from the stylists to the owners, we put together
a phenomenally successful campaign. Instead of being just another sponsor and
following the traditional template that hundreds of companies before us had tried,
we became a true partner to NASCAR. And in doing so, everybody won: NASCAR

16

Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue III, 2011

ing his vacation. So I asked him, ‘What exactly do you do for
a living?’ He said something about owning some hair salons
and concluded with ‘I don’t work weekends.’” (For a profile
of Grant Simon, see www.mufranchisee.com/article/467/.)
“The next year we went skiing and, again, I’m getting
phone calls and putting out fires. And Grant looks at me and
says, “I don’t work on Fridays either.” I was jealous, and a bit

gained more fans, Great Clips gained more customers, and the franchisor now has
some of the most supportive and motivated franchisees imaginable. This event
was a huge morale builder. Just over a year ago, most franchisees in our market
were clamoring for Great Clips to drop NASCAR. Today, most are supportive of it.
As a multi-unit franchisee, how have you raised the bar within
your organization? 1) We put together the highest-attended Nationwide
Series race in Atlanta Motor Speedway history, increasing attendance from 30K
to more than 70K, in a bad economy no less. 2) We increased our co-op’s participation rate to 97 percent; almost every franchisee in the market comes to and
participates in our monthly co-op meetings. 3) We got our stylists engaged in
our marketing efforts with their customers and with the community, which really
boosted employee morale. 4) Best of all, we put on a great event that raised
awareness for our brand and helped the Atlanta market become one of the fastestgrowing in the entire country. The U.S. economy might be in a recession, but you
wouldn’t know it by looking at our numbers.
What innovations have you created and us