This question is for Jaime, although anyone is welcome to chime in with their opinion.. I've seen two examples in the recent weeks of "new" chain fast food restaurants moving into the area, per Facebook/Patch. I see the engagement on these posts much higher than posts about new independently owned restaurants/shops/etc. What is it with this? Is this a brand identity/loyalty thing? Is this price? Is this experience? It's not like chain restaurants are winning on price or experience, IMO. #fastfood #smallbusiness #brandidentity
🗺️ Justin Copenhaver the simple answer is that most fast-food chains have a really large marketing budget, and they have mastered how to leverage their marketing to create brand awareness, and excitement around the idea of one of them moving into a community. A deeper answer has to do with brand relationships, which happen whether we are a customer or not. If someone is driving down a road or scrolling on social media, viewing an ad is unavoidable. You have started your relationship with that brand the second it reaches your eyes. Most fast food chains invest heavily in their brand identity system, which is as much about the colors, typography, and brand elements as it is about their logo. The consistency at which they can visually communicate is really powerful, and when you combine that with the budgets that allow them to be everywhere, it is not surprising that they get way more engagement. So, no, it has little to do with price or experience and more to do with familiarity, awareness, and a relationship that, in many cases, exists subconsciously.
Guiding BIDs, Downtowns and Developers to connect their local businesses stories and storefronts | Founder of Storefront Mastery | Author of Main Street Mavericks
9moDisney calls each character and story an “IP” or Intellectual Property. They treat them as real estate because they kinda are an asset class. The stories that the chains have attached and the prowess of their marketing machineries can make anyone believe that they are local, independent, fair trade, free of GMOs and child labor and that they contribute to their local church, even if all the above are untrue or at least only partly true. Plus they make ad deals with the platforms in huge volumes so they do get more exposure. They also engage in an army of influencers that boost any posts about the brand and so you see them come yp again and again, whereas the really local dudes are just building what will be their brand asset 20 years in the future. The answer is marketing. Establish the story, the myth, the mystery from the beginning.