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In this episode of The Marketing Factory, host Marisa Candy dives into the challenges faced by multi-location businesses in maintaining brand consistency. She emphasizes that growth without solid systems can magnify inconsistencies, leading to varied customer experiences that undermine trust and loyalty. Marisa discusses the importance of not just teaching staff procedures but also instilling a deep understanding of the brand's purpose. Listeners will learn about the common pitfalls these businesses encounter and gain proven strategies to ensure a cohesive brand experience across all locations.

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:01:03 - The Importance of Consistent Customer Experience

00:01:47 - Common Pitfalls in Multi-Location Branding

00:02:09 - Mixed Messaging and Customer Confusion

00:02:30 - Inconsistent Customer Experience

00:02:51 - Rogue Social Media Practices

00:03:12 - Lack of Training and Its Consequences

00:08:09 - Leading by Example from HQ

00:08:42 - The Importance of Trust and Employee Alignment

00:09:05 - Revenue Growth Through Consistency

00:09:48 - Key Takeaways on Brand Consistency

00:10:31 - Business Owners

What works for three locations usually falls apart

by the time you have 20 or 50 or 100. Without

systems, growth, all it does is magnifies the

inconsistencies. It's not enough to teach staff just how to

upsell or follow a script. You need to teach them why this brand

you've built, why this thing that you've invested so much of your time

and money into exists in the first place. Welcome to The Marketing Factory,

where we don't blend in. I'm Marisa Candy, founder and

award-winning marketer. And for over two decades, I've helped

businesses think differently about their marketing, and achieve powerful

results. In this podcast, I'll share proven strategies so

that you can create profitable marketing campaigns that drive real

impact for your business. Ready to turn clarity into action?

Let's get started. Ever walked into one location of a business and

had a totally different experience at another location of that same

business and thought, wait, is this even the

same brand? Is this even the same company? If you're running a multi-location

business, you know that feeling all too well. And here's the thing,

brand consistently isn't just about having a logo on the

wall or a pretty Instagram grid. It's about

making sure that every customer, no matter which location they

visit, gets the same promise, the same

service, the same experience. Because

when consistency breaks, trust breaks. And when

trust breaks, loyalty and revenue follow.

And today, we're going to break down the common pitfalls multi-location

businesses face, and I'm going to share proven strategies to

maintain a consistent, cohesive brand that actually scales

as you grow. So now let's explore some common challenges

maintaining brand consistency across multiple

locations. It's not as simple as handing out a style

guide and hoping for the best. Here are the pitfalls I see

over and over. Let's start with some mixed messaging. One

location uses a logo, another tweaks it a little, a

different layout, font or tagline. Honestly, I've seen

it all. And the result, customers just simply get confused

about what your business actually stands for, what it looks like. And

another one, here we go. It's inconsistent customer experience.

One store is welcoming, attentive, efficient. Another

store leaves customers waiting, confused, or even, sadly,

disappointed. So guess which one people talk about more.

And here's the one I see all too often. Rogue

social media, you know. You're all

under the one brand, but every location decides to do their own

thing online. One posts some memes, another posts some corporate

style updates, another hasn't posted in six months. It's

like letting each child paint the family portrait.

It's messy. Next is a lack of training. If staff can't articulate

your values, your story, or if they don't even know what your brand stands

for, how can your customers possibly

understand? Finally, scaling pains.

Right? What works for three locations usually

falls apart by the time you have 20 or

50 or 100. Without systems, growth, all

it does is magnifies the inconsistencies. So

here's the truth. Customers absolutely notice these

things. They notice the inconsistencies. You think no one

will notice that because they may not articulate it

out loud, but it chips away at their trust.

their loyalty and their decision making

to go and look somewhere else. So consistency isn't about being

boring. It's about building some reliability and

reliability is what customers are actually buying into.

So how do we fix this? Here I've got for you a little blueprint that

actually works to help maintain brand consistency. So

let's start off. We need to create a clear brand playbook. Think

of this as your brand Bible. It's got all your logos, your fonts,

your color palettes, your tone of voice, your messaging, approved

imagery, style, photography style, social

templates, and you, come on guys, make it idiot

proof. If a team member in a location can't figure

it out in 60 seconds, then it's not clear enough. The

next thing I want you to do is centralize your marketing assets.

Give your location a shared library. of campaign graphics,

scripts, ad templates. That way everyone knows exactly

where to pull approved content from. And there's no rogue

creativity that waters down the brand. Campaigns can run faster

because no one's reinventing the wheel all the time and searching for approval.

And here's a pro tip. A well-organized Google Drive beats 20 versions

of the same logo floating around. Get rid of them. Okay?

Next, I want you to focus on localised flexibility,

because consistency doesn't mean rigidity.

Allow locations to adapt their messaging, their

offers for their local community, but it all has to keep

under the same core brand promise. but add

them, let them add a little flavor. Think of it like jazz. Everyone's

playing the same song, but each location can riff

a little to connect better with their local audience. All right,

next I want you to invest in some regular training and culture

alignment. This one's huge, okay? We run team training,

culture, values, vision, workshops for people. It's

not enough to teach staff just how to upsell or follow a

script. You need to teach them why this brand you've built,

why this thing that you've invested so much of your time and money into

exists in the first place. They probably weren't there when

you had the idea and if they've got employees that have been with you

for a long time they might know but the new ones don't. So

host workshops to reinforce your story, your values, your

customer promise. Repeat these key messages over

and over again because don't assume they're going to stick the

first time someone hears them. And train every new hire like

they're about to becoming a walking ambassador of the

brand because here's the truth, they 100% are. Just

quickly, if you're a business owner struggling to see results from

your marketing or you're overwhelmed by the thought of marketing your

business, we can help. Book in a call with my team using the

link in the show notes and let's get your brand thriving without the

struggle. Now, back to the episode. Next, we're going to talk about techs and

tools, right? You've got to use some systems and keep things

consistent. Scheduling tools, ensure all your locations publish

their content the same way. Approval workflows prevent

off-brand campaigns from sneaking through. And feedback platforms

help you measure service consistency in real time. Technology

isn't a replacement for culture, but it is the safety net

that makes culture scalable. What can you do?

Mystery shopping. Brand audits. Want the

real truth about your brand consistency? Send in some mystery

shoppers. They'll experience your brand like a customer would. You'll

uncover gaps before they turn into online

chatter and bad reviews. You can use

those insights to retain, improve, and reward teams. And

this is awesome. Why? Because it creates accountability and

ensures every location knows that consistency matters.

All right, I want you to develop a customer feedback loop. Your customers, they're

your best auditors, all right? Make sure you're checking out

your Google reviews on Google, Facebook, any

other industry platforms that you've opened up. And look for some patterns. Is

one location consistently praised? or consistently criticised, and

then deep dive on that. Celebrate and reward the high performers.

Use them as benchmarks or for other locations. And the best part, when

customers feel heard, it deepens their loyalty.

Next thing I want you to do, HQ. You've got to lead by example.

You've got to walk the walk. You can't just issue a whole heap of guidelines and

say, right off you go, model them. If your leadership

is inconsistent, why would any location take you seriously? Because

consistency is contagious, but so is inconsistency. And

here's why this matters so much. Customers trust,

right? Our customers trust. They need to know what's going

on. They need to know what they're going to get

Every time. Employee alignment. See when

your staff understand the brand, they perform better and feel more confident. Your

marketing efficiency. Consistency multiplies results

while inconsistency wastes ad dollars. Revenue

growth. Brands that are consistent scale faster because

customers return. Refer and trust with

bigger purchases. Think of consistency as compound interest. Small,

steady efforts add up. to a long-term gain.

Imagine this, a customer visits two different locations, one

of the same brand. At one, they're treated warmly, guided

seamlessly, and leave feeling like VIPs. Woo!

Pop the confetti. And at the other, they're ignored, confused, disappointed.

Which experience do they remember? Which location do

they return to? And how are they describing

their experience about your brand, about that brand, to

their friends? Your brand isn't just a logo, it's

the feeling customers take away. If that feeling

varies from location to location, your business is

going to suffer. Now here are your key takeaways. Brand

consistently isn't optional. It's essential. Create

a clear brand playbook. Provide centralised marketing

assets and allow local flexibility while keeping the core message

intact. train, align and repeat. Use

tech to reinforce your consistency and

audit constantly through mystery shoppers and customer reviews.

You've got to model this consistency at that leadership level

and maintain brand consistency across multiple

locations. Because guess what? It's not easy. But

it is the difference between businesses that grow sustainably and

those that crumble as they scale. Now listen, if

you want help creating these brand playbooks, centralised system,

training every location so it lives and breathes your brands, you've

got to take some action. And that action is connecting with

me and the marketing factory. Go ahead, book

that strategy call online and make every customer experience

consistent and your growth will follow naturally. Thanks

for tuning into The Marketing Factory. If today's episode helped

bring clarity to your marketing strategy, please leave a five-star review

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The Marketing Factory AUS, and let's keep turning clarity