expert advice: Tony Nicholls | Founder and CEO | Good Talent Media
Top tips for franchises to manage their reputation
in 2022
We are racing towards two years since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Every facet of life has changed in that time, including the experience of running a franchise business with all of its inherent rewards and challenges. The next phase of the pandemic in Australia will be reflective of the strength of our vaccine booster shot program before we head into the depths of winter.
If you’re fronting your organisation in a media interview, either “ set up by you or in the context of a media pack descending on you, you want to understand and have rehearsed your key messages so you don’t get taken down a messy rabbit hole.
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Add to that the very real threat posed by climate change -- your franchise in travel and tourism has had a tough time of it already, but there will be longer-term challenges and risks to think about.
That doesn’t mean franchisors shouldn’t celebrate the good times and make hay while the summer sun shines, but they should be prepared for worst-case virus scenarios such as newer variants making their way into the country while borders are open.
You should also consider the political instability growing out of the above factors, not to mention the instability that comes from new powers like China and India rising while American power wanes. That can lead to disruption to global trade and political instability.
And there may be further epidemics that occur with increasing frequency in our globally connected and urbanised world.
And finally, the deepening of the digital age that is creating 24/7 and 360 degree interrogation of organisations by activists,
56 business franchise MAGAZINE
competitors, citizen journalists, and malevolent actors. In my seventh year of reputation management after ten years in broadcast journalism for the ABC, SBS and Network Ten, I am finding the pandemic has provided a major wake-up call to businesses -- there is no such thing as ‘business as usual’ any more, especially if you own a franchise in a covid-hit industry such as aged care, retail or primary food production. As a consequence I project that organisational capacity to deal with crisis will be one of the major defining features of survival in the new crisis-ridden world.
