LEADERSHIP
DOING THE RIGHT THING Nowadays, franchise brands are eager to flex their community credentials, and for good reason. By Nick Hall
W
hile price still plays an important role in the customer journey, a quality product at an affordable rate isn’t always enough. For years, the battle of the brands saw chains take bold steps to increase their market share, and while competing on price is one way to cut through the noise, some innovative businesses are appealing to our hearts rather than our hip-pockets. In the US, shoe company TOMS built an entire business model on sustainable and ethical operations. Right from the get-go, founder Blake Mycoskie implemented a “buy one, give one” model. For every pair of the sleek, Argentinian-style canvas shoe sold, TOMS would donate a pair back to a community in need. While the product was far from the most fashionable item on the market, the message of helping children in need resonated, both with the public and with prospective retailers and buyers. “I knew my shoes couldn’t compete on quality or price alone, so I told the buyer why I wanted to sell them and give them away. The store became our first retail account,” Mycoskie told the Harvard Business Review in 2016. Since then, TOMS has grown to a valuation of more than $300 million, never once losing sight of the community message that shaped its original vision. The methodology behind community outreach programs is simple; in fact, it’s the very ethos that should inform all of your decisions because it’s what the consumer wants. Customers care little about your bottom line, but they do care about your values. With customers increasingly prioritise ethics and values over price, it pays for business owners to take a stand for what
they believe in. So, here in Australia, which franchise brands are putting purpose over profits?
ZAMBRERO For Mexican-inspired fast-food chain Zambrero, community outreach programs aren’t simply an afterthought. The Aussie franchise was designed with the goal of tackling world hunger right from day one. Founder Dr Sam Prince launched the restaurant chain in Canberra in 2005, however it was his personal experience and cultural heritage that formed the brand’s iconic people-first mission. With parents raised in Sri Lanka, Prince was motivated through their stories and experience to start a business that not only provided great food but had a good cause in mind. Targeting world hunger as a primary issue, Zambrero introduced the Plate 4 Plate initiative which, much like the TOMS model, relied on a “buy one, donate one” system. For every burrito or bowl purchased at Zambrero, one meal is donated to someone in need, through domestic partnerships with Foodbank and international support provided by Rise Against Hunger. While in recent times the executive team has changed, current CEO Bianca Azzopardi hasn’t let Prince’s focus on community enterprise wane. Over the years, Zambrero has donated more than 33 million meals across 200 international restaurants in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the US through the initiative. In fact, in October last year Azzopardi and the Zambrero team took to the streets for their biggest event ever, the annual Plate 4 Plate Day. Thousands of volunteers and customers crammed into iconic FEB/APR 2020 | 40 | WWW.FRANCHISEBUSINESS.COM.AU
