Growing fitness franchise 12 Round Fitness has turned to technology to scale up and empower franchisees while staying on brand.
12 Round Fitness opened its first shop in Brisbane in 2014, and since January this year, opened a further eight franchises in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Bondi and Newcastle. The business is on track to open a further 50 franchises in Australia and overseas in the next 18 months.
Such aggressive expansion plans present a few challenges, and one thing founder Tim West is very protective of is his brand.
“Because we are a reasonably new brand in a crowded fitness market, building a strong identity is crucial. I knew I couldn’t afford for any material not to be on brand,” Tim says.
“Working with a high profile brand ambassador as well – world boxing champion Danny Green – I wanted to give him the guarantee that his image would be used on his terms.”
To ensure collateral could be produced quickly while staying on brand, Tim partnered with cloud software Outfit to digitise his brand guidelines.
Outfit is a brand automation and marketing production cloud software. Rather than using design software to turn a banner into an A4 page for example, Outfit allows users to produce collateral online at the click of the button, ensuring it is always on brand and to specs.
Rather than having to hire extra head office staff to manage design requests and produce collateral needed by franchisees, Tim is empowering his franchisees to produce their own collateral as and when needed.
“Outfit gives me and my investors the confidence that any collateral produced is done according to our brand guidelines, while giving franchisees the ability to produce tailored collateral in a few clicks,” Tim says.
“It also means we can on-board franchisees much quicker, they’re not at the mercy of a marketing department struggling to keep up with design requests.”
The use of Outfit has also enabled Tim to keep the 12 Round Fitness head office team very lean. The group has opened nearly 10 stores with just three staff.
Outfit is used by a range of franchises as well as large corporates and leading universities. Outfit founder Bruce Stronge said there has never been greater demand for on-brand visual content.
“Being able to produce the right visuals, on¬ brand, in a short period of time has become essential for franchisees. Rather than throwing more resources – designers and Photoshop licences – to cater for the ever-growing need for marketing materials, Outfit helped 12 Round Fitness keep its head office team lean and empower each franchisee to create their own local on brand materials,” Bruce said.