Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
FRANCHISE EXHIBITIONS IN
THE UNITED KINGDOM
Philip Chapman
Valerie Mills
Professor John Stanworth
International Franchise Research Centre Special Studies Series Papers 1-16 Web Versions 2010 p.1
LIABILITY DISCLAIMER 10 London: A Capital City For Franchisee
Recruitment, (Mills, Stanworth &
The information and analysis in each report Purdy), 1997
is offered in good faith. However, neither the
publishers, the project sponsors, nor the 11 The Effectiveness of Franchise
author/s, accept any liability for losses or Exhibitions in the United Kingdom,
damages which could arise for those who (Chapman, Mills & Stanworth), 1997
choose to act upon the information or
analysis contained herein. 12 Franchising: Breaking Into European
Union Markets, (Stirland, Stanworth,
IFRC Special Studies Papers 1993-2001 Purdy & Brodie), 1998
5 The Blenheim/University of
Westminster Franchise Survey: A
Comparison of UK and US Data,
(Stanworth, Kaufmann & Purdy), 1995
6 Developing a Diagnostic
Questionnaire as an Aid to Franchisee
Selection, (Stanworth), 1995
7 Franchising as a Source of
Technology-transfer to Developing
Economies, (Stanworth, Price, Porter,
Swabe & Gold), 1995
International Franchise Research Centre Special Studies Series Papers 1-16 Web Versions 2010 p.2
The Effectiveness of Franchise Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
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lnternational Franchise Research Centre Special Studies Series Paper No.1I
The Effecfiveness of Franchise Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
I Exhibitors' main motive for attending franchise I Different franchise exhibitions do not offer
exhibitions is to recruit new franchisees. A markedly different standards of quality of
minority attend for PR purposes. either exhibitors or visitors.
The majority of visitors to franchise exhibitions W The franchise exhibition is an important tool for
are made aware of the exhibitions through the promotion of information to potential
non-franchise-specific mediums. franchisees. The British Franchise
Association, exhibiting banks and exhibition
seminars are very important in this respect.
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The Effectiveness of Franchise Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
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franchise consultants and legal advisors together questions which this report aims to address.
under one roof, providing a 'snapshot' of the Before looking at the history of franchise
industry in microcosm. exhibitions, however, we need to look at the
background to these issues.
However, franchise exhibitions are not for
everybody, as less than half of franchisors choose Franchising's 'raison d'etre' is based on the
to attend. Advocates of franchise exhibitions point principle that the original business (the pilot) has
to the fact that the marketing message is generally proved capable of successful replication. To reach
well received as most visitors have a specific a geographically dispersed market, franchising is
interest in franchising. This is especially important used as the vehicle for expansion, where the costs
to an industry where it is very difficult to define a and operational difficulties of opening multiple sites
target market. Generally, franchisors have the might otherwise have been prohibitive. The first
opportunity to perform all elements of the personal issue of how many annual franchise exhibitions
selling process at franchise exhibitions: identifying should be held annually has its roots based in the
prospects, introducing franchises, improving public above principle. At one extreme should there be
relations, gathering competitor information, and one large annual franchise exhibition to which
selling. From the visitor's perspective the potential franchisees would travel from the
exhibition plays a major part in franchise regional areas in which they live?. At the other end
evaluation and recognition, for which they are of the spectrum, should there be a number of
sometimes prepared to travel distances up to 250 regionally targeted annual franchise exhibitions,
miles. taking franchising to the regional areas in to which
the franchisor wishes to expand?.
The BFA, which exercises the principal form of
industry control, generates a significant proportion We now turn to the issue of the quality of
of its income through sponsorship of franchise franchises on offer at franchise exhibitions. By
exhibitions. The act of sponsorship enables the purchasing a franchise, the franchisee is ideally
BFA to differentiate franchising as an buying into a proven business concept, which
organisational form from other business systems. should offer a considerably less risky investment
To date however, two main issues remain than starting a business on their own. The
unresolved: how many annual franchise franchise pilot operation shows that the concept
exhibitions there should be and how to police the can meet consumer demand, whilst many of the
'quality' of exhibitors. These are the main businesses operational structures are already in
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The Effectiveness of Franchise Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
place. However, the low barriers to entry which are currently much debate about where the balance of
the foundations upon which franchising is built, power lies between the two parties, with calls for
and from which it derives its strength as an increased disclosure of business information by
organisational form, can equally prove its the franchisor. However, outside the franchise
weakness. Research has shown that the franchise relationship there are other sources of information:
industry is highly concentrated. The 12 largest the BFA, the retail banks (who account for 75 per
franchise companies account for 2 per cent of the cent of franchisees' borrowings for investment in
total number of franchisors, but operate 39 per franchises), and numerous franchise consultants
cent of all franchise outlets. Seventy per cent of and legal advisors. This report addresses the
franchisors have less than three company owned expectations of franchise exhibitions from the
outlets, and 52 per cent begin selling franchises perspective of the potential franchisee as well as
within one year of company foundation. Little the franchisor.
wonder then that research, both in the UK and the
US, points to the time that a franchisor has been in The History of Franchise Exhibitions
business, before franchising, as being directly Blenheim, an exhibition organiser, was originally
related to franchise survival rates. introduced to the BFA, through Edward Young in
1983, then franchisor of Pronuptia and Young's,
As a product, a franchise involves high who employed Dresswell (as Blenheim was then
involvement on behalf of the potential franchisee, known) to mount fashion exhibitions. The first
who is likely to invest much of hislher capital, time Blenheim exhibition, called the National Franchise
and energy into a franchise that is perceived to be Exhibition (NFE), was held at the Kensington
highly differentiated from other franchise offerings. exhibition centre in 1984, and was an apparent
Franchises are generally bought by individuals or success. Blenheim paid the BFA for its
couples, who are relatively unsophisticated first- endorsement of the exhibition, and this fee
time buyers. They go through a purchase process, remains one of the BFA's principal sources of
where they require much information, in order to Income.
learn about franchising, before they finally make a
purchase decision. At one important meeting with Blenheim, the BFA
agreed that the exhibitions it sponsored could
There is considerable room for misunderstanding include other forms of small businesses in the
and mis-information between the franchisor and exhibition. Blenheirn claimed this was necessary
the franchisee in the purchase process. There is for the exhibitions to be financially worthwhile. BFA
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The Effectiveness of Franchise Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
figures show that at this time half the income from "Like all successful developments, franchising
the sale of stand space came from non-member is attracting a lot of hangers on, but one bad
franchisors. The other 50 per cent was split evenly apple can bring it down. We want to see only
between BFA members and affiliates and non- reputable companies exhibiting and if we in the
franchised business opportunities. It was at this BFA can agree on that we can use our strength
point that the association lost a substantial degree as exhibitors to see improvements are made."
of control over the whole proceedings.
Another, but connected debate, surrounded the
Subsequently, calls for 'regional' shows were not number of exhibitions. One argument was for just
perceived to offer any advantages over the a single exhibition each year, with some form of
'national' exhibition arrangement by Blenheim, regional one-day events held in hotels. However,
according to Tony Dutfield, a former Chairperson proponents of exhibitions stressed that the events
of the BFA. This gave an opportunity for Acumex, should be seen not just as a means of generating
a rival exhibition organiser, to stage regional franchise leads, but as a PR platform for the firm
franchise exhibitions restricted to franchisors. As a exhibiting and the industry as a whole. Blenheim
result of the competition, Blenheim bought Acumex argued that the exhibitions were the only form of
and (reluctantly) took up the challenge of regional corporate promotion for the industry and that
exhibitions. Within three years Blenheim had Blenheim spent over £250,000 a year on
dropped the regional exhibitions from its calendar promoting the events and attracting 20,000 plus
The issue of franchise-only exhibitions remained showed that 60 per cent of a total of 62
central to the debate. Wimpy, then Britain's largest respondents were in favour of the BFA continuing
franchisor, called for a clean-up in the quality of its arrangement with Blenheim. Some 40 per cent
exhibitors at Blenheims BFA sponsored NFE. of respondents were equally divided in their views
between the BFA running its own exhibitions, or
In an interview with Franchise World (July-August, finding an alternative exhibition organiser. The
1989), Max Woolfenden, then Wimpy's managing majority of respondents (80%) were equally
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The Effectiveness of Franchise Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
popular venue was the National Exhibition Centre, the exhibition. The organisers claimed the
Birmingham, which was favoured by 80 per cent of exhibition a success, claiming that over 50 per
the respondents, followed by London with 20 per cent of visitors reported that they had capital to
cent support. Supporters of regional shows were invest of more than f 50,000.
equally divided between seminar-based and
exhibition-based events. The BFA research also Blenheim reacted to Cll's entry into its market by
showed that only 15 per cent of BFA members felt announcing that it was to drop business
that exhibitor standards at the exhibitions were opportunities from its franchise exhibitions. Derek
reasonably good. Some 43 per cent thought they Mottershead, then BFA chairperson, said that it
were satisfactory, but 42 per cent felt they could be was:
much better. Respondents were divided on the
issue of excluding business opportunities, but a "Something the BFA had been striving fo
clear majority wanted tighter standards for achieve for many years."
franchisor participation. There was also a clear
majority, however, against restricting exhibitors to An important source of competitive advantage for
those in membership of the BFA. exhibition organisers is a database of the target
market. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
Industry sources suggest that a faction of BFA granted its endorsement and access to its
members invited an exhibition organiser in early database of 1.3 million commercial contacts to CII
1992 to revive the Manchester exhibition. Called in July 1993. CII also announced that it would
the British Franchise Exhibition (BFE), it was organise two shows the following year - the
organised by Careers in Industry (CII). A major Manchester exhibition, and a new London
difference between the CII event and those of exhibition - which would be a direct rival to
Blenheim was that the new show would exclude all Blenheims London exhibition. CII also applied to
business opportunities that were not the properly- the BFA to become a member of its affiliate
constructed business format franchises, the category, showing clear strategic intent to the
organisers claimed. However, this did not mean industry that they were in for the long haul. The
that exhibitors had to be members of the BFA. CII following year, another venue, Birmingham, was
developed the concept in consultation with a added to Cll's calendar. Again, this venue acted in
steering committee including the franchisors direct competition with Blenheim's Birmingham
Wimpy, Athena and Ryman. The National exhibition.
Westminster Bank became an official sponsor of
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The franchise exhibition calendar in the UK was in introduced an exhibition in Edinburgh, to maintain
1995 effectively split between Blenheim and CII, its three exhibitions. CII also gained BFA
who together held five shows at intervals sponsorship of all three shows on its calendar,
throughout the year in the major centres. The whilst relinquishing sponsorship from the National
scene was set for baffle: Westrninster Bank, for each of its exhibitions,
except for Manchester. CII in 1997 held a
"Next year (1996) will be critical for the two franchise exhibition in Dublin.
companies as it is the run-up to the year which
will see the expiration (1997) of the BFA's As early as 1991, the BFA had announced long-
current exclusive sponsorship agreement with term plans to establish a permanent National
Blenheim. Both organisers now have their own Franchise Centre in London. Brian Smart, the BFA
line-up of big name sponsors and supporters. Director, told Franchise World (January-February,
Blenheim is associated with the BFA and on 1991):
the media front with the Daily Express and its
own magazine, Business Franchise. The CII "The centre would enable us to represent
line-up is headed by the CBI and NatWesf and permanently the proven opportunities offered
includes BDO Stoy Hayward, the franchise by more than 100 franchise companies which
consultancy, and legal firms, Field Fisher have met our (BFA) strict accreditation
Waterhouse, Wragge & Co and Colemans. On criteria."
the media side, it is backed by the Daily Mail,
and Franchise World" (Franchise World, July However, to date, financial constraints on the BFA
August, 1995). have not allowed it to pursue this strategic option,
and its plans for a National Franchise Centre
The BFA used its sponsorship contract as a remain long-term.
catalyst to rationalise the 1996 exhibition calendar.
Apart from the individual positions of the two Research Method
competing firms, the BFA has used its power to Four franchise exhibitions were held during 1996
insist, for the first time, that it reserves the right to under the sponsorship of the BFA. CII arranged
both open a national franchise exhibition and to exhibitions in London, Edinburgh and Manchester,
hold regional roadshow events. The result of and Blenheim in Birmingham. In total 201
negotiations was that Blenheim had exclusivity in companies attended, some of whom were present
the Midlands and CII in London, whilst the timing of at more than one exhibition. The total number of
events was also rearranged. CII however,
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The Effectivenessof Franchise Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
exhibits at all the exhibitions was 350. The personally at each of the four exhibitions by
exhibitions attracted a total of 30,495 visitors. The members of the IFRC to exhibition visitors. Equal
number of exhibitors and visitors are shown by distributions were spread throughout the duration
exhibition in FIGURE1. of the first day (Friday) of each exhibition, as
visitors left the exhibition. In total 218 exhibitors
FIGURE1: Exhibition Attendance responded representing 62.3 per cent of the
Exhibitors Visitors population. In total 387 visitor responses were
London 76 8,431 received representing 9.7 per cent of the potential
Edinburgh 37 4,123
Manchester 60 5,841 sample. The number of exhibitor and visitor
Birmingham 177 12,100 responses are shown in FIGURE2.
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FIGURE3: Exhibitor Perception of the Venue stands out as the venue that is seen as offering
exhibitors value over the other three venues. The
differences in exhibitor perception between the
venues have little to do with the respective
exhibition organisers, as is demonstrated in
FIGURE4. Indeed, the logistical problems of
organising larger events appear to have a
negative effect on exhibitors' perceptions of the
support given by the exhibition organiser. Overall,
exhibitors' appear to associate few of the
organisational problems they might experience at
an exhibition with the exhibition organiser. The
other conclusion to be drawn is that both exhibition
organisers offer a good level of service to
/ Good Reasonable 0poor1
exhibitors at the exhibitions.
Exhibitors' perceptions of the four venues, FIGURE4: Exhibitor Perception of the Support
identified in FIGURE3, show that Birmingham, the from the Exhibition Organiser
largest exhibition, was considered the best venue
by exhibitors. Nearly all exhibitors identified the
venue as good. Manchester and London were
perceived as good-to-reasonable venues.
Edinburgh, the smallest and most 'regionally
targeted' of the exhibitions displayed a wider
variance in exhibitors' perceptions. A quarter of
exhibitors considered the venue poor. Many of
these exhibitors felt that Glasgow would have
provided a better 'Scottish' venue, and the
exhibition organiser, CII, has made that change of
venue for the 1997 exhibition. It can be presumed
that this exhibition's profile would then match that
of Manchester and London. However, Birmingham
1 Good Reasonable El Poor /
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FIGURE5, identifies exhibitors' preferred locations gaining an advantage as the first exhibition
and seasons for exhibiting at franchise exhibitions. organiser to arrange franchise exhibitions under
Birmingham is by far the most strongly preferred BFA sponsorship. Consistently attracting the
location. Over 75 per cent of the sample identified largest number of both exhibitors and visitors, the
Birmingham as a preferred location. Its timing in exhibition has developed a historical reputation as
the Autumn, receives almost as positive a vote. the number one national franchise exhibition.
London is perceived as the second most preferred
venue, and Spring as the best time to stage the The size of a franchise exhibition confers a long
exhibition. Beyond this preferences become run competitive advantage to that exhibition. This
relatively minor and more dispersed. is accounted for because franchisors have highly
differentiated franchise offerings in terms of price
Birmingham's Autumn exhibition has developed a and the sector in which they trade. Franchisors,
reputation as the largest annual franchise unable to define and target potential franchisees,
exhibition. This can be attributed to Blenheim increase the potential audience for their franchise
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The Effectiveness of Franchise Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
offer by fishing in a larger pool at larger Considering exhibitors' preferences for the
exhibitions. The best guide to potential audiences, location and timing of annual franchise exhibitions,
is historical audience sizes. Therefore, large FIGURE6 identifies the annual demand for
exhibitions continue to attract the largest number franchise exhibitions. Exhibition attendance is
of exhibitors in successive years due to exhibitors subject to diminishing returns for each successive
relying on historical audience sizes. Birmingham's franchise exhibition attended, as perceived by
historical size advantage is difficult to overcome by exhibitors. Nearly two thirds of exhibitors desire
other exhibitions. either only one (32%), or two (31%) franchise
exhibitions during the annual franchise exhibition
Other strengths of the Birmingham exhibition, calendar. There is relatively little support for more
recognised by franchisors, are its central location than two annual exhibitions.
within the UK, and the benefits conferred upon the
exhibition by the National Exhibition Centre, which Following on from when and where franchise
has a highly developed infrastructure for the exhibitions should be held, exhibitors were asked
staging of exhibitions. to express their preference for which days of the
week the exhibitions sh~uldbe run. FIGURE 7
FIGURE 6: Exhibitors Annual Demand for shows that Friday and Saturday is preferred by the
Franchise Exhibitions majority of exhibitors, whilst continuing on the
Sunday has a strong body of advocates. Recent
research, by the IFRC, has shown that Sunday is,
in fact, the second most effective exhibition day
after the Friday. The attendance of 'converts' -
those who bought franchises after the exhibition -
was at a ratio of 3:1:2 respectively for Friday,
Saturday and Sunday. However, it is noted that the
Sunday continues to be perceived as a relatively
unimportant day for franchise sales, in accordance
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 with poorly informed conventional industry
Proportion of SamplelSub-sample wisdom. It should be noted that CII exhibitions are
held on only the Friday and Saturday, whilst
Blenheim's continue on the Sunday.
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The Effectiveness of Franchise Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
Saturday
,day & Sunday
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We now turn to an area that has only very recently FIGURE 10: Previous Franchise Exhibitions
been given very much attention - the visitor to Attended by Visitors
franchise exhibitions. Two-thirds of visitors are
made aware of the franchise exhibitions from non-
industry-specific sources (for example the National
Press), as shown in FIGURE9. This is consistent
with the idea that potential franchisees are self-
selecting and non-targeted. It is perhaps
disappointing to note how few people were invited
by exhibitors, suggesting that exhibitors rely on the
exhibition organiser to generate the vast majority
of attendance. This is consistent with the view that
individual companies do not want to introduce their 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
potential customers to the competition. Proportion of SamplelSub-sample
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Around three quarters of franchise exhibition Exhibiting on a regular basis could change this
visitors are first time franchise exhibition visitors, perception. Evidence that exhibitions are used by
as is shown in FIGURE10. Previous research, by the majority of visitors in the early stages of their
the IFRC, has shown that visitors who have purchase process is again shown in FIGURE11.
attended more than one exhibition are generally This shows that only a quarter of visitors claim to
more likely to buy a franchise. We can see here be either definitely or very likely to buy a franchise
the first indications that franchise exhibitions cater at the time of attending the franchise exhibition.
to the needs of potential franchisees in the early Three quarters are likely, unlikely or undecided in
stages of their purchase process, and also in the their intentions. The exhibitions are therefore used
decisive final stages of that process. Many by the majority of visitors to gain knowledge of the
franchise companies are put off franchise franchise industry and the different franchise
exhibitions, as a marketing medium, because of offers. The implication is that individual franchise
the large numbers of visitors who are in the early companies may not wish to subsidise visitors'
stages of their purchase process Exhibitions do franchise search costs. However, the promotion of
not provide direct evidence, in the form of an the franchise industry can, in the longer run, only
immediate franchise purchase, for the first time benefit the individual companies within the
exhibitor to quantify the exhibition a sales success. industry.
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FIGURE14: Visitors Intended Expenditure Vs Visitors were asked to rate the exhibitions for
Exhibitors Investment Requirements value for money based on the full cost of entry
. ,
I f l O I . The results are shown in FIGURE15. A
pattern emerges, whereby the visitor perceives
increasingly greater value for money from an
exhibition as the size of the exhibition increases. In
this instance, size is determined by the number of
exhibitors.
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most franchisees choose a franchise outside their etc. A minority of responses for all the exhibitions
field of direct experience, though more would like referred to the size and the diversity of exhibitors
to find a franchise in a specific sector of the at the exhibitions. As with the value for money and
industry that reflects their previous skills and size relationship identified, FIGURE 16 shows a
experience. To look more deeply at how well similar pattern. This shows that as the exhibitions
buyers and sellers of franchises at the exhibitions become larger, so size and diversity are
are matched, we need to take a more qualitative increasingly seen as a strength. The relatively
view, rather than a purely quantitative view. small proportions identifying size and diversity as a
strength, would suggest that expectations here
FIGURE16: Strengths of the Exhibitions were not strongly met.
identify the reasons that underlie the direct Visitor perceptions of the weakest elements of
relationship between the visitor perceiving greater each of the exhibitions are a reversal of visitors
value for money from successively larger perceived strengths, as shown in FIGURE17. The
exhibitions. The majority of responses concerning majority of responses refer to the size and
the strength of any particular exhibition referred to diversity of exhibitors at the exhibitions, whilst the
operational points - entrance procedures, the minority refer to operational points. An inverse
exhibition brochure, aisle widths, refreshments, relationship between the number of exhibitors at
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an exhibition and visitors identifying the number expectations are increasingly disappointed. The
and diversity of exhibitors as a weakness is exhibition organisers claim that demand for
identified. However, it is the strength of numbers of franchise exhibitions by exhibitors is unlikely to
visitors who identify the size and diversity of grow, except in line with the industry itself. The
exhibitors as being a weakness that is so perception problem will not therefore be resolved
prominent. in the short term, unless organisers are better able
to manage visitors' expectations.
Two related issues can be drawn together on the
key success factor of a franchise exhibition as The second, and related issue, reflects the
perceived by visitors. The first is a matter of diversity of exhibitors at exhibitions. Because
exhibitor numbers and visitor perceptions. Visitors visitors to franchise exhibitions are self-selecting
to franchise exhibitions are not necessarily and not targeted, except at the generic level of
industry buyers familiar with industrial exhibitions. having a direct interest in franchising, the
They are more likely the general public, who judge mathematical law of large numbers is applicable.
their expectations of franchise exhibitions against
exhibitions such as The Ideal Home Show or The Simply stated the law of large numbers tells us that
International Boat Show. These they have either as the numbers in a sample increase - exhibitors
visited or seen in the media. These are amongst and visitors at an exhibition - they will become
the largest exhibitions held in the United Kingdom, increasingly representative of the total population -
and visitor expectations are therefore likely to be all franchise offers in the industry and total
high. demand for the different franchise offers. As
visitors are unable to be strongly targeted, then the
This is compounded by the fact that CII call their greater their number, the greater the chance that
different exhibitions 'The British Franchise the sum of their demand for different franchise
Exhibition' and Blenheim theirs 'The National offers will be representative of the total market.
Franchise Exhibition'. Visitors might reasonably Equally as exhibitor numbers increase, the
expect to see an exhibition that is highly franchise exhibition will become increasingly
representative of the UK franchise industry under representative of the total supply of different
these headings. Even Birmingham, as the largest franchise offers within the industry. To take this
exhibition, represents less than half of the total argument to its natural conclusion the ideal
franchise industry. As the number of exhibitors franchise exhibition would be attended by all
falls at successive exhibitions, so visitor
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franchisors in the industry, and all people with an FIGURE18: Exhibitor Perception of Pre-Event
interest in becoming a franchisee. Visitor Promotion
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However, FIGURE 20 shows that exhibitors This was evidenced in a comparison between the
experienced greater dissatisfaction with exhibitor two venues. Visitors to the London exhibition
numbers at successively smaller exhibitions. attended with a clearer knowledge of their
Therefore the majority of exhibitors prefer large likelihood of buying a franchise. They had held a
exhibitions. longer interest in franchising and targeted fewer
exhibitors at the exhibitions. They were also twice
FIGURE20: Exhibitor Perception of the Number as likely to have subsequently invested more than
of Exhibitors £50,000 in a franchise. Again, the conventional
industry wisdom appears based on 'hunch' rather
than empirical fact.
of Quality Prospects
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historical size. Indeed, it was the main reason clearly exhibitors believe that standards can be
given why CII 'were invited' to arrange franchise improved. Unlike the industry, an exhibition does
exhibitions in competition to Blenheim. The offer the organiserlsponsor the opportunity of
exhibitors' perception of the quality of visitors exclusion. The BFA set the standards by which the
shown in FIGURE 22 and quality of exhibitors industry is regulated. The fact that the BFA
shown in FIGURE23 remain relatively constant membership only accounts for a quarter of
across all four exhibitions. No single exhibition, or franchisors would mean that BFA member only
organiser's exhibition displays any quantifiable exhibitions would have a large impact on the
advantage, although there is a suggestion that the number and diversity of exhibitors at the
smaller exhibitions suffer sligh.tly. However, overall exhibitions. Plainly, reduced numbers would also
only half of exhibitors believe the quality of visitors have an impact on the profitability of the
is good. The same perception is held for the exhibitions for the organisers. Exclusion of non-
quality of exhibitors to the exhibitions. members is likely to lead to the further
fragmentation of the number of franchise
FIGURE22: Exhibitor Perception of the Quality exhibitions. It would appear that issues of quality
of Visitors need to be addressed at the industry level.
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Yea1
ars
One problem that the authors have faced is the of exhibitors with less than 2 years' experience,
widely differing views within the industry on what except for the Edinburgh exhibition. Edinburgh's
constitutes a 'quality' franchise offer. We use here regionally targeted location might naturally be
the measure of time that a business has been expected to attract a higher proportion of
operational, including its pilot operations, as being franchisors with mature franchise networks. The
inversely related to the risk involved in investing in conclusion to be drawn here is that none of the
a franchise. Much research, in both the UK and the exhibitions attracts a higher level of quality of
US, shows this to be the best measure. franchise offers than any of the other exhibitions.
This reflecting the perception of exhibitors shown
The results shown in FIGURE 24 would suggest in FIGURE 23. The reasons underlying the
that each of the exhibitions do offer approximately exhibitors' perception, that quality standards might
the same range of quality exhibitors, except for be improved, appear to reflect the number of
Edinburgh which had a higher proportion of mature young franchisors exhibiting at the respective
franchisors. All the exhibitions had around a third exhibitions.
The BFA influence at the exhibitions is shown in during the exhibition as a source of useful
FIGURE 25. Nearly half of the exhibitors were information about franchising with half of visitors
influenced in their decision to exhibit by BFA attending the BFA stand as shown in FIGURE26.
sponsorship of the exhibitions. A
FIGURE26: The British FranchiseAssociation Stand
strong influence from the BFA on the
aualitv of the exhibitions was also
I
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Other important stands at the exhibitions are the best seminars from the visitor's perception.
support services. As FIGURE27 shows, over half of Seminars are important as a source of information.
visitors attend a bank stand, of whom
FIGURE28: Visitor Perception of Exhibition Franchise Seminars
over three quarters visit more than one
bank. A third of visitors found
information provided by the banks as
very useful, and over half reasonably
useful.
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International Franchise Research Centre Special Studies Series Paper No.11
Appendix One: Exhibitor Questionnaire
UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER
I
FRANCHISE EXHIDIrIOM
a..
..I
..-?* ExHlerrOR SURVEY
To be completed, if at all possible, by the person responsible for determining exhibition contracts
Most responses require only a single J CONFIDENTIAL
-
Previous exhibitions At how many UK franchise Reason for exhibiting -Was your MAIN reason for
exhibiting at this show (Just ONE J):
shows has your company exhibited In the past 2
years (1994 and 1995) ? To enhance your PR profile ....................... CIA
None......................................................... CI A To recruit new franchisees ........................
..
1 Exhibibon............................................... B
B
Winter Summer
Venue Spring Autumn
3
1 Birmingham............... 0 [ZI 0 A
4
5 2 Bristol ....................... CI a a B
6 3 Edinburgh.................. CI CI 0 0c
7 4 Glasgow.................... Q a D
"
6 London...................... a 0 F
7 Manchester............... a a G
-
Exhibition assessment Please rate the current
exhibition in each of the following areas:
Reason
Good -able Poor
Please complete AFTER visiting the exhibition. Most responses require only a single J CONFIDENTIAL
-
Franchise cost What is the maximum likely
outlay you would be interested in (including
How did you come to hear of this exhibition ? franchise fees, quipment and all other costs) ?
@leaseJ against A U which apply) Up to £10,000 ........................................... O A
Abank ...................................................... Q A £10,001 to £20,000 ...................................L I B
British FranchiseAssociation (BFA) .......... l l B £20,001 to £50,000 ................................... Oc
Lomlhegional press.................................. Oc £50,001 to £100,000 ................................. 0 0
a
Nationalpress........................................... D £100,001 to £250,000................................ LIE
Trade magazine (not franchising spedfic).. Q E £250,001 or more.................................... IJ F
Radio/lV .................................................. O F t ....................................................c l o
~ osure
Word of mouth .......................................... O G
Franchise magazine (please state) OH
-
Personal resources Please estimate the extent of
your 'unencumbered' capital (the money available
for such an investment, if needed):
Other (please state) 0 Up to £10,000 ........................................... OA
£10,001 to £20,000 ................................... O B
£20,001 to £50,000 ................................... Oc
£50,001 to £100,000 ................................. O D
What would you say is the STRONGEST feature £100,001 to £250,000................................ CIE
of this exhibiiion: £250,001 or more......................................O F
Property.................................................... D G
Redundancy package................................0 H
What would you say is the WEAKEST feature Savings..................................................... I
of this exhibiiion:
Shares...................................................... O J
Other (please state) OK
-
Seminars Did you attend any of the seminars at Exhibition influence -After your visit to the
exhibition, how likely do you think you are to
thc exhibition ?
invest in a franchised outlet ?
Yes.. .........................................................CIA
More likely now ........................................ A
No ............................................................0 s
About the same as before ......................... 0 B
Less likely now.......................................... 0 c
If 'Yes', how informative did you find them
overall:
-Very good ........................................ O c Exhibition qonsorls -Apart from the exhibition
organisers themselves (CII or Blenheim), and
-Good ......................................................OD without referring to the catalogue, are you aware
- Reasonably informative........................... a E of a named sponsorls ?
- Poor .......................................................O F Yes ...........................................................
QA
- Very poor................................................ O G No.............................................................O B
Further contact with exhibitors -After talking If any banks were visited, please identify which:
to the above exhibitors, how many do you think
you will contact again ? Barclays Bank........................................... AI
None.........................................................O A a
Uoyds Bank .............................................. AZ
1 Exhibir ................................................Cl B Midland Bank ........................................ 0~3
2 Exhibirs............................................... 0 c NationalWestminster Bank ....................... 0M
3 Exhibitors...............................................Q D Royal Bank of Scotland............................. 0A -
4 Exhibitors............................................... E
5 Exhibirs or more.................................. F
-
Clearing banks For the stands visited, please
indicate how useful you felt the contact was: