Media Awards

The Franchise Council of Australia (FCA) recognises the work of franchised businesses in addressing particular marketing challenges. The winner of the media campaign category is expected to show an integrated media approach which meets the objectives of the particular campaign and can display a direct correlation between the media initiatives and the end results.

The category is judged by an external judging panel, explains Elissa Cohen, events manager at the FCA.

So why is it important to recognise the achievements of a particular media campaign?

"Media campaigns are used to support organisation's objectives –whether this is the growth of a franchise system, or an increase in sales of franchisees," says Cohen. "The response to the 2008 MYOB Excellence in Franchising Awards has been fantastic. The Australian franchise community – franchisors, franchisees and suppliers – are really behind the Awards and, from the calibre and variety of entries received, the results are eagerly anticipated."

This year's finalists include Caltex. The Caltex State of Origin campaign leveraged the association between the Caltex premium fuel Vortex and the State of Origin players. "It talked to anyone who is passionate about rugby league and high performance vehicles by effectively bringing the two together in a unified message," says national franchise development manager Benjamin Galton.

"Apart from being a successful campaign for the franchisees, we feel that it's important to provide feedback to our franchised community for their help and participation in the program. It's about working together toward a common goal, and it's good to see reward for effort. If positive feedback can come in the form of a recognised award, it can only help encourage participation in similar initiatives. And ultimately this benefits our business as well as theirs."

Press templates and POS material were provided to participating franchisees to help increase store sales and customer loyalty, he explains. "The material supported giveaway promotions that helped increase foot traffic for the convenience business, which is an increasing focus for Caltex."