Franchise Systems – And How Brands Can Hire Smarter in 2025
Insights from Franchise Ramp CEO Aren Johnstone on the Franchise Secrets Podcast
Franchise brands face a unique challenge: hiring marketing leaders who not only understand the mechanics of performance marketing, but can also navigate the human ecosystem that makes franchising work.
On a recent episode of the Franchise Secrets Podcast, our CEO, Aren Johnstone, sat down with Erik Van Horn to unpack one of the biggest questions growing brands face:
“Why do top marketers – even highly talented ones – sometimes struggle inside franchise systems?”
And more importantly:
“How should brands evaluate leaders from inside and outside the franchise world?”
This conversation breaks down the nuanced reality brands often learn the hard way:
Says Johnstone, “Franchising isn’t a monarchy. It’s a democracy—or at best, an oligarchy—and franchisees always win.”
Franchising is not corporate America. It’s a network built on trust, alignment, and real-world execution. The right marketing leadership must match both the vision and the operating environment.
Franchises Don’t Operate Like Traditional Corporations
This is the root of the issue.
In most companies, marketing leaders manage one brand, one culture, and one decision-making structure. Franchising? It’s different. It’s dynamic. It’s personal.
Franchise success depends on:
- Buy-in across dozens or hundreds of independent owners
- Empathy for operators who live inside the P&L every day
- Cultural and brand alignment across markets, regions, and experience levels
- Transparency and communication that builds trust – consistently
A brilliant marketer can fail in franchising simply because the environment requires not just strategy, but relationship equity.
As Aren explained on the podcast:
“You can’t just be right. You have to be right and trusted. Franchisees don’t adopt what they don’t believe in.”
The Pros & Cons of Outside Marketing Talent
Hiring from outside franchising isn’t a bad move, in fact, it can be transformational. But it comes with tradeoffs.
What Outside Talent Brings
- Fresh frameworks, innovative techniques, and testing cultures
- Big-brand experience and cross-industry best practices
- Disruptive thinking that elevates creative and performance
These leaders can help franchises level up quickly, bringing perspectives that internal teams may not have developed yet.
Where They Often Struggle
- Navigating franchise politics and the need for consensus
- Communicating strategy in a way operators adopt
- Balancing bold ideas with the realities of field operations
- Understanding the emotional weight of franchisee investments
Outside leaders may expect speed and top-down control – but franchising thrives on collaboration and ground-level realities.
The Pros & Cons of Inside Franchise Talent
Leaders who grew up in franchising understand the ecosystem intuitively – which is a major advantage.
What Inside Talent Brings
- Deep understanding of franchisee behavior and objections
- Real-world awareness of operational constraints
- Strong network relationships that accelerate adoption
- A natural ability to speak the “language” of franchising
These leaders are often excellent at building trust and maintaining alignment during growth.
Where They May Fall Short
- Limited exposure to modern performance frameworks
- Difficulty introducing disruptive ideas or pushing innovation
- Unfamiliarity with multi-channel attribution or emerging platforms
- Reliance on legacy tactics that may no longer scale
Inside talent knows the system deeply – but may lack the external perspective needed to break through new barriers.
So Who’s the “Right” Hire? Aren Says: Both.
The best performing franchise brands don’t pick one side.
They build teams that balance:
✨ Strong strategy + franchise-savvy execution
✨ Innovation + alignment
✨ Vision + real-world adoption
In Aren’s words:
“High-performing brands blend the strengths of outside innovation with the practicality and trust that comes from franchise-experienced leaders. You need both to scale.”
A franchise system can’t rely solely on disruptive creative or solely on relationship-first thinking. Growth requires a hybrid model that respects the nuances of franchising while still pushing the brand forward.
What This Means for Franchise Brands in 2025
If you’re hiring or restructuring your marketing leadership, consider these questions:
- Does your team have both innovation and franchise empathy represented?
- Who is responsible for driving adoption, not just creating strategy?
- Do your leaders understand attribution, testing, and modern media?
- Are your creative and performance teams aligned with franchise operations?
Brands that strike this balance outperform.
Brands that don’t – struggle, stall, or overspend.
Listen to the Full Conversation
From scaling national brands to navigating franchise politics to building trust at speed, Aren and Erik go deep into the real experiences behind these insights.
🎧 Listen to the episode:
https://franchisesecrets.com/podcast/top-marketers-fail-inside-franchise-systems-heres-why/
If you’re evaluating marketing leadership or preparing your system for the next stage of growth, this episode is essential listening.
